Polishing tires

[Haubenschild]

Is there any way to polish tires? , the tires in one of my kits are quite dull and I'd really like to make them pop without painting them since they have decals on the sidewalls

[Scale-Master]

You can use Future to make them shinier. And that will help the decals adhere better too. Then you can use Dullcote to make them look even more realistic.

But, the Future will crack if you apply it before stretching the tires over the rims.

[Haubenschild]

Thanks for the tip! , I will definatley use it!

Edited February 1, 2012 by Haubenschild

[bubba930]

Pledge might do the job!

rctrucker

[Steven Zimmerman]

One thing we seem to overlook as modellers is 'shiny tires'....Despite the millions of bottles of Armor-all, Formula 2000, 'Tire shine' and others, we hardly ever see this replicated on our models....I have had judges tell me at a show that my tires were 'unrealistic' because they had too much shine....My reply, Did you ever look at the tires on a well kept pro touring, pro street, or street rodded car, or go to a car show ? Anyway, most of my tires are glossy....'Z'

[Art Anderson]

I'll give you another thought as well: Most all modern tires are not totally black rubber either. If you walk a new car sales lot in bright sun, especially after the car washing contractor has been on the lot, cleaned everything up, and the cars have been dried, tires have had time to dry, you should notice that many tires, particulary older-style "high aspect ratio" tires, have sidewalls that are actually "brown black" (just about the same color as Testors or Modelmaster "Rubber"), with more pure black tread (which will show for about an inch or so on the sides of the tread, where that rubber meets up with, and blends into the sidewall.

Just an observation of mine.

Art

[Steven Zimmerman]

Spray Westley's Bleche White on those brown tires and scrub them, and they dry....BLACK! Too many years working a second job as an auto detailer to believe any differant, plus 40 years of washing and putting armor All or its equivalent on white lettered tires in my driveway once a week to say differant........'Z'

[SuperStockAndy]

What about a high grit sandpaper?

[Art Anderson]

Testors "rubber" color is very brown, i use it for washes when i do weathering all of the time.

i may be younger than Art and maybe not as experienced but the only brown tires i've ever seen in my life were those covered in mud. on my 1:1 cars i like clean tires, not overly glossed and greasy ones. clean tires are very much just "black"

Liam, the question is, what are the tires made from that you are trying to shine up? there are different methods for vinyl and rubber

DoubleD, I first noticed the brown-black sidewall tires in the summer of 1999, when I spent 4 months as a salesman for Bob Rohrman Auto Group here in Lafayette. I saw the phenomenon on both import and domestic cars as well.

Art

[Haubenschild]

Thanks again guys , sorry for not responding in a while . The tires are from a tamiya kit

[Greg Wann]

DoubleD, I first noticed the brown-black sidewall tires in the summer of 1999, when I spent 4 months as a salesman for Bob Rohrman Auto Group here in Lafayette. I saw the phenomenon on both import and domestic cars as well.

Art

THAT'S A REEEEAAAAALLLLLY NIIIICCCCCE!! Is that guy still alive??

[Harry P.]

The easiest way I can think of to give tires that "Armor-All" look (which is what I think you're after) is to brush on a coat of Future, as Mark said, after they've been mounted on the wheels. (but don't paint the tread area!)

That being said, most all real tires are pretty much flat black, not shiny, unless they have had a treatment added to them. Even brand-new tires are far more "flat" than "glossy."

[sjordan2]

One car care reference I tried was a recommendation to use Vaseline on rubber parts including tires. Looked fine on my Corvette, and definitely prolonged the life of rubber body seals that are notoriously prone to crumbling, though it wasn't particularly long-lasting. I wonder how it would look on model tires?

I also wonder what they used in this 1935 factory archive photo to make the tires so glossy (and why they put it on the treads)...I wouldn't be surprised if they painted the tires gloss black just for photo purposes.

Edited February 5, 2012 by sjordan2

[Longbox55]

DoubleD, I first noticed the brown-black sidewall tires in the summer of 1999, when I spent 4 months as a salesman for Bob Rohrman Auto Group here in Lafayette. I saw the phenomenon on both import and domestic cars as well.

Art

The brown color is the oils in the rubber oxidizing, which is meant to prevent the rubber itself from degrading. It's also why whitewalls that haven't been cleaned tend to turn a brownish-yellow color. All modern tires will turn brown if not kept clean.

Also, most tires are rather flat in their finish, not shiney, when they are new. They're only shiney with application of aftermarket tire shne products. There are exeptions, Falkens and Yokohama tires tend to somewhat glossy, especially their small car sport tires.