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DantheRSman

Painting bodyshell questions

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Good evening,

I am fairly new to the RC hobby world, I had toys (Nikko) as a child but have never dabbled in the professional hobby scene, mainly due to spending my money on and working on my real cars.

I have a MF-01X chassis with the Escort Mk2 shell, I built it with the upgraded bearings and have already upgraded the shockingly bad shocks to oil filled ones and also bought a new clear bodyshell with some 18 spoke alloys.

I've not created my own shell before, so am still learning, I plan on using the stock white bodyshell & blue wheels for summer outside use and then having a street version with the 18 spoke alloys using the new shell for winter inside use.  I have bought some metallic red paint which I plan to back with black to create a metallic red/black look.

I've sprayed real cars, my first car back in 1997 was an Escort Mk4 which had a few rust bubbles that needed filling, but I've never done anything so small and delicate, so have a few questions, any answers and tips would be appreciated.....

  1. Should I trim/cut the shell before or after spraying?
  2. Should I drill the body mount holes before or after spraying?
  3. I've seen members cars with personalised number plates, where/how are they made or bought?
  4. I've seen quite a few members cars which include black lines for the doors, bonnet/hoods etc, how are they made or where are they bought from?

Thanks in advance.

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I always cut/trim the shell and drill body mount holes before painting. I'm sure you already know this, but there is a protective film on the outside which you peel off after painting.

For making the holes, the first couple I did I tried using a normal drill, and it tended to leave a messy hole, and/or snag then introduce tiny cracks. I then bought a body hole reamer (this kind of thing, but available cheaply all over the internet https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/schumacher-body-reamer-23197 - can't remember where I got mine from), and it was a revelation. Clean holes are so easy to do - well worth the price.

My only other tip is to take a bit of the offcut body material from when you trim it, and paint that first. That way you can test how much colour coverage you need before backing the paint, and also check out what effect your chosen backing colour will have. My most recent one, I tried two different backing colours side by side to compare the results before choosing what to put on the shell itself. Also the colour coat can still be quite see-through before backing, and turn out just fine once backed - again a test piece gives confirmation of what will/won't be ok (if you mask a bit of the test piece when backing, you can then see how much colour you had before backing and compare that to the real shell when deciding if you need another coat or not).

 

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47 minutes ago, AJB123 said:

I always cut/trim the shell and drill body mount holes before painting. I'm sure you already know this, but there is a protective film on the outside which you peel off after painting.

For making the holes, the first couple I did I tried using a normal drill, and it tended to leave a messy hole, and/or snag then introduce tiny cracks. I then bought a body hole reamer (this kind of thing, but available cheaply all over the internet https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/schumacher-body-reamer-23197 - can't remember where I got mine from), and it was a revelation. Clean holes are so easy to do - well worth the price.

My only other tip is to take a bit of the offcut body material from when you trim it, and paint that first. That way you can test how much colour coverage you need before backing the paint, and also check out what effect your chosen backing colour will have. My most recent one, I tried two different backing colours side by side to compare the results before choosing what to put on the shell itself. Also the colour coat can still be quite see-through before backing, and turn out just fine once backed - again a test piece gives confirmation of what will/won't be ok (if you mask a bit of the test piece when backing, you can then see how much colour you had before backing and compare that to the real shell when deciding if you need another coat or not).

 

Thanks, I'll definitely buy a reamer before attempting it, I'll also do as you suggest with the off cuts.  

To cut the trim on the already painted RTR shell I scored it with a scalpel first, is that the best way to do it?

I've also got a Carisma sca-1e Range Rover RTR which I've had a for a few years, cut my teeth on that for the hop-ups etc.. (crashed it this summer which did something to the steering, checked everything but servo, I'll start another topic about that)  Anyway, I've got the full Tamiya LED light controller on the Range Rover so it indicates etc, but I used electrical insulating tape to secure the wires to the shell, there must be a better way of doing it? 

I don't want to use insulating tape on my newly painted Escort shell, do you have any tips on how to secure the LED wires too?

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Paint first/cut second and cut first/paint second are both viable approaches. Both have their pros and cons. Personally I paint first. Just go with what feels more comfortable for you.

