Unfortunately the manufacturers view the models as toys that will be built, played with, broken, and tossed into landfill long before the vinyl leeches out. With that business model they have little incentive to change their ways…
I’ll just keep buying resin wheels and plastic tracks for anything I want to see outlive me.
Could you paint the rims with a primer and then paint the portion that touches the tire in automotive paint to keep the plastic and vinyl apart?
Painting the rims with pretty much anything separates them from the vinyl to stop the vinyl-on-plastic reaction, but sooner or later the vinyl leeches anyway and fails. Could take decades, but it will happen…
Rubber has been used in tires for models for quite a while, mainly because it offers flexibility and durability, especially for those that are meant to move or get some wear and tear. Plastic and resin can look amazing for detail, but they don’t have the same grip or resilience as rubber, especially over time.
As for your point on deterioration, rubber does have some downsides, but advances like HNBR can make it more durable and resistant to things like wear, oils, and UV damage.
I remember swapping out some rubber parts on my old RC car, and while resin was great for the body, the rubber tires made it far more functional on different surfaces. So, it’s a balance of practicality and performance, not just cost.
Welcome aboard,I think the OP and subsequent posts were more about our static models,from what I see,I wouldnt think resin or injection plastic molded tires would work well on RC models over rubber ones for the reasons you stated
