after a mind numbing number of responses to my "search", I have concluded that there are two approaches to wheel & tire painting for an assembly which has been molded in one piece.

#1 - paint the tire and then paint the wheel.

#2. - paint the wheel and then paint the tire.

when using method #1, does the tire color affect the wheel color rendering it significantly different in shade than the body (given the intention they are to match as on a civilian vehicle).


when using method #2, what is the safest method of masking the wheel?


can anyone recommend a template (other than drafting) perhaps hobby-centric that has a plethora of circle diameters applicable to 1:35 scale wheels?

thanks

Personally I pre-shade my models so I spray the rubber at the same time. Then when painting the main colour I just fill in the wheel using the airbrush. I don't worry about being 100% within the lines. I'll be weathering the lower hull anyway. I used to hand paint tires, and it sucked. This way works way better for me. If you really want to use a mask, eduard makes loads of wheel masks. I've also seen circle templates on Amazon with every diameter imaginable.

I don’t mind using a drafting template, I tape off the close unused circles to prevent overspray.

You can see if Quickwheel has what you need. http://quickwheel.eu/List_of_QW_35.html

thanks for the link; that's a metric tonne of templates!


edit: i'm almost afraid to ask how many modelers paint the inside/ back of their wheels anything other than tire color . . .

I always paint the inner face of the wheels. To answer the initial question, I always paint the wheel with my airbursh and handpaint the tires. It is not that hard as you most often get a rim which prevent the tire paint to leak toward the wheel. However it can be tedious in particular if you paint tanks with double wheels like the Abrams or the Leopard.
I tried the masks but never was fully happy with them. The contact surfaces are tiny, the wheel hubs often prevent a perfect fit of the mask.

Olivier

I paint my road wheels some shade of black, usually Tamiya Rubber Black (XF-85) or NATO Black. I then use my circle template (metric) to mask the wheels and paint them the appropriate color. I do paint both sides. I'm just anal that way; but I don't fault someone for taking a shortcut.

I generally paint the wheel, then paint the tire. I use a Friskar circle cutter blade modified and chucked in a drafting compass and wide Tamiya (Kabuki) tape to make the masks. That way I can use one tool to make as many masks as I need, in any size I need. Using this method, I've never had any problem with shade differences, as the rubber parts of the tire are generally darker than the painted parts of the wheel. But waethering will normally take care of any shade differences anyway.
VR, Russ

I paint the rims/hubs first. Then I hand paint the rubber while the wheel is spinning slowly on a slightly conical peg moubted in the chuck of a low speed (or weak motor) mini drill.
If it still spins too fast I slow down the chuck with the left thumb (right handed ...).
Painting all the rubber on a complete set for a Pz IV takes me about 15 minutes.
It takes a little practice to get the wheels reasonably straight on the peg. It doesn't matter if the wheel wobbles slightly, since it spins so slowly (less than 150 to 200 rpm).

I apply the paint brush at the outside edge (tread side) and move slowly in towards the rim.

NOTE: On many vehicles there is a noticeable overspray of the rim colour onto the rubber, sometimes covering the whole side so that only the "tread" is rubber.
Weathering could also cover the rubber ....
Check images of the real things!

/ Robin

Robin is totally right above when he talks about overspray. As a former Tank Officer, I can tell you we seldom (if ever) took the time to "mask" the wheels on the real thing when we repainted (which was twice a year). For that matter, we hardly ever used paper masking material at all-- only for things that didn't react well with paint like sights and vision blocks. And frequently, grease was our "masking" medium. There was a lot of overspray on the wheels.
VR, Russ