Painting Thin-line White Walls

[Lyle Willits]

You asked for it,,,,well, a couple of you did.

Here's what ya need. A small compass with a quill attachment. (My compass is very old and dirty - your new one will be bright and shiny.) These can be purchased at art supply stores or on-line from art or drafting supply companies. A bottle of acrylic white paint. I have always used Polly Scale - it hasn't peeled or yellowed yet in 30 years. Your choice of tires (obviously) and an OLD wheel from the parts box that fits TIGHTLY in the tires.

Push the wheel tightly into the tire. Insert the pivot pin of the compass into the DEAD CENTER of the wheel. Adjust the compass to the desired demensions.

While being careful not to change the setting of the compass that you just adjusted, load the quill section with paint. I don't do this very scientifically - I just dip it in the jar and wipe off the excess from the outside surfaces of the quill.

Carefully place the compass pivot pin back into the tiny hole you made in the center of the wheel. Touch the paint-loaded quill to the tire and turn the compass at an even, steady pace. If the paint is too thick, it won't flow onto the tire. If the paint is too thin, it will immediately make a big blob when you touch the quill to the tire.

Will it come out right the first time? - PROBABLY NOT! Like anything else, this takes a little practice. The good news is that you are using water-based paints, so if you mess up badly, simply walk over to the sink and wash off the tire and start again.

If you make just a tiny booboo, you can usually correct it with a small brush and some Polly Scale Midnight Black.

Want to get real tricky? Use some Polly Scale blue and water it WAY WAY down so that the blue paint is hardly noticable. Brush this onto a white wall tire and let it completely dry. You will have a very subtle blue, blotchy coating , just like on new tires, before it is scrubbed off.

Happy painting.

[mr moto]

Cool tutorial! I'll have to try that. When I built AMT's '63 Avanti the narrow whites that came with it looked so bad that I just painted them flat black even though I really wanted narrow whites. I just didn't know how to do it. So thanks for a good tip!

[Scooby]

Good stuff to know!

[Randy Kern]

You know Lyle, that would be a nice little seminar at a CPMCC meeting sometime. Also, you could show off your very old and dirty compass.

[Lownslow]

just tried this today and you made me a happy man

[Lyle Willits]

just tried this today and you made me a happy man

Edited December 7, 2007 by Lyle Willits

[cruz]

Glad that it worked for you.

Well,,my work here is done.

No Your work will be done after the tutorial at one of our meetings

[Lownslow]

i upped the ante a little today,Vogues

[Zoom Zoom]

I tried a white gel pen and circle template yesterday, and it worked like a charm

[Lownslow]

I tried a white gel pen and circle template yesterday, and it worked like a charm

i kept trying that and it bled under every time and the lines were limited to what the pen is available in

[Tonioseven]

Man, this makes me wanna do a set of Vogues for my '70 Buick Wildcat!

[Zoom Zoom]

i kept trying that and it bled under every time and the lines were limited to what the pen is available in

It takes a few tries to get used to it; I ended up cleaning the tires w/some thinner and scuffing the sidewalls a bit. The pen has a relatively narrow tip. It only bled on me once, but it's easy to smear before it dries. Once I got the hang of it I did a set of four in a couple minutes with very clean results. I haven't found my old pen/ink compass yet to try that; it's buried somewhere.

[carrucha]

Thanks for the great tip Lyle.

carrucha

[Don B]

I also use a bow compass to do my redlines. Works great. The only thing I do different instead of dipping the quill into the paint jar. I dip a paint brush in the paint then I put just enough paint in the quill to do one tire. It runs down to the and of the quill and is ready to go. Less mess. Just another tip.

Edited January 8, 2008 by Don B

[Raul_Perez]

Nice tip, Lyle!! Thanks for sharing!!

[Casey]

Those look pretty nice, but I'm guessing a compass with a quill attachment wouldn't be the easiest thing to find? It sure would allow for many whitewall width and color options, though.

[vypurr59]

This trick just beat the trick I was using, I would take a circle cutter and cut 2 masks for the outer and inner dimensions, Then just paint between the lines. It does make for good results, but is VERY time consuming, Taking into account that I would have to cut 8 masks for 4 tires.this looks like my tire painting time has been drastically reduced, and thanks for sharing your tip.

[vypurr59]

Those look pretty nice, but I'm guessing a compass with a quill attachment wouldn't be the easiest thing to find? It sure would allow for many whitewall width and color options, though.

These can be found at craft stores in the drawing section. Can be found at Office supply stores also

[gtx6970]

Boy,

Am I going to remember this tip.

Thanks for bumping it to the top

[Deathgoblin]

Nice! I've got one of those kinds of compasses around the house. I'll have to get cracking.

[Mr Dedo]

in a metal compass set that quill tip is SOP

have tried a circle template and model master white lacquer spray primer on AMT tires with good results

practicing now on a set of those big and littles from the '32 revell group