Adhesive wide white walls

[Lovefordgalaxie]

This is an alternative to actually painting wide white walls on tires.

It works well specially if you want a custom detail, like to call out the manufacturer name on those no name tires we are being presented those days.

You will need an good quality adhesive backing paper, your favorite imaging editing program, a good printer, and a circle cutter (or a really firm hand!!!)

It all starts measuring the tire you want to make white walls too.

Then, using your computer (I used Auto Cad) draw the inner and outer borders of the white wall in a light almost white color.

Next, draw the manufacturer's name of your choice. I drew Firestone.

Here are the measures in millimeters that will work for Revell tires (the ones on the '57 Ford kit) and for AMT Firestones:

Now you are ready to print your drawing with the highest quality possible.

Time to use your circle cutter to cut first the outer edge, and after the inner edge of the white walls:

This will be the result:

Now you can just take your exacto knife, and peel the white wall, and carefully place it over the tire to be white walled:

And here is your final result:

Time to start white walling!!!

[charlie8575]

Look good, Tulio.

What did you use for the adhesive paper?

Charlie Larkin

[Lovefordgalaxie]

Look good, Tulio.

What did you use for the adhesive paper?

Charlie Larkin

I use Pimaco adhesive labels:

http://www.pimaco.com.br/produto/426/aaaaaaaaa

Already comes with a very strong glue. You must have something similar in the U.S.

Use the ones that are labeled one etiquette by page, so there are no pre-cut divisions on the paper sheet.

[slusher]

They look great...

[Jantrix]

A great idea! Although, as it is a paper product, I wonder how they will hold up over the years? Humid/dry environments? Maybe seal it with Future?

What do you think Tulio?

[David G.]

Excellent idea! Thanks for sharing it.

David G.

[Lovefordgalaxie]

I think Future would turn the paper transparent? (never tried it)

At craft stores you can find fixative varnish for art work, like charcoal drawings, graphite drawings, this sort of thing. It use to come in spray can form, both gloss or flat. I think this product may be a better way to protect the paper whitewalls.

I have being using it for years to protect my paper airplanes, and the "decals" I've made for them with the same technique used for the white walls are still looking like new.

On the case of the white walls, you would have to spray the varnish on the paper just after it came out of the printer, and never when the white walls are already on the tires. Most of those products won't dry on model car tire vinyl.

[Psychographic]

Just a suggestion, I would cut the outside circle first in case you cut all the way through. This way everything is still intact to line up your circle cutter to the center mark for the inside cut.

[Lovefordgalaxie]

Just a suggestion, I would cut the outside circle first in case you cut all the way through. This way everything is still intact to line up your circle cutter to the center mark for the inside cut.

I said that, in a sort of confusing way, on top of the picture with the circle cutter.

It's a good point to remember anyway.

Another good thing about this technique is that it can be used to make thin white lines as well.

[Psychographic]

I

I said that, in a sort of confusing way, on top of the picture with the circle cutter.

It's a good point to remember anyway.

Another good thing about this technique is that it can be used to make thin white lines as well.

OK more proof that I am indeed an idiot! I don't know why I read that wrong, but yes you did say that. I'll just go to my room now.

[ChrisBcritter]

Who makes that circle cutter, and where can I find it? I've asked about it at Michael's and Hobby Lobby with zero results.

[Lovefordgalaxie]

Who makes that circle cutter, and where can I find it? I've asked about it at Michael's and Hobby Lobby with zero results.

It's made by Olfa.

http://www.olfa.com/splash.aspx

I bought it at an architecture office supply store. It's largely used by the guys that build architectural models. I stole the idea of using it from them.

It was at a wall full of Olfa cutters, just between the miniature trees, and the bags with tiny cars

[vypurr59]

Michaels has it by the drafting tools, at least the store I go to does.

X-acto brand

[ChrisBcritter]

Thanks much!

[Skip]

Wonder if the vinyl type self adhesive shelf liner might work for that. Comes in a roll and could keep you in white walls for years.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

What a great idea! BUT...I have very little graphic skills on a program like that. I also would not even know where to begin to get that lettering that would need to be in there......so..

Any chance that you saved your hard work as a file......that you would be willing to share?

[peekay]

Wonder if the vinyl type self adhesive shelf liner might work for that. Comes in a roll and could keep you in white walls for years.

