Sidewalk tire marks. How to?

[tehSAC]

Im wanting to paint some markings on the sidewalk of a tire. Not the brand but more of a letter designation of what side of the car it goes on and a directional arrow. I’ve seen it done before but never knew what the process was. Any insight for this beginner would be much appreciated.

[Seema]

I paint them with a very fine brush and matt white paint or with the Edding780.

[ziggysdesk]

I used a glue applicator to do this my first time, it’s like a really fine plastic point tip similar to a toothpick but sharper. It was a bit difficult to do that way, so next time I am going to try with a 20/0 brush instead, which I have seen people do with nice results.

[Paul_OFarrell]

Be sure to use acrylic flat white paint. Enamel paint will not dry properly on rubber or vinyl tyres.

Cheers, Paul
Sydney, Oz

[JamesB]

Same here. Water based paint, yellow or white, look many pictures, fine brush, and lots of practice

[tehSAC]

Awesome, thanks for the tips!

[plastiksurgeon]

And one more thing ! Keep "scale contrast" in mind.... if you look at a photograph of a real car, (the whole car) that has random tire markings, you probably didn't even notice them until you went searching for random tire markings....and I think your model should be the same way.... the markings shouldn't stick out or be heavy. They should be a second awareness when someone looks at your model. They should see them only when they look closer beyond the first look. And after you finish, maybe a wash over them to knock them back a little. I never leave white lettered tires full on white. What led me to that was photographing models where the process of photography adds contrast. Dark areas render darker at the same time that light areas become even lighter than what our eyes can see on both ends. Thus my tires in pictures were neon white, almost looking like they glowed from within. So, I started washing back all bright white tire logos, which led to washing back a lot of things on my models. That led me to think of the concept as "scale contrast".

Below is an example of what I mean. The Michelin tire logos on this MFH 20th scale BT52 were heavy and bright white, which alone, would have made the model look like a model....especially in my photographs with photography's added contrast.

Now, back to those random markings.... It might help you replicate those markings if you know how they get there in the first place on the real car. As a Formula One shooter for 16 years, I've witnessed it first hand. So, Let's say the Williams team shows up at the Mexican Grand Prix ready for the weekend. The first thing the crew does is mark all of their wheels and then take them over to the Goodyear compound to get fitted with the weekend's tires, picked just for this event, sometimes even manufactured just for this event. (That is why there are random markings on the wheels as well....but usually in the center under the tire). The weekend staff at the temporary Goodyear compound fits the wheels with tires and marks them as to which team and any other markings necessary. And when it gets right down to marking a tire, here's what to picture in your mind as you create them on your model tire....as this is just a reminder of something, and since the person marking the tire is only doing it for reference, the time for him to do it perfectly is just not necessary. Plus imagine how scribbling you would get if you had a stick of chalk and your mission was to mark three hundred and twenty tires from twenty teams, ....you'd be scribbling ! So, as he holds a tire in place, or it lays before him on the ground, he grabs a stick of chalk and literally scribbles on the tire sidewall, at whatever angle is presented....some times the tread, but of course that would be gone by the time the tire turns three revolutions once on the car. His scribbling is not uniform, not heavy and not bright. Then the tires/wheels go back to the paddock where the team now scribbles their random markings as to which car, which driver, which corner of the car, which session.... that kind of thing, so that by the time this tire sees action, it looks like it's been devoured by a renaissance artist.

Point is, keep the markings thin and random, at off angles. Since the real tires are marked with chalk, why not use a chisseled pointed shard of white or yellow chalk...? Nothing looks like chalk, ...quite like chalk ! But if paint, fine brush, not much paint, (water it sown, ...chalk is almost transparent) the real guys mix some white words, some yellow words, ...depending on which stick of chalk they grab, ...but keep the yellow toned down just like the white...you can erase and practice a thousand times if necessary until you get where you want to be. Then wash them to knock them back. Scale contrast....


Thanks for the listening ear gentlemen.

Cheers,
Steve Mohlenkamp

[vadim]

Thanks a lot, Steve. Very useful post!

[tehSAC]

And one more thing ! Keep "scale contrast" in mind.... if you look at a photograph of a real car, (the whole car) that has random tire markings, you probably didn't even notice them until you went searching for random tire markings....and I think your model should be the same way.... the markings shouldn't stick out or be heavy. They should be a second awareness when someone looks at your model. They should see them only when they look closer beyond the first look. And after you finish, maybe a wash over them to knock them back a little. I never leave white lettered tires full on white. What led me to that was photographing models where the process of photography adds contrast. Dark areas render darker at the same time that light areas become even lighter than what our eyes can see on both ends. Thus my tires in pictures were neon white, almost looking like they glowed from within. So, I started washing back all bright white tire logos, which led to washing back a lot of things on my models. That led me to think of the concept as "scale contrast".

Below is an example of what I mean. The Michelin tire logos on this MFH 20th scale BT52 were heavy and bright white, which alone, would have made the model look like a model....especially in my photographs with photography's added contrast.

BRABHAM-BT52-hinder-portrait-FIF-needs-the-world.gif

Now, back to those random markings.... It might help you replicate those markings if you know how they get there in the first place on the real car. As a Formula One shooter for 16 years, I've witnessed it first hand. So, Let's say the Williams team shows up at the Mexican Grand Prix ready for the weekend. The first thing the crew does is mark all of their wheels and then take them over to the Goodyear compound to get fitted with the weekend's tires, picked just for this event, sometimes even manufactured just for this event. (That is why there are random markings on the wheels as well....but usually in the center under the tire). The weekend staff at the temporary Goodyear compound fits the wheels with tires and marks them as to which team and any other markings necessary. And when it gets right down to marking a tire, here's what to picture in your mind as you create them on your model tire....as this is just a reminder of something, and since the person marking the tire is only doing it for reference, the time for him to do it perfectly is just not necessary. Plus imagine how scribbling you would get if you had a stick of chalk and your mission was to mark three hundred and twenty tires from twenty teams, ....you'd be scribbling ! So, as he holds a tire in place, or it lays before him on the ground, he grabs a stick of chalk and literally scribbles on the tire sidewall, at whatever angle is presented....some times the tread, but of course that would be gone by the time the tire turns three revolutions once on the car. His scribbling is not uniform, not heavy and not bright. Then the tires/wheels go back to the paddock where the team now scribbles their random markings as to which car, which driver, which corner of the car, which session.... that kind of thing, so that by the time this tire sees action, it looks like it's been devoured by a renaissance artist.

Point is, keep the markings thin and random, at off angles. Since the real tires are marked with chalk, why not use a chisseled pointed shard of white or yellow chalk...? Nothing looks like chalk, ...quite like chalk ! But if paint, fine brush, not much paint, (water it sown, ...chalk is almost transparent) the real guys mix some white words, some yellow words, ...depending on which stick of chalk they grab, ...but keep the yellow toned down just like the white...you can erase and practice a thousand times if necessary until you get where you want to be. Then wash them to knock them back. Scale contrast....


Thanks for the listening ear gentlemen.

Cheers,
Steve Mohlenkamp

mind blown but totally understood everything. thank you for such a detailed post.

[turboF1]

Thanks again Steve for your insight! Greatly appreciated.
Also wouldn’t grabbing the tire while mounting them cause some smudging to occur too? In that era even the Good Year logo is spray painted at the track with a stencil, right?

By contrast Today’s tires look perfectly manufactured and printed.