Tires are often a weak point with many of our kits, Carl (@clipper). On a 1/72 multi-engine model, I figure I will need to replace the tires and the seats. I have never tried to cut new tread in the kit tires. You are a brave man. I can tell you that in T-37s, it didn't take long to wear the tread off our tires and. We could fly on bald tires with patches of chord showing as long as it wasn't excessive. In 20 years of flying the T-37, I never had a tire blow on landing. I don't think smooth tires would be the case with the Hudson since they were often flown off of non-paved airfields which was easier on tire wear. I would think that Ventura tires would work for a Hudson, if you can find some. Good luck.

1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

Thanks Spiros (@fiveten) and George (@gblair). It really isn't anything to take on cutting treads. It either works or it doesn't. I originally had planned to do only one, then cast two new wheels from it. But it didn't work out on the first one. So I tried a slower battery powered motor on the second one, and it didn't work out either. So I learned something from this. It is probably better to use a more dense material and turn it from scratch, but also, I would need to invest in better tooling to do this. And I am unlikely to do that since it has too limited of a use for me.

I think the better approach long term would be to do what you have done, George. Namely learn CAD and invest in a 3D printer. That has been something I am considering for next year. But, first I want to improve on my overall modeling. I feel like I can do a lot better than what I am currently accomplishing. Especially in painting and weathering.

BTW, as an ex aircraft mechanic, I know what you mean about tire wear George. One of my early jobs in the Navy was rebuilding wheel assemblies for P-3 Orions. Those tires always looked ragged by the time we got them.

It's a bit hard to tell in the photo but the wheel wells have been painted and weathered. I was after a sort of dirty aluminum look which looks better in person. I painted the parts in Tamiya Flat Aluminum and then used a combination of dark yellow ochre and starship filth filters (99% thinned oil washes).

I have to work on getting the nacelles assembled and fitted next. Their fit is only fair so I want to get that right before moving onto the fuselage work. It's been interesting building a model in this order (wings first instead of cockpit first).

Thanks Spiros (@fiveten). I think I will give this a day to fully dry, then do a small amount of dry brushing to add a few highlights. I almost painted these interior green but remembered that they were not that color and looked at the photos again, which showed the dirty aluminum look.

Wheel wells look great, Carl (@clipper). Good idea to get the wings and nacelles sorted before adding to the fuselage. Work, especially sanding, on the wing and engine gets complicated once you add the fuselage to the mix.

You have really gotten a lot of work done, Carl (@clipper). Everything will look fine with a coat of paint. All of the flap tracks that stick out past the trailing edge of the wings were separate on mine. It was fun getting them all lined up vertically and horizontally. The MPM kits have 8 pairs of vents and inlets for the engines on different versions. It turns out my 3 different planes will all have different vent configurations. Thank goodness for photos.

Excellent progress and, as always, awesome looks so far, my friend @clipper! I agree with our friend @gblair, all will lok spotless under a coat of paint.

Loved reading yours and George's approach to filling. I have never used epoxy putty and the Vallejo putty, but I occasionally use Cyano. Might give them a try.

I will have to take a look at Green Stuff Putty, Carl (@clipper). I have used other products from them, but never realized their putty was different from the others. Epoxy putty should be very strong, but would need to be smoothed prior to drying. Once dry, is the epoxy putty similar to dry CA?