I'm working on my Italari Horch kfz 15 and the kit come with 6 nos of vinyl tyres,is there any
method I can use to make them look used or worn?I try to sand it with sandpaper and it turn
up horrible.......!

Ongjeff - welcome! Have you tried weathering your tires with pastel chalk. You said you've already with sandpaper, right? That'll give the pastels more to "bite" into.

Gunnie

You can always dullcoat them and then weather them with pastels. The dull coat will give the pastels something to bite into. Many car guys use sand paper on auto tires, you just have to use a fine grain.

Gunnie/Rob--what color pastels do you use in this process? How do you do it--ground the pastel then run the tire over it or spray dullcoat then brush it on? I tried pastels several times , never could get them to do anything. Do you ground it up then brush it on? If so how does it stick?
thanks
DJ

DJ; I use the following method for dry pastels chalks:
1) First ground the pastel chalks using a fine sandpaper (all colours you wanna use)
2) Start with a grey tone to wear the tires ( you can mix the ground pastels to match the colour you want)
3) Movie to add a earth colour to the tires, depending upon your weathering
4) Use a black pastel on the tread of the tires (where the tires grabs the ground)
For me, I'd use it, any further comments? Rob and Gunnie?
Cheers!

First, ongjeff, welcome to the site. As you can already see we're pretty helpful here! As to your question. Were you asking how, thru painting, they would look "...used or worn?", or were you asking how you would physically make them look that way? I believe you have already got a couple of very good answers to the former part of my question. If you are in fact looking for an answer to the latter question ( a good question by the way ), then that would actually be a bit more complicated. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong here but, weren't (for the most part) military vehicle tyres changed fairly regularly, even before they really received any true 'wear' because of all of the rubble, shrapnel, obstacles, etc, that they were driven upon?? Gunnie, Rob, Kenc, 210?

I always thought that they never really got 'worn down' because of that reason.


Tread.

I haven't tried this, but I read somewhere that you could sand or dullcoat the tires, then put them in a plastic bag with your ground pastels. Then you just shake the bag. Just a thought.

cfbush---that's what I thought would be the best method of getting the pastel to the tire. Sand the seam, dampen the tire with a spray of dull cote then shake and bake it. How you tried that method with the M-26?
DJ

I use two types of pastels: For the wheels on my Dragon Wagon, for example, I went with pasteled "Mud" from Husdon & Allen. I poured this mixture in a little plastic case. It is big enough for me to roll the wheel in. Litterally, I rolled the wheel in the pastels to impress the chalk into the tire tread. If you get too much, brush it off. I then "fix" it to the wheel with a mist of dull cote later on.

Second type I use are oil based pastels - a set from Grumbacher in a supply store. I have a set that I've used since 1986 - and haven't gone through half of the colors yet. This allows you to mix & match shades. I pickup the pastels from the brick with a paintbrush. These paintbruses are only used for pastels. I apply the pastels to the tire tread and sidewalls like painting. Later on, I "fix" the pastels in place too with a mist of dull cote.

Gunnie

Gunnie--sounds like a plan. Have you done the VLS wheels for the M-8/20 using this method?
DJ

Not the VLS resin wheels for the M8 / M20 specifically - as I used the kit's wheels - but I do the same to varying degrees for all my wheeled vehicle models...

Gunnie

hey guys,thanks for taken up ur time to reply me with all the methods and infor that I need. :-) :-) I definately going to try it out now!

DJ
Do you mean the whole model or just the tires? I haven't got up the nerve to start the kit yet, but I'm getting close.
Chuck

cfbush--just the tires. I have the superb MMiR article on constructing that baby. Time! So many, many models to build and so very little time.....I just finished my M-8 and now go into my detail phase. The it's the M4 105mm. I also finsihed the initial coat of grey on the CMD bridge set. I have to take some pictures to post. I guess that should be question for the group---what is best why (digital or regular camera) to take photos for posting.....more to follow
DJ

DJ
I can't wait to see the pictures. I have an Italeri M8 in the works myself.
The pictures on my website were taken with 2 digital cameras. Some with a sub-megapixel resolution, and a few with a 1.2 mp resolution. I just bought a 3 mp camera a couple of weeks ago and need to redo all the pics.
Good luck with your photography.
Chuck

Chuck---the bridge came out quite well. I am going to the hobby store to ask how to simulate moss on the side to cover some of the gaps. I painted it a dark gray them wil apply a black wash with white highlights. The M-8 has the VLS interior which is almost criminal to cover once you install it. I going to apply decal today then the wash and weather it. I used AFV track on her and I am well pleased with the results.
DJ