1/24 Goodyear Eagle GT tires now available

[Chief Joseph]

Hello all,

I just wanted to let y'all know that I am offering a 1/24 scale Goodyear Eagle GT tires. I have been making scale helicopter model parts for years, but this is my first automobile release. The tires are cast in hard white resin and they have accurate tread pattern and sidewall lettering. One side is outline white letter and the opposite side is black letter. They are made to replace the Goodyear GT Radial tires that are found in many Revell/Monogram kits, most notably the '87 Buick Grand National and the '86 Chevy Monte Carlo SS. The size I patterned is 235/60R-15, which was the common replacement tire for the weak-looking 215/65R-15 that came stock on these cars. My item number is FMD-020 for the set of 4 tires. These are 100% scratchbuilt and not copied from any existing kit tire.

Full details at my website, http://www.fireballmodels.info

Thanks for looking,

Joseph

[Casey]

Very nice looking tires, Joe.

[Chief Joseph]

Thanks, Casey. I also have an original 1969 Goodyear redline that I am going to reproduce in 1/24. I'm making these tires for my own personal builds, but I figure they could be useful to others as well.

[Casey]

I like the fact they're made of solid, rather than flexible, resin, too. No future shrinkage to worry about and they can be finished to each person's taste.

[Chief Joseph]

I like the fact they're made of solid, rather than flexible, resin, too. No future shrinkage to worry about and they can be finished to each person's taste.

Yes, much more stable. I painted the promo tire with Wicked Colors Smoke Black, which is a good off-black rubber color, then lightly misted a dusty color over the tread. I drybrushed the smoke black back over the tread blocks to give some contrast. When the sidewalls were fully dried I sanded the raised letters to reveal the white resin. If you're so inclined, you can hit the sidewalls with a clear gloss to simulate a coat of Armor All!

[Casey]

Just received my tires today from Joseph, and they are excellent. I will post a full review in the Resin section, but I just wanted to give Joseph credit for creating a great set of tires which are much needed, and extremely well done. Thank you, Joseph.

[Casey]

I just received two sets of resin Eagle GT tires from Fireball Modelworks ( http://www.fireballm...nfo/fmr-020.htm ) and there are absolutely beautiful. The tread detail is crisp, the raised outline sidewall lettering is accurate and even, and each side features a slightly different height for the lettering to match the raised outline white lettering or the more subtle and slightly less raised non-OWLs of the 1:1 tires.

These tires are designed to replace Monogram's Goodyear GT Radial vinyl tires which were high tech for 1978, but not for any performance car newer than '85 or so. Joseph at Fireball has come to our rescue by creating these all new Eagle GT tires, so now there's no excuse for you not building an accurate Buick GN, Monte Carlo SS, or '83 Hurst/Olds Cutlass.

I test fit a few different wheels from various Monogram kits, so here are the pics of two of those tires. Why only two pictures with wheels inside the tires? All the Monogram wheels I tested were a nice, snug fit (not super tight, but you do need to press them into place, which is exactly how I like them to fit) inside the tires and were a perfect fit.

American Racing Torq Thrust from Monogram '70 Plymouth GTX:

Monogram (Revell's current Streetburner reissue, to be accurate) '84 Monte Carlo SS factory wheel:

You can easily see the raised letters in the above image, contrasting nicely against the black wheel lip.

Here are a few more images of the bare tires, and note how clean they are straight out of the package. Little to no cleanup will be needed-- exactly what excellent quality castings should look like as delivered.

I don't have a rating system, but if I did, these would get an A+. The quality is excellent, they were shipped quickly, and communication was excellent. I knew exactly when they had shipped and when I should expect them, and they arrived when they were supposed to, in a well packed and cushioned bubble envelope. Thank you, Joseph, and I hope you decide to take on a few other scale tire projects in the future, as I can't think of anyone better to make them.

[mikemodeler]

Thanks Casey, those look great and for $6, they seem like a bargin!

What paint are you going to use to paint those?

[Mike Kucaba]

I wasn't aware these were not available in kits when I saw the add in the forum. They do look nice. Won't there be a void in the tread pattern when the sprue is cut away? I know that you can position the tire so that doesn't show,just commenting on the product.

[Casey]

What paint are you going to use to paint those?

No idea yet, Mike.

I wasn't aware these were not available in kits when I saw the add in the forum. They do look nice. Won't there be a void in the tread pattern when the sprue is cut away? I know that you can position the tire so that doesn't show,just commenting on the product.

