I am looking for any suggestions on your method of painting road wheels please. I am having difficulty maintaining a clean line around the hub of the wheel where the rubber meets the metal.
If anyone has a sure-fire method please let me know. Thank you in advance. DF

Hello Robert!,
Here is what I do.. I use a circle template, you can get these from craft or art stores. They cost around $4 and have about 2 dozen or so hole "openings" on the template. I spray the rubber color of the wheel first then let dry. Then match up the appropriate size hole that fits the opening of the rim edge. Then spray the appropriate rim color and voila! no more hand painting rims! Easiest method I know of. Just remember to spray with the back side of the template facing toward you. That way the printed sizes of the circles on the front dont get covered in paint and become unreadable.

Hope this helps!

Best Wishes,
Walter

Hello Robret welcome to Armorama. I agree with Walter, the template is the easiest way of painting road wheels. Once your done spraying wipe the template right away, this way it saves it from the paint building up.

Excellent! Thank you for the info.

Very Good! Thank you, I will remember that as well.

Good visual reference Joe! One simple picture can say a thousand words. I tried to describe it but should have posted a picture. Thanks for the assist!

Walter

I'm using this template method too. Very nice and quick. It's fun , too.
Thanks for the picture Joe. I was thinking how to tell this story

Thank you! Now my biggest modelling woe is solved! That is so simple I never would have thought of that!

I still paint them by hand .. just finished a set for the Hanomag Im doing.. I gotta get a template.. :-)

Dave

I use the Template method also, Its the best method i've tried.

one more tip. I mask off the circles around the one I'm using to keep paint from building up on them.. also makes wiping off the paint afterwards easier.

Here is another option for you..... First, I completely paint the roadwheel with the base color. After its dry, I use black felt tip pens for coloring/painting the rubber parts. Since felt felt tip pens have glossy finish, I just give it a wash of black or gray. I also use the circular template method, but sometimes the size of the circles does not match the area to be masked....

Cheers

to paint my road wheels I use a black Sharpie Marker. This technique is described in the book, Modeling Realistic Tanks and Artillery by Mike Ashley.

The ink covers well and dries somewhat shiny but usually dulls rightup with a coat of flat.

I have tried the template method and find that very few roadwheels actually fit the holes in a circle template properly.

I paint road wheels with a fairly thick wash (more paint, less thinner - no exact ratios) and use a fine brush. If any of the paint goes where I don't want it, a quick swipe of my finger cleans it off.

Chris