Painting tires what color?

[pantherf]

You know, the expensive resin types? 

What color is used to dry brush the sidewalls?  Flat black, Testors rubber, Nato black?  I know I will dust them up some but there must be a base color?


'TANKS' guys (and gals)! 







Jeff

[deafpanzer]

I highlight lightly with thinned dark grey paint only on the edge. It looks less monotoned that way... did that last night on the spare tires of my 232. LOL

[afvfan]

A dark gray would be a good base coat.

I don't care much for that Testor's rubber color. It just doesn't look right.

[pantherf]

You know, I have never tried that Testor's rubber but I do have it. 


Time to do some testing!  Thanks for the input guys! 








Jeff

[deafpanzer]

I use AK or AMMO rubber... its pretty dark gray. Then lighted with lighter tone of dark grey.

[pantherf]

"AMMO rubber"?  Hey, you live in Indiana... where do you get your 'supplies' from?







Jeff

[TRM]

Hey Jeff,

Andy is spot on with the "old" AK Rubber/Tire color and possibly the newer AMMO color as this is perfect for tires. Tamiya German Dark Grey is another fine start as it Vallejo's Dark Grey and their Tire Color (number escaping me at the moment...Any color off black is would work well as a base for tires/Rubber if you ask me.

As for the Dry Brushing end of it, I would have to go with either and oil or Model Color as these would probably serve you best. Tamiya Works but if you go back over to soon the solvents can pull off the work you just did. Typically I approach the tires with painting them the base color first, weather and then instead of dry brushing the high points, remove the weathering from the high points to reveal the base tire color. If its pigments a quick wipe with something like a Q-tip, rag or even your finger...stiff brush too depending on the look you are going for. If you are dusting with and AB, then just add a good seal coat in between the base and top coast and effectively rub the high points to reveal the base.

[deafpanzer]

Mr T has answered your question... used to be AK but now its called AMMO. Pretty same thing... I can't remember where I bought mine probably at model show or ordered directly from Ian with AK before the switch. I still have one with AK... LOL Its pretty good... I can bring the paint set to the club meeting if you are interested.

[tobias5555]

I use the new Tamiya XF-85 Rubber black.

[pantherf]

Thanks guys.  I first did a search for the Tamiya XF-85 and found that it's available in an enamel too?  WTH?


Never knew that Tamiya made bottles of enamel.  I like to dry brush Acrylic paint. 






Jeff

[wbill76]

Don't use the Testors Rubber color. It's meant to simulate natural rubber, not synthetic/vulcanized rubber. Totally different animal.

For my tires I prefer to use the Testors enamel Gunmetal...it's got that nice blue/black tinge to it when airbrushed and it weathers up nicely under pigments and such.

[Tobi]

I always felt the Testors rubber color could reflect a very old and worn rubber well, especially when you drybrush it with some medium grey, as it has that brown touch in it.

Italeri calls for this color in their instructions all the time when wheels are involved.

In general every grey or dark grey color is suitable for base as long as it's flat, black only when the rubber is very new.
Personally I prefer enamels for drybrushing, they take longer to cure and you can remove them from the acrylic base more easily.

In the first FAQ by Mig was a good SBS for different effects on wheels. Sand, snow, asphalt, dry mud, wet mud and so on. It starts always from a dark grey acrylic base.

I have the LC rubber set of colors, these are also very good. Before specialized colors would appear on the market, Tamiya German grey was the game in town! 

[imatanker]

Tobi, Did you mean this one ?

modellingarticles.blogspot.com/

I've got it as a shortcut right on my desktop

[Tobi]

Exactly Jeff, great find!

I hope this helps the other Jeff! 

[pantherf]

Aug 21, 2014 3:08:18 GMT -5 imatanker said:

Tobi, Did you mean this one ?

modellingarticles.blogspot.com/

I've got it as a shortcut right on my desktop

Yeah, I shared this one on Armorama a few years ago.

I just wanted to know if there were any latest and greatest materials and techniques out there that I didn't know about. 

Thanks guys.







Jeff

[doogsatx]

I'm a big fan of Vallejo Dark Rubber for tires. Depending on the situation it's easy to mix in a bit of another color (Track Primer is a favorite) to change things up.

Here's my LAV-AT tires initially basecoated...

[deafpanzer]

Those wheels look spot on!!!

[doogsatx]

Aug 21, 2014 11:47:24 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Those wheels look spot on!!!

Thanks!

Also, another little Vallejo tip - their Dark Gray wash, applied over the Dark Rubber, can create some great tonal variations, and if you aren't shy about brushing you can do radial strokes from the hub-out. Not doing it to the tires I posted since they're going to be getting a sand/dust filter, and then pigments on top of that.

For drybrushing, my preferred go-to is Model Master Dunkelgrau - it may be a bit too tan for tires, since it works best with olive drab and other green/brown shades. I used it on these - no pics yet - but again I'm going for that rolling-around-the-desert look so the tan makes sense.