hey bros,

Something happened to me this weekend and a bit puzzled.

I got the Academy M151 Shmira kit and built it OOB last week. It was a cool build and something to quel that damn AMS that I have. Anyway, the tires were painted (after washing, and drying for three days) Badger Model Flex acrylic paint (Used black). Now the tires seem to be melting!

I had removed the hub from one tire as it had gotten soem klenex stuck to it. When i removed the tire from the hub, there was some of the tire on the inside of the hub. What the H#$$??????

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance bros,
Dave

Hi,

A similar thing happened to me, not in such a short period, with the TAMIYA LRDG Chevy and ITALAEREI Katiusha. They have rubber tyres and the plastic of the hub in contact with the rubber had melted.

According to some opinions the hub must be completly primed and painted so that the plastic and rubber do not contact.

HTH

This is kind of weird as I have a old nitto from 10 years back that has rubber tires on it and was shot with the old Humbrol panzer gray and never had a problem with no tire melting or whatever,kind of strange. I wonder if the modern stuff is different somehow cheaper grade of plastic. HMMMM

Hi,

Those two models I mentioned are old ones - about 15 years - and I haven't painted the hubs before placing the rubber tyres on them.

I read on several foruns that this happened a lot on those old kits from TAMIYA and ITALAEREI with rubber tyres but, never has it be mentioned to occur in such a short period of time.

There is also a problem with DML rubber tires. Either thin out the inner circumference of the vinyl tire or the outer circumference of the plastic wheel. The slight pressure of the tire on the wheel will cause the tire to split after a while.

In the old days, the soft vinyl used to make flexible parts would "melt". The plasticizers (stuff that makes the vinyl flexible) would leech out of the vinyl and start to melt the surrounding styrene. Best solution is to make sure there is paint between the vinyl and plastic. Spray the vinyl tire with clear matte acrylic (after trimming it to fit the wheel hub) and make sure the plastic wheel is fully painted around the inside of the hub.

You think we have it bad, vintage Barbie® doll collectors (like my wife) have it worse. The vinyl used in the arms, legs and head melt the styrene body of the doll, and there's nothing they can do to stop it. Newer ones are made of a different vinyl.

Your problem with the new vinyl tires of the Academy M151A1 shouldn't have happened with acrylics unless you used a too caustic thinner.

Well guys,

Over at ML, Ian suggested that I should've coated the tires with a dilute solution of white glue and water.

Never saying never, I just did that. Sure, there was acoat of acrylic paint on them, but I thought this might do something before I toss them for some resin (don't know if the exisit) tires.

I will let all know the results of the drying phase of this experiment. But as this kit was OOB in two days, I will not be that tee-off if I loose this kit. Besides, the decals are real shinny and I will have to do some old decal work. Jezzz, I love dry transfers!

Dave