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Home :: Tutorials :: Index :: How To Make Hubcaps
   Back To Index   How To Make Hubcaps Tutorial #94

Title
How To Make Hubcaps

Author
Klutz

Published
Friday, March 23, 2007

While transforming the stock Tamiya Lotus Super 7 into a specific version of the car that appeared in a TV series, I was faced with the problem of incorrect wheels.

My solution was to use the wheels from Gunze's Lotus Elan. However there was a snag – the Gunze wheels were 1mm smaller in diameter (equivalent of one inch in 1/1) which meant that the kit hubcaps could not be used as they looked like trash can lids on the new wheels and the Elan kit didn’t use hubcaps. The only way out was to make some new ones.

The problem of how to make five perfectly shaped, domed parts caused me quite a headache until the headache itself actually provided the answer! This quick and rough tutorial shows how I made hubcaps out of an aspirin.

I hope that this idea will prove useful to anyone working with old timers or loses a hubcap. Time of work (excluding paint drying) 20-30 minutes.

Here's what you will need:

  • Pack of unused aspirin
    Actually all you really need is the sheet with the “bubbles” that hold the tablet (used sheets are useless because they have been crushed to pop the tablet out). In this case aspirin was perfect size but obviously, for different wheels you will need to check out your medicine cupboard.
  • Fresh scalpel blade
  • Sanding sticks
  • Adhesive (2-part epoxy or CA)
  • Wheels
  • Time
  • Energy
  • Motivation
  • Paint
  • BMC Tutorials


Tutorial Photograph (1.jpg)

The first thing you need to do is find some bubble packaging of the right shape and size. You will probably need to look at several different packages until you find the best one for your current needs. In choosing your pack, it is also necessary to take into account the slope of the sides - the depth at which you will be cutting will in influence the final diameter (imagine the differences in diameters of cross-sections of a cone at various heights).

Cut off the metal foil from the back (or front, depending on your point of view) and drop the tablet out so as not to damage the cup. With a fresh sharp hobby knife cut the bottom (or top) off at your required height.

It is probably impossible to get a perfect cut at this stage (I couldn’t anyway!) so I placed a sanding stick on my bench top and gently rubbed the cup over it to smooth and level off the cut edge.

Tutorial Photograph (2.jpg)

Tutorial Photograph (3.jpg)

Once you have your cup cut to size and smoothed, it is time to paint it. For this project I need a chrome look. I used blue tack to fix the hubcap to a toothpick, hit it with Tamiya grey primer and then with Humbrol quick-drying black gloss enamel from a spray can. Once dry, I sprayed it with Alclad II Chrome.

Tutorial Photograph (4.jpg)

Tutorial Photograph (5.jpg)

Here is my test cast of the new wheel painted and washed without its hubcap.

Tutorial Photograph (6.jpg)

And here it is with the new hubcap fixed in place with a small amount of 5-minute epoxy glue.

Tutorial Photograph (7.jpg)

Added bonus materials:

I can imagine that these “free” vacuformed parts could be used for a variety of other things. For example clear plastic ones to add glass to scratch built fog lights, replacement headlight covers and the glass on dashboard dials etc.

Also I intend collecting a lot of them as I think they will make great little mixing pots for making panel line washes etc.

I hope you find other ways to use these off the shelf vacuformed parts.

   Back To Index   How To Make Hubcaps Tutorial #94

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