I did this with adhesive vinyl from an art supply store. This is a bit thicker than shelf liner, which might be unmanageably floppy for thin walls. BTW, I find that it helps with alignment to have your wheels mounted in the tyres before laying down the whitewall.

(Great tutorial, Tulio)

Edited April 15, 2014 by peekay

[Corvette Ron]

Thank you for the idea. I am attempting to recreate the 1:1 65 Corvette I had back in the day. I had purchased Goodyear Bluestreak tires for it. The 67 Revell kit I purchased at Hobby Lobby came with decals for a redline tire. I will simply trace them on blue vinyl and use the circle cutter to cut them out. This would be for a 1:25 model with 15" tires.

[Corvette Ron]

I would be happy to make a copy of the decals to mail to anyone who could use them.

[ChrisBcritter]

Just picked up some Scotch brand vinyl tape in both red and white that looks promising; let's see what the circle cutter does to it.

[Duntov]

Who makes that circle cutter, and where can I find it? I've asked about it at Michael's and Hobby Lobby with zero results.

Try going directly to the source --- here is the link for Olfa --- they have a ton of good stuff and you should be able to order directly --- one of the circle cutters is about $10 --- pretty reasonable --- I may need to get one and try this !!!

http://www.olfa.com/Default.aspx

[Lunajammer]

Sorry I mistakenly copied this to a wrong thread so this response may be doubled up to another thread but I think it's important to show my experience to vinyl stick ons.

Lunajammer, on 05 Jan 2014 - 5:13 PM, said:

Peel and stick vinyl whitewalls is sometimes discussed on this forum as a cheap and attractive way to beautify tires. My experience is after a couple years they react with the tire vinyl and get ripply, wavy and need to be removed. If I remember later, I'll try to post some photos.

It only took half a year to get photos of what I tried to describe above, but this is what I've found happens in the long term to vinyl stick on white walls. There seems to be a reaction to the vinyl tires. They started turning to bacon just two or three years later. They'd have fallen off completely if they weren't pinched between the wheel and tire.

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[Steven Zimmerman]

Kind of looks like those old J C WHITNEY whitewalls that were held in place by 'sandwiching' the whitewall between the tire and the rim, (Giving away my age here.....) you may have just stumbled on a diorama use, here !......'Z

[montecarlo1980]

Mike very interesting about the wide whitewall vinyls there. I'm wondering if its a climate issue as well? Possibly maybe with the wide whitewalls themselves. I have a set of tires with the Pegasus thin white walls on them that are about 15 years old and they're still stuck on like the day I placed them on. I also have another set the same age and builds, that are still on, minus some deformation on the back white walls.

I used that set for a few test fits on some bodies, I had pushed them down into some fenders that stretched the white walls out on one spot. They're still stuck on to this day though. I live in California I don't know if its a climate issue as to why I have never experienced that issue. Also I'm wondering if maybe the wide whitewalls may have too much surface area over time it does curl up like that? One thing I did do before I put the vinyls on, was I washed the tires and scrubbed them with some dish washing soap first.

I think I'm going to try a set of the wides myself and see how they do over some years time. I have a set of the wides from Pegasus I haven't used yet. Thanks for sharing the picture Mike, I never seen that happen before, always heard of it.

[Lovefordgalaxie]

Sorry I mistakenly copied this to a wrong thread so this response may be doubled up to another thread but I think it's important to show my experience to vinyl stick ons.

Lunajammer, on 05 Jan 2014 - 5:13 PM, said:

It only took half a year to get photos of what I tried to describe above, but this is what I've found happens in the long term to vinyl stick on white walls. There seems to be a reaction to the vinyl tires. They started turning to bacon just two or three years later. They'd have fallen off completely if they weren't pinched between the wheel and tire.

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Now THAT's a bummer...

I never used vinyl adhesive to make white walls, but I never had any kind of problem with the ones I made out of paper. I think paper is just immune to the effect of the oils of the vinyl tire, like a acrylic paint would be.

Anyway, my printer wouldn't print on vinyl without making a mess, and the main reason I use this technique is because of the fact I can print custom lettering on the tires.

I could make a white line with a thin red line inside, just printing the red line on the pepr, and then protecting it with fixative varnish for art work.