As mentioned on my previous entry, I did start working on the new set of wheels again. And as promised, I will be posting updates regarding the build process for everyone. So here it goes!
Okay, the whole idea that I had when I started the new set, was to make a multi piece rim design like the real ones. And in case you were wondering, the S on the S/SERIES stands for Splits. There are two main reason why I decided to pursue this rim design. One, painting and customizing the rims will be much much easier for everyone. Everyone can easily do different colored centers if the rims are separated in multiple pieces. Moreover, adjusting the depth of the offset will also be possible because of this. It's really a very nice option for everyone. Two, I thought that casting the rims would be easier since I won't have to worry about perfectly capturing the deep details of the rims (I was totally wrong about this! more details later). I did post a few pictures of the initial set of rim designs on my previous entry, and when I revisited the project, I ditched everything and decided to start from scratch. And here are a few pictures of the new design that I made, these were posted both on Facebook and Instagram and received positive feedback from the community and I was really happy about that.
Okay, the whole idea that I had when I started the new set, was to make a multi piece rim design like the real ones. And in case you were wondering, the S on the S/SERIES stands for Splits. There are two main reason why I decided to pursue this rim design. One, painting and customizing the rims will be much much easier for everyone. Everyone can easily do different colored centers if the rims are separated in multiple pieces. Moreover, adjusting the depth of the offset will also be possible because of this. It's really a very nice option for everyone. Two, I thought that casting the rims would be easier since I won't have to worry about perfectly capturing the deep details of the rims (I was totally wrong about this! more details later). I did post a few pictures of the initial set of rim designs on my previous entry, and when I revisited the project, I ditched everything and decided to start from scratch. And here are a few pictures of the new design that I made, these were posted both on Facebook and Instagram and received positive feedback from the community and I was really happy about that.
I was so happy with the results and started casting it. You see, I use a two part mold in casting my previous wheel sets. I tried to use the same process on the new rim design and it all went down from there. I encountered several issues in making the mold itself. The rim has now been broken down to three small pieces, I did say earlier that during the thinking process for the new rims, having multiple pieces will benefit me by making the casting process easier. Well, having three different tiny parts, as I have learned the hard way, does not make the casting process easier. Well for my process that is. If it would have been the regular casting mixtures, I think it would have been much easier. I tried multiple times to make a two part mold for the pieces over a span of two weeks and when I was finally satisfied with the mold, I started casting.
After a full day of waiting for the resin to cure, I really thought I was out on the clear. I was wrong again! I did not realize that having a two part mold with no proper vacuum/sealing apparatus like the ones used in injection molding, will have a huge impact on fitment. That's one more thing that I have not thought off when I considered having multiple pieces for the rim design.
As you can see on the picture, I have extended the lip (the gold tube) of the rim to act as guide and keep the rear part of the barrel in place as it sandwiches the center piece.
After a full day of waiting for the resin to cure, I really thought I was out on the clear. I was wrong again! I did not realize that having a two part mold with no proper vacuum/sealing apparatus like the ones used in injection molding, will have a huge impact on fitment. That's one more thing that I have not thought off when I considered having multiple pieces for the rim design.
As you can see on the picture, I have extended the lip (the gold tube) of the rim to act as guide and keep the rear part of the barrel in place as it sandwiches the center piece.
As you can see from the pictures below, fitment and alignment is an issue. The lip and barrel does not align perfectly, and I actually broke a piece of the lip while trying to fit the center piece. As I commented on my Facebook post, this can easily be fixed by sanding it down a bit once you have received the set. But I don't want that! What I want is a flawless fit, I don't want you to encounter any issues with sets as soon as you receive one and mounting the pieces should be a breeze.
So it was back to the drawing board for me. I decided to take my mind of the sets for a while and do something simple and fun to refresh my mind. My brother is an awesome artist and I asked him to make a 1/64 scaled racer figure for me that I can then recast and work on for the meantime. And I was sure glad I did because after that I was back on the set with a new plan!
I was rummaging through my plastic car kits when I saw one of the rims that my friend Hanzel (Facebook/ScaledRicers) has given me for my MR2 project. The lips on the rims he gave me were custom ones taken from a different set of wheels I believe and the only thing that is holding the lip in place was the actual tire mounted on the wheels. Eureka! Yes, simple is better most of the time! So I discarded the previous lip and barrel design and made a new one. This also gave me an opportunity to add another step on the lip!
I am really really happy how the new lip design turned out. Aside from aesthetics, another reason why I added a step on the lip is to help with the casting process. Through countless trial and error, I have learned that having meatier and or thicker parts helps the resin to breath and settle making it possible for the resin to squeeze into the nooks and crannies of the rims. I did add a millimeter to the total diameter of the rims, I have not encountered any fitment issues so far with the die-cast castings I have lying around here, so I guess that's okay. Just like the 1/24 rims I have, the new rim does not have an extended lip on the inside. I really really hope that this will solve the casting issue. Anyways, that's all the update that I have for now. I'll be posting a new entry once I'm done with the first mold and cast. Fingers crossed everything turns out okay!
Comparison of the new (left) and previous (right) lip and barrel design.