Protoform RC Car bodies @ Night (+playlist)

Protoform RC Touring Car bodies Painted @ Day (+playlist)

How to paint Metallics on RC car bodies (+playlist)

Painting Remote control Car Bodies; Protoform Touring Car bodies painted with metallic paints.

I recently ordered 2 x Protoform R9-R Touring Car Bodies and thought I would give a complete step by step guide of how I went about painting them. Hopefully this guide will help anyone wanting to try paint their own lexan bodies with great success!!

1. First Choose your design.

I decided on a fairly simple design as I was going to use some pretty flash paints: Spaztix's mirror chrome and Green/gold Color change paints. These paints are pretty busy with all the mirroring and color changing going on, so the design of the pattern on the car needs to be minimalistic! I got this image from the Protoform website to use as a basis for my design.

My paint set for this job and my airbrush 

2. Body preparation

Cut out the body (using curved body scissors, they make it so much easier!). Try to make your cut in one long continuous cut to avoid jagged edges!

Test fit on your car and mark out where the body posts go. Use a body reamer (again the right tools make this so easy!) to cut the post holes. Test fit again to make sure your alignment is spot on. I skipped cutting out the wheel arches and body posts on these bodies as my new touring car has not yet arrived in the mail :( I will have to do it once I get the car, which is not my preferred method.

Wash the inside of the body (and your hands!) with warm soapy water and a soft sponge or non scratch scouring pad. Make sure you get in all the tight corners and really give the body a good going over. Any residual release agent left on the body will cause your paint to not adhere to the lexan (the plastic), so this is really important!! Once washed dry the body with a lint free cloth (These are the best! As tissues or other cloths can leave behind particles that will mess with your paintwork!) You can get them from Ebay or one of those big cheap stuff shops.

3. Design layout and initial masking

First, apply your windows masks that came with the body. I like to give my designs a 2 to 3mm border between color changes. It is really easy to do once you know how. Get yourself some 2mm (or 3mm if you prefer) line masking tape (lots of it! if you plan to do more than one body!) I cannot stress enough the value of good quality masking tape! 

I like to start laying down the major lines in the design first then adding and cutting in the smaller lines. For this design there is two major lines running in an arc from the bonnet to the end of the door area on the side of the car, so put them in first. Any lines that go down off the body you should fold them up to the outside of the body, this will help to keep it inplace when you start removing block masks later. The next biggest lines are on the spike running just below the windows. Carefully use a scalpel or hobby knife to cut the masking tape where they over lap. To get nice straight lines, cut a length of masking tape longer than you need, pull it from the edges and lay down in position. Take care to not move the tape when you press it down. Try to avoid touching the lexan when masking, the oils and sweat from your fingers can effect your finished paint job! Continue to fill in the edges of your design with the line marking tape. Take care to press it down firmly once it is in position, this tape that is first on will be last off! So you really want it to stay stuck! Take your time with this step! If you are in a hurry your end result may not be as good as it could have been! I laid my design on both bodies as shown. Note: I am alternating colors between the two bodies so I have masked off accordingly.

4. Block Masking

Now that you have your design lined in you need to decide what color you want to spray first. Generally painting the darkest color first is a good idea as dark colors tend to bleed through light colors potentially ruining your paint job. I am painting metallic paints I chose to paint the Color change green/gold first as it needs to be backed with black. So mask off everywhere either inside or outside of line tape design, making sure that you don't leave gaps or holes in the inside corners of the body. If you have a large section of the body to mask off use a piece of light cardboard masked around the edges to mask off the entire section as shown in the picture above (whole rear end). This is a great time saver! It was 3am when I finished masking these up so saving some time is like finding Gold!!

5. Paint preparation and first color

Ok so it's time to Paint! YAY! 

Well before you do that, go back and check all of your masking is firmly stuck down and look for gaps (sometimes it is usefull to look from both sides of the body, a gap not visible from the underside maybe visible from the top). Press down any lift ups in the masking tape and fill any gaps.

So Paint! Are you using an airbrush or a rattle can? If using an airbrush make sure it is clean before you attempt to paint anything! Rattle can? Shake the hell out of that can! Ok so your first coat of paint on Lexan should always be a very light, even and quick drying coat. This will help the paint to stick to the body and hopefully produce a paint job that is still attached when your body is old and busted up. Let this coat dry completely before laying down the next coat. 

The second coat can be a bit heavier but I don't recommend ever laying down a coat of paint that is able to run. For most people this takes practice to achieve especially with a rattle can or a dual action airbrush. To speed up the drying process you can use a hair dryer on the wet paint. *** A word of warning*** Do not over-heat your lexan body! It is plastic and will melt so use the hair dryer sparingly! I normally do three coats and hold the body up to the light. If my paintwork looks patchy or is still very translucent (may depend on what brand paint and color you are painting) then I will continue to put down thin coats until I am happy with it, use your own judgement here.

6. Backing the first Color

I've laid my three coats of my first color and I am happy with the consistency of the paintwork. The paint is fully dried and I am ready to back it. I'm using metallic paint that must be backed with black so that is what I will use. If you are backing a lighter, bright or fluro color back with white it will help it to really pop the color.

Tip: When backing a color try to just over lap the edge of the masking tape. This saves paint and also limits the chances of paint getting where it isn't supposed to be!

You should now be able to see how your first color looks from the top (unless you have a tinted protective film - Jconcepts bodies commonly have tinted film) the color should be pretty close to the final product

 Note in the photo below: The black paint has bled through my prehistoric 3mm masking tape! 

THE END IS NIGH!! No, it's not we can fix that! :D

7. Removing the block mask and cleanup

Now that your backed first color is completely dry (if it isn't wait until it is!) start to peel off the block masks. Take care to leave all the fine line tape inplace. Slow and steady wins this race!

Clean up any paint that has gone through or around your masking tape with a cotton bud and some solvent. Take care to not touch any of the correctly positioned paintwork with solvent!! Use a fresh clean cotton bud to clean up any streaks or marks you may have made.

8.  Second Color! 

Your first color is done! Congratulations! Before proceeding make sure that all of your fine line tape is still in position and solidly stuck down. Again your first coat should be a light, even coat. Let it completely dry (coffee break?) before starting your next coat. 

My second color is Spaztix's Mirror chrome which is an awesome paint! It goes on well, has great coverage and is simply awesome! I cannot say enough about this paint! If you want a chrome finish get this brand! Believe me I have tried a few different ones and this is the best! I laid down 3 light coats and decided it was done. Unfortunately I didn't photograph any of this step :(

9. Window masks and line tape

Ok, you are nearly there, you have taken your time and done everything correctly up to this point so please don't stop now! If you have a Protoform body look around the front and rear windscreens, there is a cut line about 2mm inside the mask around the sides and 15mm approx. down from the top. Take your scalpel and carefully cut this out and remove the small outer portion. This will leave you with a nicely framed window. If you don't have the cutouts on your particular body mark it out or freehand cut around the edges. Check that your window masks are still firmly attached. If you are going to paint the design borders black, you can now remove the line tape. Spray black on everything that is left (lots of little lines and around the windscreens). Remember really light coat first! (I'm really emphasizing that aren't I?) See the photo above has nice border around the windscreen (And a not so subtly placed Protoform sticker!)

10. You are done here!!

Short of me forgetting something huge (it's getting late, I may have?) You can now proceed to peel off your window masks, peel off the outer protective film, apply some stickers and if you haven't already grab yourself a congratulatory beer :D

So what did my car bodies turn out like? Well.... Scroll on down

Be sure to check out the videos I am posting showing these car bodies :D

 Best of luck and please let me know if this was helpful!

L.