Pro-Line Pre-Screened Bodies

[Jason Sams]

http://209.2.68.15:8011/pics/plprepaint.jpg

You want that "Factory Pro" look, but your skills with an airbrush or X-acto knife aren't that sharp? Well, Pro-Line's new pre-screened bodies are just the thing for you. The bodies will come with a pre-printed design leaving you the options for painting the clear portion. All of Pro-Line's popular bodies will be offered with pre-printed designs. This body is just the tip of the iceberg.

[one85_db]

Sweet!

[awnelson]

now that's cool.

[CarbonMadness]

I say, just learn to paint. lol

[thedarkness]

why screen the mask over the windows and use stickers that looks rtr lame.

[PeterV]

I prefer clear windows too Dark, but its very difficult to get clear windows to line up. The graphics go on while the sheet is flat, and then stretch and shift as the body is "pulled". Some RTR companies have used partially-screened bodies with paint used for a final backing color so that window masks may be used for clear windows, but this adds expense. CEN's RTR bodies have clear windows and appear to be fully screen-printed, but I'm not certain if they are . At any rate, these PL bodies with decal windows still look WAAAAY better than my one-color wonders, or most of our attempts to do trick paint jobs with spray cans (most, but not all--I know a lot of you guys can paint like pros, and Pro-Line will gladly sell you clear bodies so you can express yourselves!)

[awnelson]

Um, if they are left clear with an option to finish painting by the customer, why wouldn't they just steer clear of the window areas?

Anyway, most of that gets cut away so the engine can cool so what does it really matter?

[GT Freak]

more stupidity from companies :rolleyes:

[rc411]

Nice, now if only they wouldn't butcher it with the ugly ass window stickers.

[rccardude04]

Pro-Line's advertisment should read...

"Now your $2,500 pro-level 1/8 buggy can be a sleeper! Make it look like a $250 RTR with our new RTR-Style pre-printed bodies! Just add a coat of backing color for that fresh, out-of-the-box feel. Watch the look on your friends' faces as you scorch past them with a high end buggy masked by the cheap looks of a RTR paint scheme.
Now everyone's buggy will have the same overused paint schemes with different colors!"

What a joke. If you're going to do this, at least do it right. Give us the window masks, and actually paint them like Losi does instead of giving us this Traxxas-style printed junk. I bet 90% of the people who will buy these will agree that "I'd pay 10 bucks more for clear windows."
It's not even ROAR legal that way unless the car came with a body like that.
-Eric

[JeffEmbracedDC]

Um, if they are left clear with an option to finish painting by the customer, why wouldn't they just steer clear of the window areas?



why screen the mask over the windows and use stickers that looks rtr lame.

and of course what RCCarDude said right above:


Screen printing is no where near as accurate as some of you may seem especially when working with oddly shaped surfaces let alone t-shirts or whatever else. If their design didn't go over the windows - meaning they would kind of "mask" that part out.. it is likely that 80% of them would have the printing offset by quite a bit and would look even worse. That's why they screen over the windows instead of attempt to make them clear..

So you say "Why not literally place a mask over the windows, THEN screen it.. and the peel off the masks so that it's accurate?".. You could probably do that but it would require an assembly line of people slicing the ink where the ink runs over the mask so that they could pull it off. It could certainly be done - but it would take a lot more work than you guys might first think.

So anyway.. those designs are kind of lame anyway. I don't understand that whole "tribal" thing. Tribal designs are hideous in my opinion. They remind me of some drunk idiot driving his pickup truck with crossfade blaring to a tattoo shop and picking out the first design that he thinks is "cool" and getting it stuck on the back of his neck or something ridiculous. Gahh I hate tribal designs. Anywayyyyyy......

-J

[cooleocool]

I think that it's a good idea. I won't buy one since I enjoy painting too much, but for those who cannot paint very well or don't have the time to learn, these will be a good idea!

[savageP3]

if anyone would have taken the time to actually LOOK at the picture then you would have seen that the design actually continues onto the windows so if you REALLY wanted (and maybe proline is including masks) you could mask them and have the only thing over them be a bit of the design. The black coverings are just that-stickers ontop of the body.

[PeterV]

$250 factory-painted RTRs look 100 times better than badly painted $2500 pro cars. That's the point of this product: good-looking graphics for those of us without the time or skill to paint something similar. I'll take a good-looking screened shell any day versus me even doing a single-color paint job.

[LD3Furious]

I'll take a good-looking screened shell any day versus me even doing a single-color paint job.


