Clear Steering Wheels

[StevenGuthmiller]

Here's a couple of shots of other builds I've done with transparent steering wheels. Unfortunately, most of my older photos are 2MB or larger which are not allowed on this forum, so short of resizing all of them, I guess I'll be shooting some new pics for you guys.

Steve

[cobraman]

AMT's AC 289 Cobra has a clear wheel. Not sure if all issues had it.

[Miatatom]

so short of resizing all of them, I guess I'll be shooting some new pics for you guys.

I recommend the free software called PixResizer. Works great and the price is right. I've used it for several years.

[charlie8575]

Steve, it might be worth using Photobucket or similar. In addition to being able to store literally hundreds of pictures, Photobucket formatting (the format this forum uses) will automatically resize the picture for you.

Charlie Larkin

[jbwelda]

those look very kool. very finely detailed and looks like you polished the rim so the clear is really clear. I had a resin one, used it in a 51 Cheby, but was wondering, did any car actually come with a clear steering wheel? somehow I think maybe a 54 Corvette?

those are very nice, where can one find them besides the cobra kit?

jb

[mikevillena]

those look very kool. very finely detailed and looks like you polished the rim so the clear is really clear. I had a resin one, used it in a 51 Cheby, but was wondering, did any car actually come with a clear steering wheel? somehow I think maybe a 54 Corvette?

those are very nice, where can one find them besides the cobra kit?

jb

@ jb - Heller made a 1/24th scale kit of the Delahaye 135 . Pretty rare kit. I had one unbuilt but sold it along with the massive collection that I had.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1947_Delahaye_135_MS_-_green_-_rvrT.jpg

Edited April 20, 2014 by mikevillena

[StevenGuthmiller]

Yes William. A lot of the top of the line Mopars from 1960-1961 had a transparent wheel as well as the Pontiacs from around 1959 all the way to the mid 60s. I'll post a few pics.

Steve

[Tom Geiger]

I think I remember there being a clear steering wheel in the 1965 Riviera kit as a custom piece.

[kingiguana]

I had a 64 Pontiac, and it had the clear sections, but the metal rod could be seen through the clear areas. To make one truly accurate, You'd need to somehow put clear plastic over a metal rod, and still have the finger grooves. But those do look cool.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Now you're talking a lot of work Joe! My original plan was using some silver jewelry wire with some clear plastic tubing with metallic flecks in it slipped over the top, but the scale was off & it just looked too "clunky". The "grip" detail?.....if you can come up with a relatively easy way of doing that, I'm all ears. I decided this was the simplest alternative.

Steve

[Jeremy Jon]

Nice build workmanship, they look great!!

[Guest]

I use MS Paint, a part of Windows, to resize pics if needed.

[peekay]

Fantastic, the icing on an already sumptuous cake!

[Mike_G]

Okay, I'll bite... how did you do that? Heat/bend clear sprue?

[StevenGuthmiller]

Exactly Mike!!

Steve

[Mike_G]

Exactly Mike!!

Steve

Cool! I'm gonna try that sometime.

[Greg Cullinan]

Nice idea and looks.

[Tom Geiger]

I believe the solution is to take an original Johan 1960 Plymouth (and other suitable candidates) and cast them in clear resin. Then you can just paint the sections that shouldn't be clear.

Clear is 'good enough' for the part. The wheel is way too small to see the metal core under the clear plastic.

[StevenGuthmiller]

That would work too Tom. Unfortunately, I have no resin casting skills, material or equipment. This seemed like the easiest alternative. Maybe some day I'll get into some casting. There are some things I could use it for.

Steve