Yes, the area where the resin feed tube is cut away will be smooth, but it will be at the bottom, touching the ground, or it can be rotated to the top where it will be hidden in the wheel well.

Edited March 10, 2012 by Casey

[Mike Kucaba]

Testors makes a color called Rubber. A very convincing dark gray.

[Lownslow]

got a pic of them on the car im interested in a set

[Casey]

got a pic of them on the car im interested in a set

I just received them yesterday! I don't have pics of them on a car, but really, what more do you need? They're gonna look like Eagle GTs, no matter which vehicle you install them on.

[Lownslow]

I just received them yesterday! I don't have pics of them on a car, but really, what more do you need? They're gonna look like Eagle GTs, no matter which vehicle you install them on.

Stance is everything dont matter how right they look its how it sits that counts

[Casey]

We had nice weather today so I decided to prime and paint two of the Eagle GT tires. Both were primed with dark grey Duplicolor primer, and one was topcoated with Krylon semi-flat black, the other with Testors Flat Black enamel. Those were the only two black spray colors I had on hand, so that's why those particular colors/brands were used. Anyhoo, here are two detail pics showing the raised white letters revealed and the beautiful tread block detail:

[Scuderia]

Never thought of using a resin tire (just wheels) but those look killer pre and post paint. Nice

[Ron Hamilton]

I'm in.

[Monty]

While these are very nicely done, I'd give my left...over lunch to have a nice set of BF Goodrich Radial T/As. As popular as they were, I could see them still being lucrative. I wonder if some of our more talented modelers might be able to use the Arii tires as a starting point and make some castable masters in sizes more suited for 1/25 scale cars. Did I mention Pleeeeeaaaaaassse?

[Chief Joseph]

While these are very nicely done, I'd give my left...over lunch to have a nice set of BF Goodrich Radial T/As. As popular as they were, I could see them still being lucrative. I wonder if some of our more talented modelers might be able to use the Arii tires as a starting point and make some castable masters in sizes more suited for 1/25 scale cars. Did I mention Pleeeeeaaaaaassse?

Already been collecting references for the BFG R T/A. Size will be close to the Eagle GT, i.e. 1/24 for typical musclecars. Will work in 1/25 but will be a bit bigger than true scale. Like the Eagle GT, this would be a scratchbuilt tire, not a recast. Also in the works is a Goodyear redline.

[Monty]

Already been collecting references for the BFG R T/A. Size will be close to the Eagle GT, i.e. 1/24 for typical musclecars. Will work in 1/25 but will be a bit bigger than true scale. Like the Eagle GT, this would be a scratchbuilt tire, not a recast. Also in the works is a Goodyear redline.

I'm not sure what you mean by "collecting references", but I'm intrigued by the prospect of having these tires available. Can you give us an estimate as to when we might be able to buy them?

Edited March 19, 2012 by Monty

[Mike Kucaba]

I've got several sets of BFG Radial T/A's. They are kit based,so are they inaccurate or something?

[High octane]

Those are really nice tires but it's too bad they're not period correct for the models that I build.

[Chief Joseph]

I've got several sets of BFG Radial T/A's. They are kit based,so are they inaccurate or something?

Mike, I don't have any kits with the Radial T/A's, so I can't comment. I have a philosophy when it comes to my car modeling: instead of trying to track down kit parts that may or may not suit my needs, I just make what I want. I want some 1/24 scale Radial T/A's for one of the GTO's I am building, so instead of settling for undersized 1/25 tires or some ridiculously wide tires, I am going to make exactly what I want If I can make them available to others to help them out with their models, then it makes me happy to do that. There are a gazillion different directions a modeler can go with cars, and my niche is stock-appearing musclecars that I've either owned or came close to owning. It's a pretty small niche

[Chief Joseph]

Those are really nice tires but it's too bad they're not period correct for the models that I build.

What period are you building, Nick?

[Monty]

I've got several sets of BFG Radial T/A's. They are kit based,so are they inaccurate or something?

The only kit-based Radial T/As I can think of were those originally made by MPC (and occasionally found in some newer AMT kits).

Long story short, I'm being kind when I say the MPC tire's design and construction is mediocre when compared to the ARII T/As. Unfortunately, the ARII tires tend to look slightly out of scale on most 1/25 models, and some of the tire sets came mounted on some horrendously ugly wheels. In addition, the size of the hole for the wheel is large enough to preclude the use of most 1/25 scale wheels,so you'll probably have to resort to raiding Monogram kits if you want better looking wheels. Hence my fervent plea for a set of these that'll fit my model cars.