F1 tire decal trouble

[lordairgtar]

I am building a F1 car for a client. (I'll never do another where I have to decal tires) How do you decal the tires? Decals do not stick to tire material. I even tried to clear the tires with Tamiya clear and applied the decal to that, then dull coated the decal and tire. As I was pushing the wheel into the tire, the paint cracked and chipped off and it left a real nasty looking tire. Also ruined the decal underneath during the process and cracked the spokes of the wheel trying to remove the wheel. So now I have ordered another F1 just for a wheel and decals and new tires. There goes my profit margin LOLZ. The kit in question is the Revell of Germany F1 2007 Ferrari. The wheels seem ill fitting at best.

[Brendan]

If it's a decal, I usually use a lot of Micro Sol to soften the decal and then I use Micro Set to help set the decal to the tire. And then I brush on a lacquer dull coat over the top. But I usually have the tire mounted to the rim before I do any of this.

Quite often I use tire stencils and airbrush the lettering on. It gives it a more realistic look. Make sure you use water based acrylic paints.

If you have a picture of what the tire looks like, I might have a spare for you.

[lordairgtar]

Thanks for the offer, but I already ordered the new kit. I figured assembling the tire to the wheel would be the better thing to do as an afterthought. Gotta love 20-20 hindsight. The tires themselves are OK and can be cleaned up. I need a new wheel and another set of decals. But I will try the sol and set. I already have the Microset and it already does a good job of softening the decals, just don't adhere well to the tires.

[CAL]

They are just a little tricky. I use lots of pressure trying to get them to stick on the tire before pulling off the backer. They do work, though.