painting plastic tires

[gasman]

what paint should I use to make plastic tires look realistic. The kit i'm working on only has hard plastic tires molded in white, and I need them too be painted black and look realistic.

[Karmodeler2]

Tamiya Matt black out of the spray can or model master black chrome trim shot through an airbrush has the most realistic looking tire black I have seen.

David

[Olle F]

My favorite for simulating rubber is Testors "Black Chrome Trim". It has the right sheen, and you can get a pretty realistic rubber color if you add a tad of white (straight black is "too black", IMO). I use this for hoses and belts in the engine compartment, but it should work on tires as well.

[MonoPed]

I use Tamiya NATO black which is a very dark, very flat grey (almost totally black), with a few drops of semi gloss black added in.

[Simon]

Terry, most military kits have plastic tyres rather than the vinyl ones you get in car kits. I actually prefer the look of painted tyres. What I tend to do is paint them with matt black, then dry brush with successively lighter shades of grey - say charcoal, followed by mid grey, follwed by a VERY dry brush with pale grey. This example is perhaps a little more weathered-looking than you have in mind, but you get the idea.

[Zoom Zoom]

Tamiya Black Rubber Spray

Good stuff, even feels like rubber.

[Brendan]

I use Tamiya's NATO Black; airbrush it on and then shoot Testors Flat Lacquer over the top. It's always worked for me.

Here's a picture of the tires from the Cheetah that I did.