Wire wheels for 1950's race cars

[Pierre Rivard]

Starting to figure out what I need to do about wheels & tires for an old Monogram kit. The topic is Mercedes 300 SRL at 1955 Mille Miglia.

I think the best suited out there is the FPPModelos (Fernando Pinto) wheels but after conversion to CAD plus shipping from Portugal the set comes in at almost $100. Ouch!

So I've been experimenting with a set or 3 piece resin cast from HRM. Lots of cleanup and looks decent but it might fit better on an early sixties Ferrari maybe...

Also did some work on the lit wheels, de-chroming, cleaning up and refinishing. The shape is more suitable but the wires are a bit on the fat side still. However the kit tires are magnificent.

So looking for input on alternative solutions as these two sets  I build are not bad but I'd like to improve things a bit. Please bring your ideas and post pictures.

Thanks,

 

[stitchdup]

theres a thread somewhere on here about building your own wire wheels. the examples in the thread were convincing. i think it may be a thread started b HarryP (RIP)

[Gramps46]

Pierrie,

I think the wires you have done look pretty darn good.  One suggestion is to paint the spokes a darker color or as Rich does is brush ? some Tamiya smoke color on the spokes.  Model Builders Warehouse has some 3D printed ones in 1/24 scale which look darn good.

[Ace-Garageguy]

   Any wire, any application, any scale. It just takes some effort.

 

[Pierre Rivard]

14 hours ago, Gramps46 said:

Pierrie,

I think the wires you have done look pretty darn good.  One suggestion is to paint the spokes a darker color or as Rich does is brush ? some Tamiya smoke color on the spokes.  Model Builders Warehouse has some 3D printed ones in 1/24 scale which look darn good.

Thanks for the advice Gary. The 3D printed wheels do look great.

[Pierre Rivard]

14 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

   Any wire, any application, any scale. It just takes some effort.

 

Thanks for finding that old thread Ace. I started studying the method but I doubt I have the required skills to pull that off. Not saying no yet, I'll keep studying it.

[Kit Karson]

Search: 3 results found for "3D Printed Wire Wheels" – Model Builders' Warehouse (modelbuilderswh.com)

OUT OF STOCK

Word travels fast!

[peteski]

On 12/29/2022 at 12:38 PM, Kit Karson said:

Search: 3 results found for "3D Printed Wire Wheels" – Model Builders' Warehouse (modelbuilderswh.com)

OUT OF STOCK

Word travels fast!

They might have been out of stock for quite some time.  Last time I bought some was probably about a year ago, and at that time Randy had issues producing them and didn't know when the would be available again.  They are really nice wire wheels. 3D printing is the only way one can achieve true interlaced spokes.  Photoetched spokes can't emulate that.