Btw, what are theese "vinyl-tire damages"??

[jbwelda]

when i saw that first photo, of the rear tyre, i thought "hey that looks like a pretty good technique for modelling tyre carcasses.

and the opposite tyre is OK, worn but OK.

so the concensus is that peanuts don't cause problems, old tyres cause problems. or look weathered.

[HotRodaSaurus]

Yes I can see the speculation here, I can only go by what the seller told me. If you look carefully at the Cal Charger front tyre there is a remnant of polystyrene peanut still stuck to the tyre

I did not buy them as they were a little expensive at £30 each(starting price). They sat on his table all weekend but I think they sold as a lot including a Prudhomme fueller in the glass case just visible and an Army Funny for around £50 for the lot.

None were in tip top condition and the chrome on the Tony Nancy is to the usual 70s Revell standard.

I have seen these tyres disintegrate into pieces of rubber, also the motorcycle tyres from the same era are prone to cracking.

J

Edited November 4, 2008 by HotRodaSaurus

[Casey]

On 11/1/2008 at 7:53 PM, John Goschke said:

The real culprits are the chemicals in the vinyl (not true "rubber") model tires, which react with the styrene of the model

They can do some damage, eh?:

Edited October 31, 2018 by Casey

[cobraman]

Ouch ! Poor Javelin .

[wrecker388]

Wow, I feel bad for that poor Javelin.

[Ben]

The first thing I do when I get any model kit that I open or is already open is to put the tires in a Zip Lock bag, the clear parts in a Zip Lock bag and the decals inside the instruction sheet. For kits I want to leave sealed until I need them, I just pray they'll be safe!

[jbwelda]

yep thats a good reminder right there, first thing i too do is be sure to separate the tires from the rest. these days the mfgs do it for you most of the time though.

[peekay]

The first thing I do when I get any model kit that I open or is already open is to put the tires in a Zip Lock bag, the clear parts in a Zip Lock bag and the decals inside the instruction sheet. For kits I want to leave sealed until I need them, I just pray they'll be safe!

Yes, I've been doing that for many years now to good effect.

DON'T try it with glad-wrap (clear kitchen foil) though! It will put permanent blotches on chrome and clear parts.

[Austin T]

That poor poor Javelin, do you plan on fixing it Casey?

[dmk]

The first thing I do when I get any model kit that I open or is already open is to put the tires in a Zip Lock bag, the clear parts in a Zip Lock bag and the decals inside the instruction sheet. For kits I want to leave sealed until I need them, I just pray they'll be safe!

Same here. I open every kit and repack the parts.

After a bad roof leak one time that trashed decals and instruction sheets, I put the decals inside the instruction sheet and put them in one ziplock baggie and the tires in another. Just to be safe, I repack the box with the baggie of tires on the bottom, lay the instruction sheet on top of them and all the styrene parts on top of that. The tires in no way touch any plastic parts, the decals are protected from scratches and dampness/water. It's cheap insurance.

I've noticed some kits now have the tires sealed in their own plastic bags, but not always.

Edited March 17, 2013 by dmk

[Tom Geiger]

I blame that on the tires. There's nothing like opening an old sealed kit and finding a tire stuck to the windshield!

Still, beware of packing peanuts. They are good for shipping but I'd be wary of long term storage in the same way you only would use archive quality plastic pages for baseball cards or other collectibles. There's no telling how they will break down over time as they dry out and age. Also, some of them now are water soluble for the environment. I can imagine what humidity could do to these. Mush!

[carrucha]

The first thing I do when I get any model kit that I open or is already open is to put the tires in a Zip Lock bag, the clear parts in a Zip Lock bag and the decals inside the instruction sheet. For kits I want to leave sealed until I need them, I just pray they'll be safe!

I do the same thing! I also like to keep the store receipt for the kit in the box so I know when I bought the kit. Once I found that the ink from the receipt ruined part of the decal sheet so since then I make sure the decals are either in the instruction sheet or bagged.

Edited March 17, 2013 by carrucha

[Casey]

[Austin T]

WOW! I see you have one of the extremely rare Goodyear floor pans! I hear that only a handful were ever produced in scale.

[charlie8575]

I wonder if prior to assembly it I might be advisable to airbrush, or even brush-paint, a coat of Acryl or some other water-based semi-gloss or flat clear on the tires to seal in the the chemicals?

I just try to make sure the wheel rims are very thoroughly coated in at least primer.

In the meantime, I suppose we should start looking for a new material for the tires. As radical changes are occurring in polymer chemistry, it might happen sooner than you think.

Charlie Larkin

[Pro Wrench]

You have to be careful using ziploc bags to store things in. They are made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and that stuff can wreak havoc on things also if the conditions are right. I suspect that the problems people are seeing with the tires ruining stuff is the result of the kits being stored somewhere that's exposed to excessive heat causing a reaction that makes the tires "bleed" the chemical out of them. All of my kits are at least 20 years old and none of them have any of this reaction occuring but they have always been stored in areas that aren't exposed to excessive heat. Just to be sure though, I have started removing all my kits from their boxes, cutting the parts off the trees, and storing them in seperate containers that I store inside plastic "shoebox" containers with the rest of the model.

[Tom Geiger]

I wonder if prior to assembly it I might be advisable to airbrush, or even brush-paint, a coat of Acryl or some other water-based semi-gloss or flat clear on the tires to seal in the the chemicals?

I don't think it's all tires, just tires from a specific era that had that chemical make up. Someone once said you could avoid the melt down by putting a layer of BMF on the inside of the rims and then just painting over it. I haven't had this experience with any of my good builds, but I have noticed some tires shrinking on their rims over time... cars I built 15-20 years ago.

[turn1wonder]

Pulled an old "built" apart and found this...

...thought it might be of interest but did not want to start a new thread so please excuse me bumping this old one.

Bob

[charlie8575]

Old or not, it's still relevant and a necessary topic.

I like the BMF idea, I might try that. Thanks, Tom.

Charlie Larkin

[slusher]

l have seen the pictures and know it does happen but l have a several models from the 80's built and no tire and wheel melt yet. l have not opened a kit like that yet. Does heat or storage cause that?? all my kits are in the closet...

[Maindrian Pace]

You would think that they would have this problem under control, especially with later diecasts and toys...

This one really frosted me. 20+ years ago, I restored a rare gluebomb AMT '69 Cobra Jet coupe, and now the dreaded tire melt. Only on one wheel, though.

Now I wrap the wheels where the tire makes contact with narrow strips of masking tape. We'll know in another 15 or so years if that works.

-MJS

[Casey]

[89AKurt]

^^^ OMG that looks horrible!  

[Snake45]

That '32 Vicky survivor I just restored, all four wheels were damaged by the ancient vinyl tires. I was able to file off all the melted areas (some of it still a bit soft), and re-used all four wheels on better tires on the resto. 

 

[ewetwo]

I've opened all my kits because of this but I'm finding most of the new modes coming out have the tires in a separate bag. I wonder if putting the decals in waxed paper would work for them.