Tamiya and pre-painted bodies

[moffman]

7 hours ago, Carmine A said:

@Exit13 ...... OK, maybe after doing an Audi A2 Rally - I can understand!!! 😂  Still say it should be a CHOICE. 

@moffman AMEN Brother!! 👍👍  OK, I even modify Chassis on many Builds... But the BODY, that's the last bastion of creativity in this Hobby. Again I'll add, not everyone wants it - it NEEDS to be a CHOICE. 

@Problemchild Your TALENT could never be in question!!! 👏👏👏👏👏 Again, CHOICE! Maybe you don't want to paint every Body. They can get a bit frustrating - yet we press on - and MESS UP!! 😠😖😭😭  So yeah, some cases, I would choose a Prepainted Body!!! 

Frankly though..... I do appreciate when the Wheel Arches are Pre-Cut!!!  Fairly sure I'm not the only one.

Oh pre-cut wheel arches is a God sent! My first experience of the pre-cut arches was with the Porsche 959/Toyota celica grb back in the 80's i went through a lot of Porsche bodies and decided to go for the Toyota this was back when you could actually get all the parts you wanted to get before the internet when you actually had to go to the hobby shop to order it😊 which for me was a 25 minute bus ride then a 15 minute train ride (underground tube) but we did it! Mind you we still had those two words which we have learned to hate which brings that sinking feeling "back order" which really means "you've ordered it but you ain't never going to get it" I had that one to many times back then and that hasn't changed much over the years?

[mud4fun]

Well I finally finished the Cougar shell and I can honestly say that about half way through I almost wished for a pre-painted shell..... 

What a stupid idea of mine to try and paint a tri-colour scheme after having never painted a lexan shell and wing in more than one colour before in my life.

It took literally days. In fact if you include the back blacking on the gunmetal and the white backing on the orange and yellow it is actually five colours and alot of masking. It is not even that complicated a design. However for my first attempt at more than one colour and despite using some old dodgy masking tape that leaked everywhere I am quite proud of the end result. It is nice and bright and much better for racing/bashing with than my dark purple scheme. At least I can actually see the damned thing now from 50 feet away 

and at least if I turn up to an event there is near zero chance that another buggy there will have the same colour scheme as me.

[simalarion]

@mud4fun Looks like the job payed off, looks stunning!. And if like me you get a bit more personal connected to it (and grow a anxiety for stone cobles)

[mud4fun]

13 minutes ago, simalarion said:

@mud4fun Looks like the job payed off, looks stunning!. And if like me you get a bit more personal connected to it (and grow a anxiety for stone cobles)

Thanks and yes, this is why I like painting my own shells, you get that individuality and learn some skills at the same time and the car feels more like yours. It is not a 2 minute job though and the masking can be a PITA so I can understand why some people would prefer pre-painted. I think having both options in the box is the best bet for Tamiya or even Schumacher etc. I love the box art scheme on the Schumacher Cougar Laydown and it would have been nice to have a clear shell for painting up to race with and a box art shell for display on a shelf when not in use.

[simalarion]

@mud4fun Agree. And the prices for Lexan body is pulled right out off a Capitalist ***. But when rare enough thats what happens

[Badcrumble]

I know my previous post was quite 'pro' pre-cut / painted shells but this is because I really think they are a good newbie entry point.

The vast majority of people on here aren't newbies, we are enthusiasts. Some like painting more than others.

I totally agree with @simalarion's comment about a personal connection, I really enjoyed the journey making my XV-01T, even if I didn't pull off the colour scheme as well as @Mad Ax

Unfortunately, this truck hasn't turned a wheel in anger because I was disappointed with my paintwork and scared of the decals. 

21 minutes ago, mud4fun said:

I think having both options in the box is the best bet for Tamiya or even Schumacher etc.

I think this would be the way forward, one for 'best' one to learn on / personalise.

My next shell will be a two colour body with two stage backing too so it can't have put me off too much! 

[87lc2]

4 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

Then, sell every variant of every other chassis just as a bare chassis.

Then sell the 'specialist' parts separately, too. 

Great post, especially these two points.  I have bought more chassis kits than complete kits (SCX10, SMT10, Gen8, TT02R), I would love this.  Same for the portals and other bits, I think a lot of customers would step up for these sort of things.

