Will the paint affect the tires?

[Jon Cole]

I am building the Aurora / Revell Ford GT that was re-issued several years ago. Going by photographs of the early prototype from England, I stripped the chrome plating off the wire wheels and painted them Testors Aluminum.

Several weeks later while handling the wheels, I noticed the paint was not quite dry. In fact, I wiped the edge of the rim on paper towels, and some of the paint left a mark. I also had to use lacquer thinner to clean paint off the tires. The front of the wheels seem to be OK.

Should I use some type of barrier between the wheels and the tires? Is this a preview of the melting tire issue?

Thanks.

-Jon-

[Brendan]

This type of thing happens quite a bit. I use a water base acrylic clear coat over the rims to help prevent it. Something like Future Floor Polish. It will dull the aluminum color a little but not much. Another thing is to make sure the paint is completely cured before you put the rims and tires together.

[Art Anderson]

I am building the Aurora / Revell Ford GT that was re-issued several years ago. Going by photographs of the early prototype from England, I stripped the chrome plating off the wire wheels and painted them Testors Aluminum.

Several weeks later while handling the wheels, I noticed the paint was not quite dry. In fact, I wiped the edge of the rim on paper towels, and some of the paint left a mark. I also had to use lacquer thinner to clean paint off the tires. The front of the wheels seem to be OK.

Should I use some type of barrier between the wheels and the tires? Is this a preview of the melting tire issue?

Thanks.

-Jon-

All soft tires in American made or branded model car kits are PVC, having a softening agent in it, to give the softness we all like. However, it's the PVC and the plasticizer that react with say, Testors enamels, preventing this paint from fully drying on the tire.

Solution? Any of the water-borne acrylic paints work just fine, dry and adhere very well. Lacquers (even model airplane dope) will dry quickly, but will peel and flake off at the slightest provocation.

Art

[Jon Cole]

Thank you for the responses. I would like to point out again that it is the plastic wheels, not the tires, that have the paint issue. Some of that paint rubbed off on the tire when I removed them from the rims.

I still will seal the rims with an acrylic paint. Thank you both for the suggestions.

-Jon-