"Bulged" tires?

[joemac]

I'm doing up a plastic fire truck model and I'd like to make the tires look more authentic by re-shaping the bottoms, sort of slightly "bulged", like they do when they have weight on them.

Any tricks?

I was thinking of sitting the bottom portion in some hot water to soften them, then pushing them against a hard surface for a bit.

The wheels will be glued in place, so it won't roll.

[mnwildpunk]

Never tried it myself but I have heard of flattening them on a hot frying pan or something similar

[Old Buckaroo]

Are the tires rubber or hard plastic ? Not sure how you cold successfully pull off flattening rubber tires. I use to put load on aircraft tires by use of a iron and a piece of wax paper (kept the plastic from melting to the iron) By heating them enough to give a slight smooth surface and bulge . Shaping with a sanding stick really improved the look.

Perhaps there are some loaded resin tires on the market ?

If using the hard plastic tires shaping them with bondo works really well - but dont get to carried away

[slusher]

I believe that tires are sold this way but made out of resin. If you do it yourself I would think after flattening the tire to get the model to stand up the tires need to be filled with something...

[vypurr59]

I believe that tires are sold this way but made out of resin. If you do it yourself I would think after flattening the tire to get the model to stand up the tires need to be filled with something...

You can fill the tires with an RTV Silicone, put a dowel rod through the center hole and clamp them to a table or wood block, you can do several tires at one time with this method. I do dip the tires in boiling water to soften them, before the RTV goes inside.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Bulged or flat...just a matter of degree. Here are some ideas.

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=40659