LOL, yeah.
I think I'll go with the white outline Goodyears after all. Just do the name brand first then check whether I should also add the white outline EAGLE lettering to the opposite side.
The process I use to add these decals works really well. Its one drawback is that its VERY "one shot" and permanent so you have be really sure how you want them to turn out before you make the commitment.
I start out using a Q Tip/ cotton bud and rubbing alcohol to fully clean off any grease/oils and fine dust. Once that dries I hand paint a descent layer of lacquer based clear flat (Testor's Dullcoat) with a small brush to give the decals something to "bind" to. I found it better to use a brush and even get a little sloppy in how I lay down the lacquer. The sidewalls of real tires don't look "perfect" and small lumps and bumps actually look more realistic.
Next, I'll apply the decals with several coats of decal solvent (the Micro Set red and blue bottles are barely strong enough but they work). After the decal has fully laid down and dries, I'll add another coat of the clear flat to the entire sidewall to make the sidewalls and lettering look uniform.
For "soft" rubber tires you can use acrylic clear flat but most times you'll want a lacquer based clear. If the flat coat "beads up" on the sidewall, you defiantly need to use lacquer.
One thing I mentioned earlier, this process is (basically) permanent. Take your time laying down the decals to make sure they are centered
before hitting them with the solvent. "Two part" decals can be tricky (ie, "Good*Year EAGLE", "Bridgestone POTENZA", etc.) where the lettering needs to be offset by 180 degrees. What works best for me is to lay down one set of lettering then use a toothpick/ cocktail skewer to line up the centers of the letters. Place the toothpick above the center of the wheel and the first set of letters to line up the second set.
Tire lettering can sometimes look funky, just make sure it looks mostly centered.
One thing I wanted to try at some point was using Tamiya Extra Thin plastic cement as a decal solvent.
TRUST ME, DO NOT USE THIS STUFF ANYWHERE NEAR CLEAR FLAT LACQUER!
I added some basic Firestone white outline letters to the tires of the red mustang and it looked like the top corner of one F had lifted (it really hadn't, I just got On A Roll and had just finished three other tire sets and I felt lucky).
One touch of the Tamiya Extra Thin told me I just made a huge mistake.
The clear flat turned into a curdled dark gray because the glue reacted with the paint. I may leave it alone as a reminder to ALWAYS QUIT WHILE YOU'RE AHEAD but I have one more spare Firestone decal if I want to try to remove the old decal and paint and start over.
The reason the clear flat lacquer works so well comes down to how decals are printed.
That clear film the images get printed on is really a thicker version of clear gloss lacquer.
Any liquid lacquer will tend to dissolve the clear backing medium or worst case, it will defiantly bind to it.
One quick follow up on this sheet of decals- they are printed by Tin House in Germany.
They make detail parts in various scales, mostly for racing/endurance racing cars which is why their decals tend to follow a theme. The color printed layers are outstanding but the the clear underside layer tends to be slightly thick. This is great when it comes to nudging a decal into its correct position but you may have to deal with some slight "silvering" or creases. Still, highly recommended as long as you don't panic and have some bottles of setting solution on your shelf. Just make sure you order the correct size.
There are many variations available and they are based on scale and wheel diameter. If you're dealing with oddball wheel sizes and tall or short sidewalls, you may need to bust out a calculator to figure out which sheet has the closest radius for your tire.
I had some good luck finding tire decals to fit the Solido 1/18th scale purple Mini.
The car comes with typical tiny wheels for the Mini and low but wide tires. I had ordered a sheet of Bridgestone letters for various Tamiya 1/24th scale cars and the smallest decals in the set were almost a perfect match. A little work with some setting solution and they wound up looking like they belonged there.
