Newbie Painting Question

[baldie]

Well I want to change the body on my touring car but I have no idea what I need to do to paint the body. Its a BMW M3 body and I wanted it in Blue. I want the whole exterior blue and will touch-up with some black to bring out the fenders and grill. Now am I'm going to paint the exterior with polycarbonate paint, let it dry, then do my touch-ups?

[Piggy89373]

Baldie, usually you'll paint clear polycarbonate bodies on the interior. This prevents any run-ins with curbs or other cars from chipping the paint. It also gives a much more even and shinier appearance. If you haven't read Haunted Myst's How-to Guide (http://www.rctech.net/articles/painting_hauntedmyst.shtml), then you need to take a look through it first. It's a great tutorial that'll help you tremendously. Hope this helps, and when you're done, post pics to show it off.

[baldie]

Do you need actual body scissors to cut the body or can regular scissors be used?

[Piggy89373]

You can use regular scissors, but it's a royal paint. If you're only going to do one or two bodies, then you can get by with regular scissors, a dremel, and a hobby knife. If you're planning on having a couple of different bodies, lexan scissors are a great investment.

[Cosmo]

You don't need scissors at all. I have never owned a pair, and I've painted and trimmed over 300 bodies. An Xacto is all you need.

[AreCee]

Maybe someone should tell him how to score and bend the lexan with an Xacto to trim the body.

[JonBoy]

I have only done a few bodies but I have always just used a razor and has worked great, I did get a pair of the body scissors on a trade and just found them anoying. good for trimming a few parts but I would mainly just use the razor.

[baldie]

Maybe someone should tell him how to score and bend the lexan with an Xacto to trim the body.

Whats an xacto??? How much do they cost?

[Piggy89373]

xacto is a hobby knife. They usually run about a buck or so.

[baldie]

xacto is a hobby knife. They usually run about a buck or so.

And these work just as well as body scissors?

[Piggy89373]

With some practice, yup. Here's an xacto. (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXKY70&P=7) You can also find them at most hardware stores. They'll vary in price from a buck or so to 2 or 3 bucks. But, the key to using these is to score the lexan, not cut all the way through. You'll need to score the lexan a couple of times, fold along the cut, and the lexan will start to separate or pop off. It takes some practice, but as you can see from Cosmo's submissions, it can work exceptionally well.

[baldie]

an xacto doesn't seem like something you'd cut the wheel weels off with though....is it?

[Piggy89373]

Yup, you can cut all sorts of shapes. Go very slow, follow a curve around and score the lexan nice and even. Then, pick a point below the curve and draw lines up like spokes to the scored lexan curve. If do right, all the spokes of the curve will come out leaving you with a nice pretty curve cut in lexan.

[Cosmo]

The trick is to use a brand new blade, and lightly score it a few times. If you press too hard, the blade sort of has a mind of its own, and doesn't always follow the line you want it to.

[JonBoy]

Good info I think i have been pressing to hard. Just from past usage dont get the .99 cent one spend a couple of bux's I have had problems with some of the elcheapo's