Had a silly question about tyres in general. Well, actually that's wrong. I meant specific.

In the Aircraft modeling aftermarket offerings there are resin replacement tyres available for most makes and models, same as in the AFV market. {b]BUT[/b], in the AC offerings they make tyres that show the 'buldge' that appears where the tyre rubber meets the ground. This is not so in the AFV marketplace (or at least I'm not aware of any). Why is this? I mean the Famo weights in at 18 Tons for crying out loud! The tyre's got to spread, don't you think?

Just curious.

Tread.

Same with vehicles like the Scammell, the Sd.kfz 7/1, the Osh Kosh, and so on.....

I think it's because in an aircraft, all the weight sits on the three tiny (in compare to the whoel plane) wheel sets, so the tyres are a bit flattened where it contacts the ground. And I have a feeling that the aircraft tyres are made of softer rubber than the one used on the land vehicle. (Kinda like the one used by the Kubelwagen's Afrika version, Just my feeling), and they are not that rigid.

As for a half track such as FAMO, most of the weight will be distributed to the tracks, and the road wheels, so despite its weight, the tyres won't sink so much.

It's just my speculation of course. :-)

I agree with you Tread, why not make it right if your going to make it in the first place. I got some resin hummer tires recently and the are perfectly round. I have seen some in real life and they arn't that way. If they can do it for aircraft they should do it for armor. I am sure it wouldln't be as drastic an effect, but there should be some buldging. The aftermarket tires I got for my 1/48 avenger have buldges in them, sure wish the hummers did also.

Sounds like a good answer Dave, except I've seen photos of vehicles with the 'buldge'.....heck, my SUV 's tyres buldge and it can't possibly weigh as much as a third of a Famo? Ya think?

Tread.

Here's a follow-up question. Aren't most of the military tyre'd vehicles out there (2.5T, 5T, 10T, etc) a split-rim design? Kinda like most tractor trailer rigs?
Hmmphf! Maybe it's a maintenance thing, the tyre's were always over-filled or something.

Are you sure about that? Take a look at my motorpool in the Tire Warehouse album. You will see very little bulging. Especially on a HMMWV, it looks fairly unburdened.

Of all the trucks I have seen and driven while I was in I never saw a bludging tire if it was air most be low or God its flat #:-)

So what is it Rob, the tyres are that stiff walled, or maintenance just 'keeps 'em filled'?

Kinda hard to imagine the Famo, for instance, during war time having routine maintenance. But you're the maintenace expert. I'm not.

Tread.

It's just that I've always thought it looked unrealistic on my models. I feel the same way when I look at car models at modeling shows. It just looks 'wrong'.

I gotta agree with ROb/Sabot I just looked through some goood close up shots of jeeps hummers and deuces .while there is some flattenini and therefore some bulging unless you were right up against the tire/tyre you wouldn't see it, especialy in 1/35 scale or less. one other reason that the manufacturers make them perfectly round may be to alloww the vehicle to roll if the modeller so chooses( hey I used to play war with my stuff. OK that was 25 years ago )After all everyone loves moveable parts! :-) :-)

Josh Weingarten
aKA shiryon

I agree - when the tires on the real vehicle exhibit that feature - it would be nice to have it rendered in miniature. However, not all tires characteristically display a bulge. Sabot's pictures are great for showing this. The HMMWV's I drove in the military did not display a pronounced bulge - while naturally I can find photos to the contrary with other Hummers. To arbirtarily bulge every AFV tire is about as correct as weathering them all the same...

Gunnie

O.K.,........first I'm not saying that all tyre's should buldge like a well-nurtured 'beer belly' here fella's. Refering to my earlier comparision to standard commercial tractor trailer rigs, unless the tyre's are made of solid rubber there has got to be some 'give'. Sometimes noticable, sometimes not. Going back further even, to the aircraft example, most AC's in the box, and at model shows are built with 'non-buldged' tyres. But there are manufacturer's the make buldged alternatives. All I was curious about was why there aren't companies that do the same for the AFV crowd.

Tread.

BTW, I have read articles that mentioned the Afrika Corp would routinely lower the pressure in their wheeled vehicles to increase tread footprint, and surface 'floatation' while operating in the desert.

Sorry, don't mean to beat this subject to death. I will shut off my curiousity.....probably a good idea for now.

Wouldn't it make a difference if the tires (tyres) are radial or not? I'm no tire expert, but I do know that radials bulge more.

