Painting Tire Logos with PE Template

[f1rob]

Hi Folks:

I have been doing the manufacturer's logos on the 1/12, and 1/20 kits with either decals or hand painting the recessed areas with acrylic.

I have purchased PE templates for both sizes, but am a little stuck on how to use them correctly. 2 basic questions:

1) The template is flat, but the surface of the sidewall is curved. If you lay the template on the surface of the tire, there will be gaps at the top and bottom of the letters, allowing for significant overspray. I understand the tires in the 70's and 80's did not have very crisp lettering, but I have to think that the gaps would result in very poor lettering. Am I wrong? I have tried to flex the tire and the template to have them mate more closely, but cannot see this working properly.

2) After painting 1 tire, the template will have wet paint on it(including the outline of the logo on theback side), and if I then lay it on another tire, I would imagine this paint will transfer and smudge the new tire. Do you clean the template after spraying each tire, and if so how? Do you dip it into lacquer thinner, or.........?

I have wanted to use the templates for some time, as I think this will look much more realistic, but would appreciate any help and advice you guys can offer.

Cheers,

Rob

[daveyman]

I have exactly the same thoughts about templates. I want to use them on my next build but I've never seen that much info about actually using them. The results that people appear to get with them are fantastic so please share the secrets!!!

[daniel]

to much thinking here

I use tire templates as often as possible and I'm happy with the result

-always use flat colors, they dry very fast so if there is overspray on the template it's usually dry before painting the next tire but more important it's hard to have overspray on the side you place on the tire, so don't worry

-but it's not bad to clean the template while working because the paint build up can hide the detail in the letters.

-carefull with cleaning, I always use "universal thinner" the stronger the better so the paint will be removed with only very little rubbing. I'ts very easy to bend the details in the letters and then the template in useless. I use a cottonbud and dip the thinner on the template....no rubbing !!!

-The hardest part is placing the template perfect so the radius of the wheel and lettering will match...believe me it's not that easy so I will need many tries sometimes. But this is no problem when the lettering is "off position" I just remove the paint with thinner, never had problem with destroyed tires.

-For painting I usually place the template on the tire and hold it in place with my finger, so no nasty masking is needed, overspray can be easyily cleaned off...see above

-And it's not to bad to put the rims into the wheels before spraying because it can happen very easily that when placing the wheel over the rim that the paint will break/flake off because off stretching the wheels.







some of the tires I sprayed...I thinks they look good.

daniel
-germany-

[daveyman]

Very interesting. Thanks for the info. I will definitely be given templates a try. Your results look real good, very convincing.

[lezdep]

I've used this set from MFH - http://www.hlj.com/product/MFHP989/Aut
It simplifies positioning and eliminates need for masking. However "conflict" between flat
stencil and curved tire wall still remains a bit problematic. And clean up is required
depending on used paint.

[Capri2600]

This is my solution and if you have a round stencil it is even more simple to build

http://www.f1m.com/forums/viewtopic.php ... 84#p152284

Rainer

[Eagle50]

This is my solution ...
http://www.f1m.com/forums/viewtopic.php ... 84#p152284
Rainer

Nice trick with the spray can cap as a simple mask, Rainer! I missed that thread. Thanks for sharing!

My two cents: I've used a PE stencil and sprayed with Tamiya TS flat white in a can. That's not the recommended way to do it, of course - you're supposed to use a compressor / spray gun. But if you hold the can a bit far away, and use light bursts, it's do-able. And I for one, think a little bit of over-spray looks more realistic. For older cars anyway.

Chris