im888

Thanks fellas. At this point I am regretting not just simply dying the body with a bottle of Rit. It would have saved me so much time and so much trouble. I know that painting is many people's favorite part of building an RC kit, and even when I was a kid I loved painting every little detail of my Revell and Monogram model cars with a micro-brush and a set of Testors. But there seems to be so many Do's and Don'ts and potential pitfalls to Tamiya paints that I've found the whole process quite restrictive. Sorry to suddenly be such a Debby Downer; I think I'm just burnt. I really did have fun building the entirety of this Lunchbox with my boy - it's been the perfect starter kit for us - and I'm looking forward to it all coming together (just so that we can go out and bash up our precious paintjob, LOL). I'll post a pic upon completion.

Thanks guys. Still have some questions: @Willy iine That breaks my heart a bit. Based on all my prior due diligence I thought I was doing it the correct way (letting each coat cure for 24 hours). Sounds like I might be in for an unpleasant surprise within the next several months. Also, from what I have read, many people wait a week for curing before putting their stickers/decals on top of their paint. What is your opinion/experience on that? @mtbkym01 Lovely! How many coats of Flat TS-80 did you use? And I have a separate question about applying your stickers: did you use any special techniques such as The Hairdryer Method (heating the decals with warm air)? I'm currently researching that on older threads here, and am getting some conflicting info. The Lunchbox seems to have more body contours and grooves than Clod Buster, so I want to make sure I get my aftermarket vinyl stickers fitted on nice and tight to avoid future peeling.

Hi all, I've just completed spraying 6 coats of Tamiya TS (41, coral blue) onto my Lunch Box (see pics below). FYI I waited 24 hours between each coat of paint. I understand that I should now let it "cure" for 7 days before applying stickers and clear coat? My intentions are: after curing, I will apply THESE stickers (Mystery Machine, vinyl) followed by two cans (approx 6 total coats) of TS-80 Clear Flat Spray. My understanding is that I will need plenty of clear-coat to smooth over the edges of these stickers (which are thicker than the stock Lunchbox decals provided by Tamiya). I'm also going for a matte look, which is why I opted for the TS-80, and why I will not be sanding my paintjob prior to spraying on the clear coat. Nonetheless, I'm curious to hear your tips about what to do PRE-clear coat, i.e. I recall someone suggesting washing the paint after curing with dish soap (I suppose to wash off all the paint dust? Up until now I've only used a paper towel and compressed air between each coat). In another thread, someone else wrote: What does "flash out" mean exactly? And how long is too long before the clear coat fails to "adhere chemically" to the paint? And in another thread, this user wrote: Why did this happen? And how to prevent it? Should I be concerned about the TS-80 Clear Flat Spray eating these vinyl stickers? Thanks in advance, I really appreciate everyone's feedback!

Thanks - as always! - to everyone for your thoughtful replies (I haven't figured out yet how to "@" members in a post so that they receive a notification). @sosidge Very good point! I might actually need some of those holes to drain out the water and sand. @Mokei Kagaku Wow! Thanks for doing this!!! SO helpful! @Willy iine Yep, I greased the mating pieces of the gearbox before screwing closed, and after screwing I also lined all the connecting parts of the gearbox with liquid rubber (probably won't stick on for very long after driving in rough conditions, but hopefully it helps a little as far as waterproofing). @smirk-racing I won't be driving it directly in the water, but definitely along damp sand. Can you please explain in detail what you mean by properly venting the tires and covering the holes of the wheels? I am not using tire foams because I heard they soak up moisture but I was not planning on covering all those holes in the wheels because I read that if I do then the tires become ridiculously bouncy (due to the trapped buoyancy). Before I super-glue my tires to the wheels (which I was planning on doing this weekend) please let me know if I should be sealing up all those holes in the wheels.

I hope I don't sound like a complete idiot for asking this (because I'm sure the Tamiya designers/engineers put these here for a purpose), but nonetheless would it be okay if I covered up all those holes scattered around the Lunch Box (and Pumpkin) chassis? In addition to the sizeable circular hole in the bottom-middle of the chassis (which is centered directly above the battery compartment) there are about a dozen other little holes that I can't find any use for. See my attached pic where I have circled these (I'm not including the suspension holes, the on/off switch space, the servo space, or the gap for the engine wires, and I understand that at least one of these are for the antenna). I'm asking because I want to waterproof and sand-proof the chassis as much as possible as I will primarily be driving my Lunchbox at the beach and in sand dunes. As for the actual covering up, I was thinking of using a hot glue gun and/or duct tape. Other suggestions appreciated!

Wanted to say thanks to everyone above for their help. I'll probably incorporate a combination of everyone's ideas here as I continue to experiment with this. I could also try one unique idea per wheel to see which works the best. P.S. @87lc2 those look amazing!!!

So I'm on my first-ever Tamiya RC build (Lunch Box), and I've done all my research about how to properly primer and paint using TS spray-can paints (washing and sanding first, heating up the can, etc), and then today I begin the primer process (Tamiya-brand white fine surface primer for plastic), starting with this kit's stock deep-dish wheels...but none of the spray goes beyond the outter-most lips of the rim! Being sure to keep about 8 inches distance, and using light dusting strokes, I tried all sorts of angles (horizontal, vertical, diagonal, top-down), and some of the spray does hit the insides of the wheels for about 1-2 centimeter down, but absolutely no primer is hitting the very backs of the wheels' interior (where the holes are). It seems that the only way I could possibly get spray primer/paint in that deep is to hold the can's nozzle directly inside the wheel and blast it - which of course would cause it to become very thick and muck up. I've read that dye is an option (but since these wheels come yellow, and I want to color them TS-22 light-green, it might not work well), or I guess I could paint by hand with a brush. But I'd really love to hear and learn from anyone who has successfully spray-painted (airbrush not an option) their Lunchy wheels (or Midnight Pumpkin, since they seem to be the exact same wheels). PHOTOS ATTACHED Thanks!!! (I'm new here, please be gentle ;)