Nic

I'm going to take Rob up on his suggestion about checking out the motorpool. There's a NG base just down the road from me, has all kinds of vehicle's parked outside....I'm going to do some research. Maybe I'll ask the guys there about it.
Plus there's a Hummer dealer on my way to work....check them out too.

I'll update this silly thread later with the results of my Sherlock Holmes impersonation.

Tread.

I'm ex-Air Force I did airframe repair(sheet metal) and corrosion control(paint shop) I've been out almost 7 years I really don't remember the aircraft tires having any noticable bulge So if anyone gets to an airshow soon,please check it out
Chad #:-)

My personal experance is that Tires on Modern Trucks dont buldge out that much and when they do, it wouldnt be that noticeable in 1/35 scale. Another thing to consider with tires on Aircraft...they get very little useage compaired to ground based systems (well duh....LOL) thus they often stay on one side of the tire alot more then say truck would. I've heard a story from an old SGT I had and he was driving a 2 1/2 truck in the 80's and was part of Nuclear Unit there. Well the truck he had was sitting in the motor pool for ages and had flat spots where the tire made contact with pavement. Well he had to take it out one day with a Lt as his TC...this happened to be the same time that Germans where demostrating about the Nuclear weapons. As he was pulling out of the motor pool on to the streets and started to pick up speed the tires started to make odd noise from the flat spots on the tires, the LT started to ask what the noise was from...and the SGT told him oh one of the protestors got run over and stuck in the wheels

I know, at least the large aircraft, that they are moved on a regular basis to prevent those flat spots on the tires.

Because most of the bulged A/C tires produced to retrofit on an airplane model are often over-bulged in the eyes of the modeler(s). Aircraft are fastidiously maintained and just don't often look like that in reality - again, modeler(s) opinions manifested in the choice of more of them not putting these items on their aircraft model.

For the AFV crowd, there are less manufacturers out there than for aftermarket A/C, so less tires naturally. The bulged option is a little contentious for the same reason - whether or not the armor modeling community would pay and support a long term production of appropriately bulged tires probably is the biggest determining factor in this question - and not so much whether or not the idea is good.

Two more cents to add to the thread...

Gunnie

Not many GZ - I did enough Close Boundary Sentry duty when in the Air Force to look at those aircraft all day long. No crew chief would let his fighter sit there in that condition. Naturally, the larger transport aircraft are a different story, but the weight bulge was not pronounced.

Gunnie

Even if a well inflated tyre doesn't have much, if any, bulge in the sidewalls, there is surely a slight flat spot where the rubber meets the road, otherwise it looks the the vehicle is standing on tip-toe.

arawata

O.K. guys, did my 'Sherlock Holmes' impersonation at the local NG base. Here's the findings:

...We're ALL correct.

There was a Duece sitting there empty, tyre's had almost NO buldge.
There was also a HEMTT (tanker) that I know has been sitting in the same spot for quite a long time (towards the back). Believe it or not, this vehicle had an impressive amount of buldge (suprised me)
Sitting beside the Duece was a soft-skinned Hummer. This vehicle had a slight buldge in three of the tyre's with one tyre being difinitely buldged.
Across the lot there was a another Duece with (I believe) a CC shelter on the back, this one had NO buldge to speak of even with the added weight of the load.

Retail Hummer Dealer:

Put simply, the more basic versions had almost no buldge. The 'decked-out' versions, with aftermarket tyre's did have noticable buldges.

Conclusion (IMO):

I think the general lack of any noticable buldge is thanks to the erstwhile efforts of our U.S. maintenance crews, plus the fact that the tyres themselves are quite stout.
I don't have the same confidence in WWII german maintenance crews or their efforts since most german armoured vehicles did not receive the same 'repair & recycling' activity as the U.S. Forces. I have seen pictures (quite a few actually) that depict this SOP. Hence, my query.

So, in conclusion, as with anything on the face of the Earth. Sometimes it buldges, sometimes it doesn't.

Tread.

Again, my sincere apologies for making this thread bigger than it deserved. But, as usual, you have all shown your character in trying to help a fellow armoramaholic to get to the bottom of a mystery. Even one that was a bit frivilous.
I do appreciate all the participation. You're the best.

Tread. :-)

I tried this before. I usualy do it when modeling flat tires. What you do is sand down the section to be flat . Than add some putty there , let dry, and sand. There's your flat,loe air pressure, or whatever. It actualy looks pretty good when its done right. people make knocked out tanks but a knocked out half track with flats takes a little bit more skill