The body lines can be done with a fine permanent marker, or with fine vinyl tape. There is a product called "Model Technics Trimline" that is mostly aimed at model aircraft but works well if you can find it.

You can use a combination of scoring and lexan scissors to trim the body.

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38 minutes ago, DantheRSman said:

To cut the trim on the already painted RTR shell I scored it with a scalpel first, is that the best way to do it?

.....

I don't want to use insulating tape on my newly painted Escort shell, do you have any tips on how to secure the LED wires too?

I'm not an expert by any means, but I've used a scalpel/sharp craft knife for mine, scoring and then bending to snap it. And then used scissors (I know you can buy special ones, but I've been using a pair of nail scissors we had anyway) for bits where I wouldn't easily be able to bend it to snap after scoring. Just be careful not to cut too far into corners, as a little cut left in the actual shell acts as a stress concentration point where cracks could start. Also don't fully close the scissors when cutting (sounds obvious, but I put a little crack in one shell due to poor cutting skills - a friend pointed out that learning to use scissors was something he learnt in primary school...!!!)

For one particularly tight corner on my most recent shell I actually made a tiny hole in the corner, and then cut up to the hole, if that makes any sense.

It also often helps to cut away some of the excess plastic first, before trying to trim accurately. The excess sometimes gets in the way and stops it from being folded to crack along a score.

In terms of wires I'm not sure. Maybe the neatest would be to use that reinforced aluminium tape you get with some of the kits. The only time I've done lights was in a hard-shell (not polycarbonate), and I used little blobs of bathroom silicone to stick the wires in place. I'm not sure that was the best idea though, and might try using tape another time. The silicone did work though.

 

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3 hours ago, DantheRSman said:

I don't want to use insulating tape on my newly painted Escort shell, do you have any tips on how to secure the LED wires too?

Stick on wire clips. 

HJURFUb.jpg

 

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4 hours ago, DantheRSman said:

I've seen members cars with personalised number plates, where/how are they made or bought?

Printer and blank self adhesive vinyl is one option. 

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8 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

Stick on wire clips. 

Nice - that's what I should have used!!

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23 hours ago, AJB123 said:

I'm not an expert by any means, but I've used a scalpel/sharp craft knife for mine, scoring and then bending to snap it. And then used scissors (I know you can buy special ones, but I've been using a pair of nail scissors we had anyway) for bits where I wouldn't easily be able to bend it to snap after scoring. Just be careful not to cut too far into corners, as a little cut left in the actual shell acts as a stress concentration point where cracks could start. Also don't fully close the scissors when cutting (sounds obvious, but I put a little crack in one shell due to poor cutting skills - a friend pointed out that learning to use scissors was something he learnt in primary school...!!!)

For one particularly tight corner on my most recent shell I actually made a tiny hole in the corner, and then cut up to the hole, if that makes any sense.

It also often helps to cut away some of the excess plastic first, before trying to trim accurately. The excess sometimes gets in the way and stops it from being folded to crack along a score.

In terms of wires I'm not sure. Maybe the neatest would be to use that reinforced aluminium tape you get with some of the kits. The only time I've done lights was in a hard-shell (not polycarbonate), and I used little blobs of bathroom silicone to stick the wires in place. I'm not sure that was the best idea though, and might try using tape another time. The silicone did work though.

 

Thanks for your help.

23 hours ago, sosidge said:

Paint first/cut second and cut first/paint second are both viable approaches. Both have their pros and cons. Personally I paint first. Just go with what feels more comfortable for you.

The body lines can be done with a fine permanent marker, or with fine vinyl tape. There is a product called "Model Technics Trimline" that is mostly aimed at model aircraft but works well if you can find it.

You can use a combination of scoring and lexan scissors to trim the body.

Cheers, I'll have a look for that.

 

20 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

Stick on wire clips. 

HJURFUb.jpg

 

Thanks I'll have a look for those too.

Thanks everyone for your help, I'll upload some photos when ive done it all.

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On 11/6/2022 at 9:46 PM, alvinlwh said:

Printer and blank self adhesive vinyl is one option. 

Check out EBay/Amazon as well. 

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