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15/01/2014 10:32 am
1/43 Whitewall Tires
During the 60's and 70's I was employed by both Ford and Mercury Dealerships. During this era most cars and virtually all higher end-models were equipped with whitewall tires. These were full width up until late 1960 on most makes with all switching to the narrow band in 1961. It is most frustrating to see so many new releases equipped with blackwall tires, when the vast majority actual cars would have the optional whitewalls. This has kept me from buying several of these releases; unless there is a source for replacement whitewalls..... Do any subscribers know of such a source?
15/01/2014 10:40 am
In the past I have bought white wall tires from Durham and applied them to some less expensive models such as the Vittese Chrysler Town and Country convertible. I also put then on my Western 1960 Oldsmobile 98 convertible as the tires that were on the model were grossly undersized.
15/01/2014 10:52 am
1/43 Whitewall Tires
I have also purchased these wide width tires from Durham and have replaced blackwalls. What I'm really needing are the narrow bands. Thanks
15/01/2014 11:25 am
I'm a "whitewall fanatic", and to me the majority of 1950s cars just don't look right without them. In the early '50, during the Korean War, WW production was halted for a year or two. I remember seeing some Cadillac ads without them. I'm pretty sure they were a extra-cost option for most cars, at about $20. It was very unusual to see a top of the line model (like a Ford Crestline) without them. Even Jaguar and MG showed them in some of their ads for the U.S, market.
15/01/2014 12:13 pm
I just checked and 2 sources for 1:43 tires are on eBay,
Durham (white walls) and DB Productions (black). I am not familiar with the second company. Durham tires are good but do not fit all 1:43 cars. You might check with such companies for the narrow white walls. Please, please post any good source you find.
15/01/2014 4:41 pm
1:43 tires and wheels are sold by Diecast Direct
Check this site: http://www.diecastdirect.com/?c=True
and enter tires in description search. Their only white walls come on hard plastic wheels with chrome hubcaps/wheel covers that resemble 1948 Ford or early 1950s Cadillac. They also have a large selection of separate blackwalls in various sizes. I have made white walls using an old modeler's trick I learned from the late great Bill Harrison of California. He taught me how to cut whitewalls from white shelf contact paper using a compass with a VERY sharp small blade in one side. There is a skill to this and it takes some practice especially to make four exactly the same. He gave me one of the compases with a blade but I have no idea where you would buy one of these. The wider the whitewall the easier it is to do. Thin whitewalls are a bit tricky. The downside is after time wrinkles can develop after they have been applied to the tire.
John F. Quilter
Eugene, Oregon USA
15/01/2014 5:35 pm
Post a PIC of what he gave you. Maybe it can be id'd/duplicated.
16/01/2014 6:24 am
DB Productions
I remember that DB Productions were made in France some time ago, they made a marvellous range of Bugatti's in built and kit form as well as lots of accessories and different tyres, but their founder Daniel Baudet sadly passed away a few years ago.
16/01/2014 6:29 am
Lloyd, John, Pic of what Bill Harrison gave me for cutting white walls.
It's just a circular piece of steel with a knife edge, held with a compass. Unfortunately I'm not sure where to get this either. Maybe a good art supply house.
Bill only lived a few blocks from me so it was always much fun seeing him and everything he had in models of all scales and his invaluable information.
Bill Harrison in 2005.
photo no longer available
photo no longer available
photo no longer available
16/01/2014 7:11 am
PIC I think you can find it in art supplies shops or...
a "circular cutter" like this one
photo no longer available
It cuts circles from 1 cm upwards and costs here in Germany about 8.00 Euros.
Regards
Ralf
Ralf Buyer
Wiesbaden, Germany
16/01/2014 12:22 pm
Thanks for posting the pic of the cutting compass and even more
The great picture of Bill Harrison, truly a master model builder, collector, and encyclopedia of automotive knowledge. I spent many happy hours in conversations with Bill and poking around his massive collection when I lived in the Bay Area. He is definitely missed. RIP Bill.
John F. Quilter
Eugene, Oregon USA
16/01/2014 1:22 pm
Hey guys...a model car building mag I've got suggests getting one of those plastic 'templates' that have different size circles and they used a white gel pen to put whitewalls on a 1'24 scale tire. Looked real good!
16/01/2014 2:09 pm
This method works well.
I have used it with good results. It takes practice to get good, but the white gel ink can be easily wiped away if an oops happens during application. The hardest thing seems to be finding gel pens with a fine tip in opaque white.
Here is a Cadillac with gel pen whitewalls:
photo no longer available
18/01/2014 4:14 pm
David, thanks for the pic and your response!