AutoArt Jaguar E-type tires

@franklemire Frank, you posted the picture below on scale18 sometime ago. I read your response there ... however would it be possible to take a picture of the tire tread pattern, perhaps I could be lucky to match it to online pictures and identify the tires you used. Thanks.

Just saw this post - give me a few minutes to take a few photos and see if I've got any information written down.

Ok so here a few photos and what you are up against. First off most of the tire and wheel sets I bought were purchased over a decade ago from anywhere I could get them and back in the early 2000's there were a number of places both here and in Europe where you could get them. These days they are much harder to find. You will also notice in one of the tire closeups that I actually had to trim these tires with a hobby knife to get them to fit on the wheels. You can call it a strength or a weakness but I have always been willing to take the risk of ruining things to get the results I want. These tires either came off a late 50's to early 60's Ferrari model or out of the box, can't remember which.

@franklemire Thanks Frank, nice stash of tires. I have lots of 1/24 tires but not 1/18. Your Jags look much better. It I find good tires, I will certainly report back.

You could try these guys http://www.scuderiamodelli.eu/

I've gotten a fair share of tire and wheel sets from them over the years - mostly wire wheels - and am looking to buy a few more soon.

KK-Scale is a newer brand that makes wheel/tire sets...they're easily found on Ebay.  Not positive any of these would work, but might be a good & inexpensive starting point.

Chav, I'm curious is your issue with the AA tires the tread design, or is it the size of the tires and wheels?  I've consistently been disturbed by the incorrect size of the wheel/tire combination that AA used.  Usually, they are very good at scaling.  However, in my opinion, they missed the mark on this model.  I recently purchased another E-type from Kyosho and their wheel/tire size is far more accurate.  

@marty-johnson AA's problem was the tires - they used a low profile tire that they likely got from their parts bin forgetting that those tires did not exist in the early 60's

@franklemire - Ahhhh!  I see it now!  I thought it was the wheel too but now I see it's only the tire.  Thanks for that enlightenment.  I gotta check my parts bin to see if I can find a set of tires with a taller profile. 

@marty-johnson Marty, Frank answered your question. I've been following the discussions about the E-type here and on Scale18 and have been looking for good e-type in 1/24 or 1/18. Recently won an auction for a black AA coupe at a reasonable price, which I like to fix (the tires are just not acceptable), also have AA lightweight hardtop that is pretty nice. May get a Kyosho too at some point, it seems the Kyosho shapes are slightly more accurate, but AA's engine, rims and interior are definitely superior.

Just to offer full disclosure I have to say that I also 'lowered' my Jaguar by the use of adding shims to the front and rear suspension.

 This is a system - custom tailored - that I have used on a number of cars that had active suspensions. The good thing about a 'fix' like this is that it is easily reversible.

On the Exoto Corvette GS I used little 'U' shaped shims for the front suspension and zip ties for the rear

The difference is subtle but I think an improvement - as long as you don't look under the car

@franklemire - Ahhhh, great minds...  I've used a similar "shim" trick to lower cars too.  

Hello all, 

I am very new to the forum. I must say this topic absolutely is what I was looking for on the internet for a while. I still wish i can find the correct reference to enhance my AA E-type Jaguars (one coupe and one roadster).

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These E-type AA models are awesome, only the tires size show and strike me more and more over time. 

Frank, your side photograph of the black coupe really show how changing tires on this model is a real big plus. Mind you, stance of you model even misled me into thinking it was a real car for 5 seconds or so. Big improvement.

I am keeping your tips and am ordering 2 sets of BBR/KK wheels, hoping to correct my AAs. Thank you. When I receive wheels and if correction works I will of course come back here to share information. 

Best... 

Eric B.

Hello all, 

Now I know how much bigger wheels improve the look and stance of the AutoArt, I am now commited to replacing the original tires. I have found new tires but I am facing removing wheels, remove AA tires and set new tires in position.

I thought that removing the AA Jaguar E-type spoke wheels would be as easy as it is on my CMC's and Exotos : unscrew wingnut and that's it.  It seems far more complicated on the AutoArt.

Is there anybody who could explain the technique to remove the AutoArt Jaguar E spoke wheels?

I am not used to modding and I might be shy using enough force on these delicate models, but until now I failed. 

Eric B.