[Carmine A]

On 1/29/2021 at 3:09 AM, moffman said:

Oh pre-cut wheel arches is a God sent! My first experience of the pre-cut arches was with the Porsche 959/Toyota celica grb back in the 80's i went through a lot of Porsche bodies and decided to go for the Toyota this was back when you could actually get all the parts you wanted to get before the internet when you actually had to go to the hobby shop to order it😊 which for me was a 25 minute bus ride then a 15 minute train ride (underground tube) but we did it! Mind you we still had those two words which we have learned to hate which brings that sinking feeling "back order" which really means "you've ordered it but you ain't never going to get it" I had that one to many times back then and that hasn't changed much over the years?

Mate, I remember those days!!! Fortunately here, in the 80's, American capitalism was so bloated - that "back order" was rare. You walked into a Hobby Shop then, to a TIGHTLY packed Inventory. Seems hard to believe today, but nearly ANYTHING Tamiya you wanted, was IN STOCK and usually discounted, due to overstock.

So VASTLY different today. 😭 

..... I WISH I had gone and bought a few 959 and Celica Bodies - and a stack of King Cab Kits!!! 😜

[moffman]

1 hour ago, Carmine A said:

Mate, I remember those days!!! Fortunately here, in the 80's, American capitalism was so bloated - that "back order" was rare. You walked into a Hobby Shop then, to a TIGHTLY packed Inventory. Seems hard to believe today, but nearly ANYTHING Tamiya you wanted, was IN STOCK and usually discounted, due to overstock.

So VASTLY different today. 😭 

..... I WISH I had gone and bought a few 959 and Celica Bodies - and a stack of King Cab Kits!!! 😜

Oh we had a shop called Beattie's a brilliant traditional chain of hobby shops and my nearest one when I needed parts the lady used to go out into the back and 90% of the time she would come back out and those words "no it's not in stock"  "but I can back order it for you" 🙄 roll on to the present day and I've gone into my LHS for a new receiver and "not we haven't any in stock" but I can put it on back order"🙄🙄 don't get me wrong it's no criticism but something's just never change?

OMG if we knew then what we know now with all these super rare kits and parts I'd be sitting on my yacht in Monaco now! Not (as I'm doing at the moment) waiting for the usual unreliable builder to turn up and assess my house roof that's sprung a leak in a miserable wet and cold uk🤔

[87lc2]

2 hours ago, Carmine A said:

Mate, I remember those days!!! Fortunately here, in the 80's, American capitalism was so bloated - that "back order" was rare. You walked into a Hobby Shop then, to a TIGHTLY packed Inventory. Seems hard to believe today, but nearly ANYTHING Tamiya you wanted, was IN STOCK and usually discounted, due to overstock.

So VASTLY different today. 😭 

..... I WISH I had gone and bought a few 959 and Celica Bodies - and a stack of King Cab Kits!!! 😜

I miss this as well.  I was only a kid, but it was great walking into the LHS and being able to see/touch just about anything available at the time.  Now you have to look on the internet and hope when it shows up it meets your expectations. 

I'd love for my daughter (only 6 months old at this point, so we have a while...) to be able to pick her first RC from actual inventory rather than staring at a screen and making a choice.  There's just something about being there that definitely gets lost when shopping online.  

[moffman]

On 1/29/2021 at 11:53 AM, Badcrumble said:

I know my previous post was quite 'pro' pre-cut / painted shells but this is because I really think they are a good newbie entry point.

The vast majority of people on here aren't newbies, we are enthusiasts. Some like painting more than others.

I totally agree with @simalarion's comment about a personal connection, I really enjoyed the journey making my XV-01T, even if I didn't pull off the colour scheme as well as @Mad Ax

Unfortunately, this truck hasn't turned a wheel in anger because I was disappointed with my paintwork and scared of the decals. 

I think this would be the way forward, one for 'best' one to learn on / personalise.

My next shell will be a two colour body with two stage backing too so it can't have put me off too much! 

What's bad about that body cut the body posts few decals on it jobs a good one👍 so what if the lines on it are not pin sharp it's been painted and thought about and designed personally by you and that in my opinion is good enough? Then the next body you do if there was something YOU didn't like on it then try something else?

