1:24 Scale Wire wheels

[Austin NJ]

Is there any company that makes 1/24 scale Kelsey Hayes bent spoke wheels? Or any nice regular wire wheels?

thanks in advance

[MrObsessive]

Take a look at this ended auction here, and keep an eye on this seller. I have a set of these wheels for a future project and they're quite nice! Also, you might want to do a search on the 'Bay for KA Models photoetched wheels as they may have something in the ballpark of what you're looking for. Here's an example of those here.

Hope this helps!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Herb Deeks (seller name deeks2) on Ebay also has some photo-etched wire wheel kits (15" PE centers that go in your own plastic rims).

Edited September 1, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Deathgoblin]

Check these out.  They aren't horribly expensive and look REALLY nice. 

http://www.3dmodelparts.com/1-24-1-25-wire-wheels-15-inch-60-spoke/

[kitbash1]

You can also try the wires made by Fernando Pinto.  He sells on Ebay, and has a Facebook page. I've bought wheel sets from him for my Talbot-Lago GP car and my Shark-nose Ferrari.

[aurfalien]

Take a look at this ended auction here, and keep an eye on this seller. I have a set of these wheels for a future project and they're quite nice! Also, you might want to do a search on the 'Bay for KA Models photoetched wheels as they may have something in the ballpark of what you're looking for. Here's an example of those here.

Hope this helps!

Thats FPPM or Fernandao Pinto whose kits I have two of.

And one of them has those wheels, a bit wider though, Dino 246SP.

HRM does a hand laced wheel, give em a jingle, not email.  He NEVER answers email as I think those go into a cosmic bunny hole of some sort.

[aurfalien]

Check these out.  They aren't horribly expensive and look REALLY nice. 

http://www.3dmodelparts.com/1-24-1-25-wire-wheels-15-inch-60-spoke/

Those seem rather reasonable for a specialty type wheel actually.

[Deathgoblin]

Not terrible, and they look a lot better than the original wheels for some kits.  I picked up a set to throw onto a Jaguar E-Type. 

[Austin NJ]

I'm looking for ones that go with an old 30's American traditional hot rod the best.

Thanks for all the replies I think I like the 3D model parts the best. They seem like the most traditional looking

[Foxer]

These aren't exactly what you're looking for but with all the source replies your thread is looking like the  "where can I get great looking wire wheels" to go to! 

So, these PE wheels I got from a Gunze Sangyo High-Tech TR2 La Mans kit to use on a TR4A I'm building. These kits come up on ebay all the time and are usually a bit expensive. I got them in a bid on just the wheels and tires for $20. They look spectacular compared to the 2 TR3 kits I have as donors. They look just like the TR4A I had and are good for sport cars.

 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

These can look really good too, depending on the application. They can also be stripped and painted, or narrowed to represent older steel-spoke wires.

[Snake45]

There's a feature-length article in the new issue of "that other model car magazine" on making your own wire wheels. Looks like far too much work for me, but for someone motivated to have nice wire wheels, it looks like it should work. Low cost but looks like a substantial investment in time.

[Ace-Garageguy]

There's at least one "how to" thread on this board too.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Here's another one...

           

 

Edited September 7, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[High octane]

Monogram's Corvette America kit has a beautiful set of wire wheels & tires in 124th scale.

[Art Anderson]

I'm looking for ones that go with an old 30's American traditional hot rod the best.

Thanks for all the replies I think I like the 3D model parts the best. They seem like the most traditional looking

FWW,  there are/were, more of less, two ways of making "wire" wheels:  Of course,  there are the "laced" wire wheels, which have been around since at least the 1880's-using spokes which are manually "laced" into the hub and rim in the very same manner as classic bicycle wheels.  This type of wheel is built up, one spoke at a time, each spoke having a formed head (like the head of a nail) at one end (almost always at the hub), with a threaded, female head at the outer or "rim" end for adjusting to true up the wheell.  This type of wire wheel was/is used mostly on vintage race cars (before cast alloy racing wheels became available), as well as on sports cars (even a few exotic luxury cars well into the 1960's. 

However, the "wire wheels" most commonly seen on hot rods in this country were/are of the "welded steel spoke" type--a construction method pioneered for Kelsey Hayes and Ford Motor Company in 1926 to replace the much more vulnerable wood-spoked wheels then almost universal across the US auto industry.  These wheels have far fewer spokes, each spoke being far heavier than any wire spoke--generally anywhere from 1/4" to 3/8" in diameter,  made as steel forgings with a "mushroom" shaped "head" at either end.  The rim and hub were placed in a jig, each having  slight "dimples" pressed into these parts for the location of each spoke.  The spokes were then lightly pressed into place, and once all were installed, they were welded (using the then fairly new "resistance" welding that was coming into use in automobile construction.  While most commonly thought of in terms of Fords 1926-36, this type of wire wheel found wide use in the US auto industry--with Auburn Automobile Company probably the last to use them in regular production through their last year of production in 1936.  

However for early hot rodders, who were using primarily Ford axles front and rear for a few decades, Ford welded steel spoke wheels became almost tradtional, certainly when wider tire sizes came into use (very popular for years were 1935 Ford "wires" which were 6:00-16's, a tire size that Ford used all the way through 1948.  Because of their fairly complicated hubs, and the equally complicated task it would be to lace these for a proper appearance, I've never seen this wheel reproduced in "fine scale" appearance.  The only model of these wheels I've ever seen, were done for my All American Models 1935 Ford 1/2 ton pickup and panel delivery resin transkits, in cast white metal, by the former R&D Unique afternarket resin & white metal producer out of the Seattle/Tacoma area.  (They were adaptations of the same wheel as produced by Danbury Mint for their 1/24 scale 1935 Ford pickup, which was produced about 1997 or so.

Art

[Roncla]

MFH has recently released a set of Borrani rims for those with deep pockets. You could probably pick them up cheaper elsewhere but this link does have a photo

http://www.spotmodel.com/product_info.php?products_id=50236