Ok, here we go...
As I promissed a few of you, I'll give you a few secrets and ideas on painting an RC car. First of all, this thing is VERY small. I'm used to 1:10 scale cars or larger, but I am very impressed with the detail and I hope to use as much of it as possable.
Step one, open the package and make vroom, vroom noises.
Full Version: RC 914 Painting Class 101
Step two:
Using a new xacto #11 blade, cut around the shell using the mold lines for a guide. Don't try cutting through on one pass. I made about three cuts, but should have used more. This body is not Lexan, but is probably Polycarbonate. Lexan is much more flexible and less prone to cracking. Poly shows more detail. but if you work it too roughly, it'll crack on you. I mention this, because I usually only score a body one or two times them bend it back to snap a clean line. If you do that to this body, you could ruin it. I was lucky!
Step three:
Looking at your favorite referance site, find a clear profile to guide you in the wheel arches. I looked at the Sonauto car and used a Sharpie marker to outline the openings.
Using a new xacto #11 blade, cut around the shell using the mold lines for a guide. Don't try cutting through on one pass. I made about three cuts, but should have used more. This body is not Lexan, but is probably Polycarbonate. Lexan is much more flexible and less prone to cracking. Poly shows more detail. but if you work it too roughly, it'll crack on you. I mention this, because I usually only score a body one or two times them bend it back to snap a clean line. If you do that to this body, you could ruin it. I was lucky!
Step three:
Looking at your favorite referance site, find a clear profile to guide you in the wheel arches. I looked at the Sonauto car and used a Sharpie marker to outline the openings.
Step four:
Using that super sharp Xacto, carefully cut out the wheel openings. Be very careful here, you only get one shot to get it right. Again, make several passes.
Using that super sharp Xacto, carefully cut out the wheel openings. Be very careful here, you only get one shot to get it right. Again, make several passes.
Opps, lets try adding a picture...
Using the pieces you just cut out, mark the other side and cut that too. I held up the cut pieces inside the body and marked the outside to guide my next cuts. It's not perfect, but pretty close.
Now it's starting to take shape. The edges are a little rough and could use some sanding. I like to use a Dremel tool with sanding drum to help smooth out the wheel arches and take the rough edges down. After sanding, wash the inside of the body with dish soap. This will remove the release agent from the molding process and any finger oils. Dry with a lint free cloth (or paper towels). Don't touch the inside of the body till we're finished.
Sounds easy enough. Have you done the next steps or are you done from all that grueling cutting and marking 
.
Thanks for sharing your secrets. (dont think you have done that yet, except maybe the tracing the wheel arch's.)
Andrew
.Thanks for sharing your secrets. (dont think you have done that yet, except maybe the tracing the wheel arch's.)
Andrew
Made a trip to the local hobby shop this weekend.
Looked at paint, brushes and stuff...
Yikes this gets expensive fast!!!
DJM, how much would you charge for painting these? Something looking stock?
Found an el-cheapo RC 1:24 made by Gates (36.00 Cdn). Under body needs some tweeking. Track would probalby be perfect for a GT body. Had to narrow it a bit for my stock body. Had to cut the body to shorten the wheelbase a bit.
Marc-André
Looked at paint, brushes and stuff...
Yikes this gets expensive fast!!!
DJM, how much would you charge for painting these? Something looking stock?
Found an el-cheapo RC 1:24 made by Gates (36.00 Cdn). Under body needs some tweeking. Track would probalby be perfect for a GT body. Had to narrow it a bit for my stock body. Had to cut the body to shorten the wheelbase a bit.
Marc-André
Andyrew, I'll be writing and taking pictures as I go. This way, it is less likely I'll forget a step. Right now, the body is as shown above except for two thick coats of liquid mask. I'll add a third tonight and start searching for graphics material. I need to find a good picture of a negative side stripe. That will be the only real graphic. As for secrets, there really aren't any, but most people don't think of each step logically. Many paint the out side of the body. Many use regular model paint. Even those that are used to painting these things, don't know that you need to paint dark colors first (I'll be showing what not to do on this one).
Marc-André, I think I quoted $15 for a two color paint job in the first thread from Demick. I believe that included cutting. Now that I've seen and worked with these, I think that may be a bit low. For a no graphics paint job, I'll stick to that price, but any graphics or high detail work (like chrome) will up the price a bit. It sounds like you are on the road to a fun winter activity.