[moffman]

14 minutes ago, 87lc2 said:

I miss this as well.  I was only a kid, but it was great walking into the LHS and being able to see/touch just about anything available at the time.  Now you have to look on the internet and hope when it shows up it meets your expectations. 

I'd love for my daughter (only 6 months old at this point, so we have a while...) to be able to pick her first RC from actual inventory rather than staring at a screen and making a choice.  There's just something about being there that definitely gets lost when shopping online.  

Yeah this is the thing we are going to have a generation that will have never experienced the magic of going into them brilliant hobby shops with all manor of the latest fads and the rc cars behind a glass counter on the back wall trains going around the shop over your head plastic kits scalextric and scale equipment for model train sets I could go on? 

[Badcrumble]

Thanks @moffman, I should just get on with the stickers (I stand corrected ) and get some practice in. I've a Hornet shell to sticker up too. My back garden basher Hornet's had to put up with the cracked and peeling shell it had when I bought it.

[moffman]

1 hour ago, Badcrumble said:

Thanks @moffman, I should just get on with the stickers (I stand corrected ) and get some practice in. I've a Hornet shell to sticker up too. My back garden basher Hornet's had to put up with the cracked and peeling shell it had when I bought it.

Its always the back wing mounts that take the brunt with a hornet I used to but 2 rubber o rings between the body and the wing sandwiching the body between the two o rings it did help a lot its acts as a little shock absorber?

[Mad Ax]

I came on here looking for the thread where somebody was moaning and complaining about pre-painted bodies.  I knew somebody had posted one, but I'd forgotten it was me.

Anyway, I mentioned to my 5yo daughter last week that it would be nice if we built a car together.  Her little face lit up, and she said she'd love to learn how to build a car.  18 months ago I bought her an FTX Outback Mini-X for her to learn how to drive, on the promise that when she got good at it, I'd buy her a full-size kit and we'd built it together, and she could come with me on my RC weekends.

TBH, she doesn't really drive the FTX that much, and when she does, she doesn't drive it for long before she gets bored.  But after mentioning wanting to do a build, her enthusiasm was rekindled and on Saturday morning she asked to drive the FTX around the garden, and kept it up for a whole 10 minutes before she handed it over to me while she went on the swing.  Her spacial awareness has developed a lot over the past few months, because something clicked and suddenly she was driving it around on the grass quite happily.

So I took her up to my shelf display, pointed out a variety of different car types, and asked her what she'd like.  Immediately she pointed not at any of the cars I'd highlighted, but to the SMT-10 monster truck.  Because it's purple and pink.  So I said we could get anything and make it whatever colour she wanted.

I had a look at monster truck options, but most of them are expensive, need a lot of extra parts, and are complex builds for a 5yo.  The Blackfoot or Monster Beetle re-res aren't too bad but I figured we should start simpler.  I figured a Hornet or similar would be better for that first-time build, since it's an easy build, and every step takes it closer to being a finished car.  (IMO the ORV doesn't even look like a chassis until you put the body on).  I stopped in at the LHS yesterday, and they had a Super Storm Dragon in stock for £95.  There's not too many of these left now, and that's a really good price.  I think she'll love the Super Storm Dragon body, because it's soft and swoopy and kinda looks like some of the stuff she sees on TV, and it fits nicely over the chassis.  I'm not really into these kinds of cars but I think it's a good-looking thing.

Adie asked me if I'd like to open the box to have a look, but in a moment of hubris, I said "no, I know what a Hornet chassis looks like, it'll be fine."  I paid for it there and then, but didn't bring it home as I was on the motorcycle.  Normally I'd have left it, and come back next week with my daughter to make sure it's what she wanted, but Adie is off to Revival this weekend where he always does a good trade in NIB cars, and being the last kit at an under-book price meant it was unlikely to hang around.

This morning I went online to look at some built car photos to see if anyone had gone non-boxart with it.  I think that body would look really nice in a lovely deep purple with some gold details.  Then I spotted some text about a pre-painted body.

