1:24 16 inch Alfa Romeo GTA Maxilite

A replica of the wheel from a lightweight coupe

Maxilite makes replicas of historic wheels, that is parts that look like a period original but are made today and in the sizes owners of collectors' cars really need. The subject of this set is the wheel from the lightweight version of the Italian coupe, on which steel panels were replaced with aluminum ones in the 1960s and the weight came down by more than a hundred kilograms.

The engineering the pattern gives away

An open-pattern wheel has an unambiguous job on a sports coupe. It carries heat away from the brakes, which on a light car with a sharply tuned four-cylinder engine work harder than its weight would suggest. On a model that comes down to one simple requirement: something has to be visible behind the wheels. A suggestion of a disc or a drum, a darkened inside of the wheel arch and a suspension arm are enough to keep the cut-outs from reading as holes into nothing.

Choosing tires, and painting

The sixteen-inch diameter given in the name matches today's approach to replicas rather than the original equipment of these cars, so choose a tire with a matching, that is lower, sidewall; a tall period profile would look out of place on a wheel of that diameter. Keep the shade of the rim in a slightly yellowish silver that recalls polished alloy, and add a dark wash into the corners of the pattern. The hubcap with the badge can only be managed with a fine brush, but it repays the effort, because it is what says which car this is. There are no tires in the package, so expect to use tires from the kit or from another set; best one whose inner diameter matches the rim flange, so that the edge does not have to be adjusted.