hello out there,

i am having a bit of a problem spraying tank wheels (especially the rubber outer ring) and the center of vehice wheels, can anyone help me with ideas on how to do it and how to mask if needed

thanks mark wilson

Mark,
I have you covered on this one. Go to a office supply store or a drafting store, or some place that carries drafting materials. Get your self a circle template. The one I have cost me about $2 to $3 and has almost 20 different size circles on it.

All you have to do is paint the road wheel black or what ever rubber color you are using, then find the right size circle and place over the wheel. Then spray on the color of the wheel.

There you go!

Hello Pete

thanks for the prompt response, i will run out and grab one and let you know how it goes

thanks

mark

As a follow on, one of the techniques that works for me on the painting of the rubber is to place the wheel on a "stick" (I find that I usually have a paintbrush that works).

With the wheel solidly on the stick, you can turn the wheel while you hold the brush against the "tire" (or would that be "tyre" :-) ) and quickly get the outside painted.

You'll probably want to get several sticks of the appropriate diameter so you're not stuck doing one wheel at a time, and you'll need some sort of raised surface to rest and secure the wheels above the surface of your work area while they dry.

Welcome to Armorama.

Tom

Same tools, different method.

First, agree with Tom & the stick .... a long stick so I don't spray my hand, again ....

I have (Pete's) circle template, but I spray the wheel color first. Then I use the circle template to cut out a neat circle of masking tape to put over the wheel & I then spray the tire. It helps if the tape circle is oh-so very slightly bigger than the wheel as it sorta keeps the tire spray from coming up on the lip of the rim. Usually all is easily touched up by a brush.

My methid doesn't always work well if the hub sticks too far out from the tire, then I have to cut a hole in the 1st circle to fit over the hub, then put more tape atop that.

John

"WARNING!!"

"DO NOT LOOK INTO LASER WITH REMAINING EYE."

:-) :-) :-)

I have tried this with some success, I just use aluminum foil, press it down on the wheel and rub it down good and you have a replica of the roadwheel, then just trim and use as a mask. The reverse would be to paint the tire or road wheel rubber 1st then use foil by cutting an oversize piece and gently pressing it into the shape of the subject. Now just cut around the center with an 11 blade and now you have a mask covering the entire wheel, you just put a little modeling clay on the edges of the foil to keep it from blowing off from the airbrush. then you can use it on all the wheels as it is already a perfect mold of the original

Hi Mark,
I use Pete's method and it works. It is a bit tedious at first, but you'll become accustomed to it in no time. One other thing to remember is to completely cover the adjacent open circles with tape so that you're not spraying over you work area through them but only through the circle of your choice. Good luck.

Hello Guys

Thanks to every one for the help, i have tried a couple of different ideas as suggested here, and i have had the best results by using card templates, and/masking tape templates

once again thanks for the advice

mark wilson