Marc-André, I think I quoted $15 for a two color paint job in the first thread from Demick. I believe that included cutting. Now that I've seen and worked with these, I think that may be a bit low. For a no graphics paint job, I'll stick to that price, but any graphics or high detail work (like chrome) will up the price a bit. It sounds like you are on the road to a fun winter activity.
way cool.
on the stock body, i wanna do signal orange w/ chrome bumpers and tinted windows.
on the gt body, maybe a gulf paint job..... decals would be cool.
could I, the nivice, do this?
on the stock body, i wanna do signal orange w/ chrome bumpers and tinted windows.
on the gt body, maybe a gulf paint job..... decals would be cool.
could I, the nivice, do this?
QUOTE
could I, the novice, do this?
That all depends on how much you want to invest in time and money. I say money, because I assume you don't already own an airbrush, air source and the proper paints. Rattle cans can be used with decent results with a little patience though. The bigest tip I can give you is the liquid mask. I will only use Bob Dively's LM (available at Tower Hobbies) As long as you take it slow and don't expect to finish it in an evening, you should be fine.
As you can see, I didn't get to painting the final coat of mask last night; I'll try to get to it tonight.
Ok, I got the third and final coat of Liquid Mask on the body. By this time tomorrow, it will be almost as clear as the uncoated body. I like to apply the mask with a brush (instead of spraying) because I feel the ridges help to keep paint from running. I'll print off a picture of a negative stripe sized to fit between the wheel openings. I'll print it mirrored so that I can tape it to the outside of the body and cut the L.M. that on the inside. (Hey Andyrew, that's another secret! 
) Most of the mask cutting should be pretty easy except for around the windshield. To get the chrome trim, I'll need to be really careful.
) Most of the mask cutting should be pretty easy except for around the windshield. To get the chrome trim, I'll need to be really careful.
QUOTE(djm914-6 @ Nov 11 2003, 10:02 AM)
QUOTE
could I, the novice, do this?
That all depends on how much you want to invest in time and money.
I say money, because I assume you don't already own an airbrush, air source and the proper paints.
have access to an airbrush setup. not really experienced at all.
When i painted my RC truck I painted the inside. Is that what others are doing?
Yup, these are painted on the inside. The best part about that is you don't really need to be a good painter to get a nice looking body. If you stick to a few basics and don't go overboard with graphics and fades, it will look fine. If you're new to airbrushing, practice on a towel for an hour or so to get a feel for the functions. If you have a single action gun, you really can make too many mistakes. A double action is a bit harder for beginners.
Single Action: Push on trigger to get air and paint. A seperate knob is used to adjust spray width.
Double Action: Push trigger down for air. Pull trigger back for paint. The father you pull, the wider the spray (more paint).
Single Action: Push on trigger to get air and paint. A seperate knob is used to adjust spray width.
Double Action: Push trigger down for air. Pull trigger back for paint. The father you pull, the wider the spray (more paint).
Just my .02
I find that trimming the body with a set of small sissors (like toenail sissors) works much easier than exact knives. I also trim my bodies after painting.
I also find that rattle cans will work fine unless you are trying to do fancy stuff with your paint job. Also, these bodies are so small, that much of the painting can be done with a brush (I painted the bumpers, bumper rubber, fog lights, etc with a small paint brush). The gloss finish all comes from the lexan itself (all lexan paints are actually flat paints), so the actual finish of the paint isn't nearly as important as an external surface paint job.
Demick
I find that trimming the body with a set of small sissors (like toenail sissors) works much easier than exact knives. I also trim my bodies after painting.
I also find that rattle cans will work fine unless you are trying to do fancy stuff with your paint job. Also, these bodies are so small, that much of the painting can be done with a brush (I painted the bumpers, bumper rubber, fog lights, etc with a small paint brush). The gloss finish all comes from the lexan itself (all lexan paints are actually flat paints), so the actual finish of the paint isn't nearly as important as an external surface paint job.
Demick
Question:
Why are these so damn small ?? Do they not make these "bigger" ?? I want one that is 12 inches long and makes people JUMP out of the way when it comes towards them... not this tiny thing that people would step on.
B
Why are these so damn small ?? Do they not make these "bigger" ?? I want one that is 12 inches long and makes people JUMP out of the way when it comes towards them... not this tiny thing that people would step on.
B
How is this project going? Dying for another peek.
