Black or chrome?

[XV Pilot]

As some of you may remember from the "So, what have you done today?" thread, I ordered a Tamiya Fiat 500 shell for my M-05 a while back. It has been painted red as planned, and fitted to the chassis.

The original plan was to run it with black Ride wheels, but an alternative idea was to use chrome Tamiya ones as supplied with the Beetle and Low Rider Pumpkin kits.

Trouble is, I think it looks great with both. The decal scheme gives plenty of black for the Rides to tie in with, but there is plenty of chrome too. I have consulted my wife who I think has great taste in such matters, and she can also see arguments for both wheelsets.

We therefore throw the question open to you, dear fellow Tamiya fans, for your valued opinions. Which do you think look better? Black wheels or chrome?

[Nitomor]

Hmm,

I would usually go with black between chrome and black because I'm not generally a fan of bling at all, but looking at the above pics, the chrome really suits that application and picks out the chrome detailing/highlights/accents on the shell, so I'd say chrome, unless you were to also black out all those details too, but in this case it's not a car that particularly suits an evil moody hard as nails theme anyway, so chrome again for me I think!

However, to me those chrome rims look like they need to be spaced out a little to fill those arches, from the pics the blacks fit better but it may just be the angle.

[StrokerBoy]

Since you ask, I think black wheels on anything are universally awful. You need the contrast between wheel and tyre, in my opinion.

But the chrome Beetle wheels are the sole reason I've not yet bought a Lowride Pumpkin, as they look gash too.

Hope this helps !

[Effigy3]

IMHO those chrome wheels make your Fiat look like a hooptie-lowrider, where as the black wheels have a definite Fiat sport vibe to them. I'm actually shocked at my own opinion on this because I typically agree with StrokerBoy that black wheels are awful and blend in too much with the tires. Approaching this particular build with an open mind though leads me to choose the black wheels. I think for me it's just those chrome wheels in particular. If you had a chrome version of the black wheels I might vote chrome.

[ChrisRx718]

I think they both look great, but the black looks much more aggressive. What about the genuine 500 wheels Tamiya sold with the kit? The silver multi-spoke ones, they're only a few quid on Banzai...

Either way, they need more pokey-pokey, some spacers to fill out those arches nicely

[i_am_scarecrow]

100% black for me. It's a tough looking little car so it needs a tough looking wheel.

[Andyfish2000]

I've gone chrome. But then I am not a fan of black wheels on most cars, 1:10 or 1:1

[tam-trucks]

nice set of 4spokes would look nice------example http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tamiya-M-Chassis-Aluminium-4-Spoke-Wheels-New-In-Box-2-Pairs-53249-/131757568496?hash=item1ead5cf1f0:g:R3MAAOSwr7ZW7-ty

[Grastens]

I prefer black wheels for racers and chrome wheels for others. It is a preference; clearly my models do not follow this rule except where box-art applies. Yet it also depends on the car in question...

For a Fiat 500: either of chrome or black, I would personally go for chrome. Were any finish to be an option, though, I would go for the grey/dull silver that appears on factory wheels.

The Fiat 500 I see the most has the Abarth Esseesse wheels pictured below. I find it quite attractive:

[dualdigger]

Black, chrome makes it look cartoonish to me.

[XV Pilot]

Well, the black wheels seem to have the overwhelming majority so far!

Makes sense I suppose - after all it was this image that inspired my colour choice for the shell:

I think I'll stick with the black ones then.

I had a set of the brushed silver multispoke Fiat-lookalikes on my M-03 Fiat 500, and while they looked good when first fitted, they very quickly suffered road rash as they have hardly any dish to them - they present their faces to almost every impact. Maybe for a pure shelf queen, but not for a runner like this one. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Now to think of something to do with those chrome wheels that have been in my spare wheel box for about a decade...

[Wooders28]

I know I'm really late to this party, but, I think the black looks well because it ties in with the black/red theme of the rest of the car (door mirrors, windows).

If you changed the colour around the windows to chrome, I think the chrome would go.