Too bad A.Drake doesn't share your opinion, Pete...LOL, j/k :). I also dislike having paint or screen on the windows. However, there's a lot of pro painters out there doing this. All in all, I think this is a good idea as long as the bodies will be relatively inexpensive....say under $50. If they are more than that, I'd rather have mine pro painted or simply opt for the one color rattle can wonder :)

[4DMNYC]

I dunno, I'm not much of a painter, so I think something like this is pretty cool. Leaving the body clear, and supplying COOL looking decals that stick to the INSIDE of the body might be a better option though.

[wishingfortlt1]

more stupidity from companies :rolleyes:


io have never seen ANYTHING stupid come from proline, without proline, racing wouldnt be what it is today :teacher:

[awnelson]

I dunno, I'm not much of a painter, so I think something like this is pretty cool. Leaving the body clear, and supplying COOL looking decals that stick to the INSIDE of the body might be a better option though.

The only problem with that is paint bleeds under stickers/vinyl when you are painting with cans as a rookie.

[awnelson]

and of course what RCCarDude said right above:


Screen printing is no where near as accurate as some of you may seem especially when working with oddly shaped surfaces let alone t-shirts or whatever else. If their design didn't go over the windows - meaning they would kind of "mask" that part out.. it is likely that 80% of them would have the printing offset by quite a bit and would look even worse. That's why they screen over the windows instead of attempt to make them clear..

So you say "Why not literally place a mask over the windows, THEN screen it.. and the peel off the masks so that it's accurate?".. You could probably do that but it would require an assembly line of people slicing the ink where the ink runs over the mask so that they could pull it off. It could certainly be done - but it would take a lot more work than you guys might first think.

So anyway.. those designs are kind of lame anyway. I don't understand that whole "tribal" thing. Tribal designs are hideous in my opinion. They remind me of some drunk idiot driving his pickup truck with crossfade blaring to a tattoo shop and picking out the first design that he thinks is "cool" and getting it stuck on the back of his neck or something ridiculous. Gahh I hate tribal designs. Anywayyyyyy......

-J

I'm really glad you two have an opinion about something that you missed out on how it is actually made. The sheet is flat, silk screened in a pattern that will allow for the stretch of the plastic to distribute it to the correct location on the finished body and then it is vacuum formed. If you can imagine it being distorted like a t-shirt that shrunk in the wash and should stretch over a person and retain the original graphics, that is approximately what it looks like. There is no way to accurately print outside of a molded feature unless you create a boundary that you don't cross in the layout and then it looks like a gaping hole around the windows after you back with paint. I think these would sell for $30 but I wouldn't be interested in one for $50.

[JeffEmbracedDC]

I don't think that makes too much of a difference. The point is that the combination of silk screening and body pressing would much too inaccurate to actually look good and this is why they don't mask for windows.

-J

[rc411]

I'd still rather pay for a screened body from proline rather than send one off to zegers.

[Y2KGTP]

sportwerks had this concept already....not sure how old it is however:

http://www.horizonhobby.com/ProdInfo/SWK/450/SWK2706-450.jpg

U-Color Semi Painted Body: Turmoil

Key Features

* Semi-painted body takes the guesswork out of detailing
* Simple and easy custom looks
* Just add base color for a unique style and finish

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=SWK2706

[rc411]

I see special ordering a thing of the future, as there will probably be many designs comin out.

[schenck77]

I like it. Any idea on a release date?

[hijacker]

The dumbing down of our hobby. How to make your car look exactly like everyone else's!

[Y2KGTP]

The dumbing down of our hobby. How to make your car look exactly like everyone else's!

It's an improvement over the 1 color paint job.....you know....bright orange, no window masks, no stickers? :D

[PeterV]

C'mon Hijacker, it's a hobby, it's supposed to be for fun. Be proud if you can build the perfect diff, set up shocks like a pro and paint a great-looking body, but those skills don't have to be the price of admission for RC. The easier it is for more people to have fun with RC, the better it is for all of us, regardless of what we're into. After all, it's Johnny RTR's dollars that let manufacturers develop race cars (which earn them far less money and sell in fewer numbers). We can be as elitist as we want--but let's not force everyone to be.

[Y2KGTP]

Must...replace...safety orange body....it screams....hi, I'm a RTR and I'm going to take you out at the track :D

http://www.sportwerksrc.com/ProdInfo/Gallery/SWK1225-actionshot1.jpg