How to fold or make small tires?

**thanneer91** · #1 10-05-2015, 07:44 AM

Hi guys,

First and foremost, my apologies if I have created this post at the wrong area of the forum or if similar posts are already present. I mainly enjoy making aviation models and I often have difficulty in making the small wheels of the airplane. More often than not, the wheels do not end up being completely circular and would have several dents or flat edges. Thus, I would like to kindly request assistance from the members of this forum on making better wheels or if such posts already exist, could anyone please kindly redirect to the related post. Thank you.

P.S English is not my native language, please kindly excuse me if there are any grammatical errors.

**imcold** · #2 10-05-2015, 08:34 AM

I usually do small wheels by taking a round base, like a toothpick, then cut a long paper strip (with the same width as the wheel) and start rolling it around the base. If I reach the desired size of the wheel, I cut off the rest of the strip and glue the wheel sides to it.

**elliott** · #3 10-05-2015, 12:52 PM

Here's one good tutorial - Aircraft Tire Tutorial Try searching for "making small tires" That should give you enough hits to get you started.

**aansorge** · #4 10-05-2015, 05:00 PM

a 'medium quality' compromise to the tutorials is to wrap a long strip as imcold suggests, but give it some shape, either by varying the width of the strip or by sanding or even while wrapping (if the wheel need be only one sided). then the sidewalls and hub caps will take on that shape, especially if you get it a little more wet from glue than usual.

**Wahlly** · #5 10-05-2015, 07:27 PM

OK nothing about paper aircraft tires, just an observation. Why am I a member of this forum? If thanneer91 had made this post at several other paper/model forums I think the reply's would have been rude, short and uninformative to say the least. But here, two very good tips, (slap my head and why didn't I think of that), and a polite and direct reply of were to find more help. Thank you all for making this a nice place to spend a little time and learn a little bit.

**thanneer91** · #6 10-05-2015, 09:17 PM

Hi,

Thank you so much imcold and aansorge for your great insights, ill use the techniques suggested to improve my wheels modelling. And thank you to elliott too for the link that you have shared, ill try the technique posted in that link soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wahlly

OK nothing about paper aircraft tires, just an observation. Why am I a member of this forum? If thanneer91 had made this post at several other paper/model forums I think the reply's would have been rude, short and uninformative to say the least. But here, two very good tips, (slap my head and why didn't I think of that), and a polite and direct reply of were to find more help. Thank you all for making this a nice place to spend a little time and learn a little bit.

Wahlly, may I know why my post would have met with rude responses had I posted it at other forums? Was my question inappropriate or offensive? If I had posted my question at the wrong section of this forum or if its is a repetition of a previously asked similar question, I duly apologize, I've just registered with this forum and I'm still finding my way through this amazing forum. Kindly let me know if there's anything wrong with my question so that I do not repeat it in the future. Thank you.

**elliott** · #7 10-05-2015, 09:26 PM

I can't speak for other forums but here your question was perfectly apropos and the Tips and Tricks section was the perfect place to post it. You did nothing wrong as far as this forum is concerned. Please feel free to ask whatever questions you have and we'll do our best to answer them.

**Wahlly** · #8 10-05-2015, 10:39 PM

thanneer91 a misunderstanding maybe, at papermodelers I think you will always find help and good people. I was trying to say that their are other paper web sights that when a beginner or newbie ask a question or a person want's to learn something new, that the lack of knowledge would be criticized, and at papermodelers it seems like people want to share what they know and be helpful.

**VinceM** · #9 10-10-2015, 08:47 PM

thanneer91, I'm sure it wasn't meant as a slam on you, but rather as a welcome to you. I'm sure that what he means is that here you will almost always find friendly folks who like to answer newbie questions and build friendships. In some other sites the assumption is that everyone should be an expert, and newbie questions aren't always patiently explained.