Gah!  So now I've got to make a decision:

• tell her it's got to be white
• buy another tin of paint remover and try to get the white off the pre-painted body (I expect it will be well cured!)
• buy another Super Storm Dragon body set (they're £40!  that's almost half what I paid for the entire kit!)
• build it stock, and let her choose another body when it's done (probably go with this one, tbh, even though it adds another £20 - £30 depending on body)
• help her design some graphics on the laptop and have them printed on clear - they'll look good on a white body

I know these pre-painted options work really well for people who don't have a place to spray (I've lived in a flat and in a shared house, I remember how hard it can be to paint when you don't have a shed), but it's thrown a spanner in the works of this build and I'm sure there'll be a bit of disappointment when my daughter sees a white body hiding in the box next week

[Juhunio]

39 minutes ago, Mad Ax said:

Gah!  So now I've got to make a decision:

• tell her it's got to be white
• buy another tin of paint remover and try to get the white off the pre-painted body (I expect it will be well cured!)
• buy another Super Storm Dragon body set (they're £40!  that's almost half what I paid for the entire kit!)
• build it stock, and let her choose another body when it's done (probably go with this one, tbh, even though it adds another £20 - £30 depending on body)
• help her design some graphics on the laptop and have them printed on clear - they'll look good on a white body

I don't know much about hard bodies, so sorry if this is utterly dumb, but...

Bearing in mind it is probably going to have a pretty rough and tumble life while your daughter gets to grips with it, could you not paint over the white outside of the shell with whatever colours she wants? If it gets scratched or chipped it will just show white? 

If new paint won't take on the cured body, would a primer coat work?

Note, these are very much questions, not ill-informed suggestions!! 

***Significant editing based on discovering it's a PC body...sorry***

[87lc2]

Great story, too bad about the ending...I agree that painting her first model will be a big part of the experience.  I know its a lexan body, but why not just paint on the outside?  I've painted the outside of ploycarb bodies a bunch and never had a problem.  Of course it won't be as nice and shiny as if you painted on the inside, but doubtful she'd really notice the difference.  

 

[Juhunio]

Or sell the painted body and stickers on here or on eBay? Even if you get £25/£30 for it and pay £35 for the clear one, you’ve cut your losses….

[alvinlwh]

And 1.5 years on, you are still whinging about the same exact thing! 😂

#joke! 

[Badcrumble]

I'm almost wishing for a pre-painted body at the moment as my son has come up with a name and livery for our monsterized CR-01.

Thing is, it will be a four colour body (including backing) with window stripes and lettering. All of which I need to do by making my own masks <gulp>.

Some good options for you there @Mad Ax.

Is the simplest just painting it on the outside?

[Mad Ax]

The truck that my daughter fell in love with is painted with translucent purple backed with gunmetal, which gives that really luscious deep purple effect.  Unfortunately I don't think that's going to work with an external paintjob.

Actually I think designing some graphics with her and sticking them on the outside will work well for now.  To begin with, it gives us something we can run straight away, and white is a great canvas for adding stuff to.  Maybe she can even decorate it with paintbrushes and stickers from the stacks of sticker sets she's acquired.  She's just about beyond the age of randomly putting stickers anywhere and everywhere, and is starting to think about placing small stickers to make a bigger picture.  I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to balance and authenticity in body designs, so I'll probably have to leave her alone to do what she wants.

It's in cases like this where I can see the argument that restriction can invent creativity, not stifle it.  With a clear body, I can be boring and throw paint on it.  With a painted body, I can use brush paint, felt tip pens, stickers, craft foam, googly eyes...  I'm not saying I couldn't do that with a clear body too, but I wouldn't think to do it.

So actually, yes, @Badcrumble and @87lc2, you are correct - we can paint it on the outside.  And we probably will.  Just not with PS paint

[alvinlwh]

24 minutes ago, Mad Ax said:

The truck that my daughter fell in love with is painted with translucent purple backed with gunmetal, which gives that really luscious deep purple effect.  Unfortunately I don't think that's going to work with an external paintjob.

I think you still can do that... Think in terms of normal models, gunmetal as the primer, followed by translucent purple. Finish off with TS-13.

[Mad Ax]

@alvinlwh you are probably right - it may well work, and with some good lacquer it could look good too.  I'll test it on some scrap material first, though.  The downside with painting on the outside is it chips off easier, the whole point of lexan bodies IMO is they absorb damage well and protect the paint from getting scraped off.  But we'll see - maybe I'll grab a cheap Kamtec body for bashing.  I expect she'll like the shape of the Baja and I think it could be made to fit really well over the Hornet chassis.