Hot Wheels
What ever body type, material or theme, wheels can make or break the looks of any (slot) modelcar. When ever we (European based slotters) post pictures of our cars.."where can we get those wheels".. is one of the recurring questions asked by the "Americana's".
So I thought it might be a good idea to post some tips about this topic on the forum.
This picture by German Modeller Matthias Parke shows what difference good wheels make on a car. Even in bare body primer the beautifully detailed OZ wheels make the car look good.
Going Metric
Running a "european" scale chassis like Momo Plafit or Schöler means going metric. They all run on 3 mm axles which means you'll have to get Metric wheels as well. For modern sportscars rims with a 21-22mm diameter are generally used as this equals an 18 inch wheel in 1/24. Basicaly there are 2 types:
Design wheels
These are made by the Japanese firm Sakatsu and are fully CNC Machined billet aluminum rims with all model detail incorperated. They're available in 3 styles: Speedline 6 spokes, OZ (pictured on the Audi above) and BBS Le Mans. 12 mm wide rims are for the fronts and 16 mm wide are used for the rears. Sakatsu even has some PE brake discs that fit inside these wheels.
They're a bit pricy, but one look at the amount of detail and most of you will be sold.
Alu rims with model inserts
Are a bit lighter and cheaper and come in a wide variety of dimensions, all reasons why these a preferrable in competition use.
Major brands suitable for the 3mm metric axles are Sakatsu, Scaleauto, Sigma and SSH. These rims are available in diameters ranging from 15-22,5 mm. Scaleauto and Sigma even have complete wheels with Sponge tyres. Downside of these wheels is that you have to make your own Inserts from the modelkit wheels or aftermarket resin parts.
http://www.scaleraceproducts.com/catalog/index.php?manufacturers_id=13
SSH 12 Loch aluminium rim as used on most LMS cars.
Burning Rubber
In Europe 3 types of tyres are most commonly used, Hard rubber, Silicon or Polyutherane and Sponge.
Sponge Offers the biggest grip, but only on "permanent" tracks. Doesn't matter if its routed or plastic, as long as its dust free and has a thin layer of rubber deposit. Scaleauto, Sigma and GP Speedtyres al make suitable sponge tyres for 21 rims. Sponge comes in hard and soft compounds indicated as Shore. The lower the softer, picking the right compound is sometimes a true Black Magic.
Silicon or Polyutherane
In Europe also know as Ortman/Wiesel tyres. Both Messrs Ortman and Wiesel have their own "secret" recepy form which they pour their "rubber" into the tyres mold. The good thing about these tyres is that they offer instant grip on any clean surface, and will continue to do so even after the car has been "shelfed" for months. Downside is that becuase they are quite hard, they have to be "trued" perfectly round. Which can be difficult if you dont have a tyre truer.
Hard rubber
believe it or not, but the hard rubber tyres that are supplied with most model kits can be used, and if treated with a bit of oil or petrol will provide reasonably good grip. Not something to try at the local club track, but for home use it will do and hey...they were in the kit anyway. Best rubber is found on Tamiya an Hasegawa kits. Even if you dont use the rears, the fronts can always be used. A good trick is to coat the fronts with some Cyanoacrilite glue and polish them with 1200 wet sandpaper. This will decrease the roll resistance of the car.
Babylon rules
I can imagine that, for US based slotters, trying to find 1/24 Euroscale stuff on the web must be a nightmare. Even if you do happen to stumble onto one of the Danish, Dutch, German, Spanish or Swedish sites, the navigation will be in a foreign language. Meaning that most of you will have no clue where to look, let alone what to look for.
Here the use of an automated web translators might help. Simply paste the URL in the check box and all of a sudden the gibberish navigation will start to make sense.
http://www.humanitas-international.org/newstran/more-trans.htm
Some European manufactures/distibutors have taken notice of the increased "foreign" interest in 1/24 scale racing and have, or are about to have, Bi-langual websites.
The picture in the intro of this post comes from a nice "how to" article on the Motor Modern website. Karl Janda has been hard at work translating most of his articles into English as wellhttp://www.motormodern.info/com/werkstatt/20030319161336.htm
One of the leading Bi-langual German webshops is Dieter Jens Scale racing. His website http://www.scaleracing-shop.de/ concentrates mainly on "classic" sportscars, but you can also find the nice Sakatsu wheels pictured on the Audi above.
Home Sweet Home
But it think the best news off all is that the US supplier of the 1/24 Momo chassis also stocks Euro type wheels and tyres. InUnder the URL listed below you'll find he has the Sakatsu design wheels and some of the Ortman tryes. Maybe if you pester Andy long enough he will extend his range and will add some big size sponge for 21 rims as well
http://www.professormotor.com/cat_mm.shtml
Last but not least...while surfing the web to do some research for this topic, I did happen to stumble upon the adress of an US Plafit distributor It seems that Eagle distributing
http://www.eagledist.com/index.html has a wide range of Plafit parts and Chassis, unfdortunately no reference on who the dealers are.
Happy slotting...and if you have any more questions....just post a reply.