1:24 Porsche Panamera Sport Design 21 + tires

A set after the fitting of which the car is finished

Converting the wheels tends to be the last big change a model gets, and also the most visible one. This variant shortens it to a single step: a crisply drawn rim comes straight away with rubber of a matching diameter, so there is no need to compare the inner dimensions of two parts from different sources.

Dividing the parts before painting

Before you reach for the paint, divide the parts into two piles and paint each one separately. The rim will bear a fuller gloss, while the rubber must not be glossy at all. A matte varnish applied to the side of the tire moreover helps to hide the small unevennesses that anyone would notice on a glossy surface.

Fitting to the axle

The hole in the center is freed up with a reamer or a drill turned in the fingers, never in a tool: the heat from fast revolutions will tear the material. The wheel should seat on the pin so that it can be turned but holds no play sideways. The glue then only needs applying with a pin to the mating surface, not into the hole, from where it would wick out.

Checking and bringing to size

Stand the finished car under direct light and go over it from all four sides. Watch whether all the wheels point straight, whether the gaps above them look the same and whether the gloss of the rims matches. A wheel that deviates even a little spoils the impression of the whole build more than a fault on the body, because the eye compares four identical parts side by side. Put a deviation right at once: you will free the joint with a drop of CA debonder and seat the wheel again. Once the body has been painted, the same intervention will be incomparably harder.