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No answer to your problem Randy but all four of the whitewalls on my MiniMarque Cadillac have split and the four large whitewalls on a MiniMarque Packard have also split.Both purchased relatively recently.I would also be interested in who should be approached to remedy this matter.I also have split whitewalls on Conquest models(SMTS).Could MiniMarque source tyres from SMTS?.Never had this problem with Brooklin tyres!

Ed Lockyer, please email oldsman41atyahoo.com

Randy...Didn't Notice This Issue Until Reading Your Post, Then

I went and checked all my recent MM, CON & SMTS...Yep! There be splits alright! It would appear to me that this is a manufacturing issue...compound mixers off or the curing time in the molds were sped up to meet deadlines. Keep me posted on this topic. Fortunately, I have several Durham sets that I'm hoping will fit these wheels...Hope, I hope!

Thanks!

Jeff

Randy I just checked my recent Cadillacs and don't find a problem however while looking at some other MiniMarque models I noticed very faint cracks in the white part of the tires on a 1961 Corvette which I had never noticed before. I agree that for the price of these models, this is irritating. Does anyone know if they have a customer service department like Brooklin?

Back when I was alive in the early '80's and was just starting to collect Brooklins

I had a set of tires that cracked on my '49 Buick. That was before the internet and e-mail. Amanda was still in elementary school and not yet on the scene at Brooklin Models. The US Postal Service was still actually delivering mail to the correct address in the US. I sent a letter snail mail to John Hall. About 3 weeks later he sent me some spares and, as I recall, he wrote that they had a batch of tires that had cracked and that they had changed the formula or whatever. The replacement tires have not cracked in nearly 30 years and still have tread on them. Now with e-mail, getting a response from Amanda is virtually instantaneous and she mails the spares right away. We have nice neighbors who occasionally redistribute mail as necessary and so I still get the parts eventually. John Roberts sent me a '36 Buick 2 weeks ago and it still hasn't arrived via the US Postal Service. Models sent from Alpimodel in Italy via UPS arrive on my doorstep in 3 days flat, no exceptions, ever.

Tires, tyres

It may be of interest that the tyre tools (whitewall) used for Minimarque were jointly owned by MM43 and Western Models. Has anyone experienced tyres splitting on WM models?

Graham, My newer Re-Released Western Models have the same problem. It ......

is obvious that the tires are coming from the same place and have the same problem. It appears that the bigger the rim on the model the bigger the gap, if you know what I mean. It would be nice if they (?) could fix this problem. It detracts from the model in my opinion. I do not want to be a butt head about it, just hoping by bringing it up maybe a solution could be found in the future. RANDY

Yes, my lovely two-tone '50 Hudson sedan has all four tires split.

The ones on my original '41 Buick woody have split as well.

I had the whitewalls split on my Packard 400 hardtop from Illustra soon after
I got it. I emailed Steve Overy about the problem, and he promptly sent a
replacement set.

Then the whitewalls on my Westerns, Conquests and MMQs started splitting.
I talked to Buz and he said that a production run by the manufacturer in the
UK was incorrectly done, and he was having to get and send out so many
replacements that it was driving him crazy. This was a couple of years ago.

The only brands I've never had problems with are Motor City and Brooklin
cars. Every 1:43 manufacturer in the UK should buy their tires from
Brooklin's supplier, or from Brooklin itself if they make their tires. They are
the best, by far.

Tires, tyres

It appears to me that this is an ongoing problem with actual manufacturing process. Some years ago I purchased a hand operated injection machine complete with a set of dies for whitewall tyres. I think one of the dies was for the AS Models Ford Thunderbird (later released by MM43). My first attempts made me realise that just turning it on and pulling the lever did not produce the required results. After much experimentation I came to realise that temperature, time and pressure were fundamental factors which could not be ignored. I suspect that the majority of tyre makers these days use semi-automatic or fully automatic machines, where some of the skills may have been lost or ignored. When I tested the tyres I produced it was carried out with a pair of long nose pliers in order to test the weld opposite the feed point. If it separated then adjustments had to be made. The only factor outside all that has been mentioned, is the quality of the rubber compound purchased in the first place! Incidentally I have just tested a tyre I made back in the 90,s stretching it to at least 3x its diameter and it didn't split. Unfortunately, as a small manufacturer of models it is difficult to get the product you want from the suppliers of products bought in.