About those old MPC plastic eating BFG Radial T/As tires ???

[Can-Con]

As everyone knows, they always eat the plastic they come in contact with. Well, maybe not always , ,

I built this MPC annual '81 Z-28 Camaro over 35 years ago. Didn't like the tires that came in the annual kit so just used some from another then current kit. The infamous BFG Radial T/As that "ALWAYS" eat the plastic.

So, remember, this kit has been wearing these tires for over 35 years, probably closer to 40.
Pulled one apart and this is what I found , , ,

No damage whatsoever.

So, Why?

I didn't do anything to protect the plastic from the tires, didn't even paint the surfaces where they meet.

Was it the blue plastic? Were the tires made in a different plant? Different country? Dumb luck???

Don't know but this has been my experiences with these tires for the most part.

But, seriously, were the ones in the Canadian boxes, sold in Canada made in a different plant with a different eormula for the vinyl then the ones from the U.S. ???

[Bugatti Fan]

Who knows ?   Best to err on the side of caution and put some sort of barrier between the vinyl tyres and the plastic of the wheel.   Paint or foil. 

Not sure whether necessary or not on wheels that are vacuum posted though. I expect someone will know.

 

[Mark]

Pure luck.  Earlier this year, I spotted damage on the wheels of a '72 GTO I had built in the early Eighties using those tires.  The kit inner wheels, and the outers ("honeycomb" wheels from a mid-Seventies MPC Chevy Monza) were all painted on their outer surfaces (outers were stripped of plating).  Still got the gumball effect.  Took it apart, edges of outers and inners were softened.  Sanded all of that off, repainted the wheel edges, and reassembled.  Tires used this time were AMT hollow Goodyear Polyglas with molded-in lettering, same as I used on a '71 Trans-Am rebuild I did around the same time as the Goat.  No problems noted with the Trans-Am.

[Can-Con]

17 minutes ago, Mark said:

Pure luck.  Earlier this year, I spotted damage on the wheels of a '72 GTO I had built in the early Eighties using those tires.  The kit inner wheels, and the outers ("honeycomb" wheels from a mid-Seventies MPC Chevy Monza) were all painted on their outer surfaces (outers were stripped of plating).  Still got the gumball effect.  Took it apart, edges of outers and inners were softened.  Sanded all of that off, repainted the wheel edges, and reassembled.  Tires used this time were AMT hollow Goodyear Polyglas with molded-in lettering, same as I used on a '71 Trans-Am rebuild I did around the same time as the Goat.  No problems noted with the Trans-Am.

I'll have to pull out some more old builds to check on them. There definitly is some melt as you discribe on some but I don't remember all of them doing it. 🤔

Edited 4 hours ago by Can-Con

[Mark]

Another solution would be to use resin wheel halves, inside and outside.  

[oldcarfan]

I still have a few models I built in the 90s and the only one that has tire melt is the Revell Acura NSX. The Monogram and MPC kits seem to have fared well.