Hi all,

Would anyone tell me an easy way to make burnt out tank wheels? I mean these wheels with rubber rims. I am a modeller who is not able to purchase any aftermarket burnt out wheels from anywhere, as Tank Workshop or Jaguar items are not available in hobby shops in my country. So I’m forced to do these wheels myself. Has anyone tried to do this in the past and is it easy? I know rubber rimmed tank wheels have a raised lip protecting the rubber rim from slipping off the wheel dish. How to do this by hand to achieve the best results? I know I should sand off the plastic “rubber” from the wheels, but what tool is the best for doing this perfectly? The sandpaper? The motor tool?
Please share any tips,
TIA,

PS. I mean burnt out tank wheels for German WWII vehicles, I plan to do a Pz IV wreck as my future project.
Piotr

Hi. Just sand them down with some sandpaper or a course emery board till you get to the 'steel' rim area. I tried this as an experiment on a Panther road wheel, and then took a triangluar file and cut a groove in the flat area to simulate the gap between the two 'metal' pieces were the 'rubber' had been . Also drilled a couple holes in the back with a motor tool till it almost came through the front and then used a knife to 'punch through' the surface to simulate shrapnel damage. Then, just for fun, I heated the wheel ever so slightly and 'bent' it just a little bit. Don't know how accurate this is to damage on the real thing, but it looked pretty good to me, for my skills.

Good luck and take care, sgirty