DaveP
DaveP
Well, let me tell ya... The side stripe was a real PITA. The first mask I made, was backwards. It wasn't until I was happy with the results that I flipped the car over and noticed it. I just about hit the roof. After a little scrubbing, I got all of the paint and most of the scratches off the body. After many more attempts, I finally descided that freehand lattering eas the only way to go on this little body. The yellow has been resprayed and is awaiting a coat of opaque white backer before the black goes on. If I'm not happy with the final results, I'll paint one of the new bodies that's coming in soon for you. This one may end up as an ebay "irregular special". I have learned now that regular painting techniques that are so easy on larger bodies, just don't work as well in such a small scale. Once I back the yellow, I'll post a few more pics. Until then... 
Mines a real freaking mess.
I'm painting mine with a paintbrush. After a couple of coats, it's starting to look good. But I'm gonna have a hard time doing the front & rear lenses... This thing is small.
Marc-André
I'm painting mine with a paintbrush. After a couple of coats, it's starting to look good. But I'm gonna have a hard time doing the front & rear lenses... This thing is small.
Marc-André
Well, I'm done with the body. I'm not overly thrilled with the outcome, but I am a bit of a perfectionist. As I said, I goofed with the stripe and ended up having to sand off the paint and repaint freehand. There are a few other flaws too, but at speed no one will notice. I won't be charging the owner of this car for more than the cost of the RC chassis. Here it is...
and...
plus...
more...
and...
more...
...
plus..
need to make a longer 't' plate for fit the body to the chassis. I also need to create a mounting system...
Speaking of extending the wheelbase and coming up wiht a body mounting system, here is a link to my instructions for mounting the 914 body on an R/C car chassis.
Unfortunately, the link to the LXX Mini-Z clone cars shows that they currently have none in stock. Hopefully that will change soon as I think this is the best option.
914 Lexan body on R/C chassis instructions
Demick
Unfortunately, the link to the LXX Mini-Z clone cars shows that they currently have none in stock. Hopefully that will change soon as I think this is the best option.
914 Lexan body on R/C chassis instructions
Demick
If anyone decides to sell your car body, let me know. I'll be all over it! I wanted to get a couple, but I joined the board almost minutes too late! 
Neat looking... Are the windows clear? Did you paint the trim (lights, chrome) on the inside or outside?
-Steve
-Steve
hargray2, I'll be offering several painted to the board then to ebay. I have 2 of each coming in and only plan on keeping one GT body for myself. Let me know what you want.
siverson, the windows are smoked. Because of the flash, it's hard to tell, but you can see through the windows. The body is a little rough, so IMO a clear window won't look as good as a tinted one. Every part of this was painted on the inside. The nice part about that is the nice gloss you get. If you look close you may see that I took the gloss off the roof, grill and bumper tops.
siverson, the windows are smoked. Because of the flash, it's hard to tell, but you can see through the windows. The body is a little rough, so IMO a clear window won't look as good as a tinted one. Every part of this was painted on the inside. The nice part about that is the nice gloss you get. If you look close you may see that I took the gloss off the roof, grill and bumper tops.
With the new order of bodies arriving I though I'd give this post a bump to the top and add some more tips.
With the liquid mask dry, I cut out the stripes and lettering. I removed the PORSCHE letters for black paint. (Had I not drawn them backwards, it would have been easier.) Once dry, I pealed off the rest of the areas to be painted yellow. A few quick coats and then backed with several coats of white. Normally you would want to paint the darkest colors first. Then I pealed off more of the mask leaving just the windows and trim covered. With a 000 liner brush, I painted the rear emblem gold, fog lights silver, tail and flasher lights orange, chameleon gold and deep red. I backed the lights with more silver. I then strayed about 4 light coats of black. Once all that is dry, I removed the trim mask and sprayed chrome in three very light layers. That was then backed with black to give it it's reflective qualities. Because the windows were a little rough, I lightly tinted them with black at very high pressure. Once all of the painting was done, I removed the gloss from the roof, grill and bumper tops.
If anyone has any questions, please ask. I'm more than happy to help. I'll be painting the 4 that I ordered as soom as I get through Mikes Tee and a helmet. Oh, I also have 2 other bodies that came in from another 914club member. If he doesn't tell me what he wants, then I'll paint them a nice HOT pink with Raspberry trim.
With the liquid mask dry, I cut out the stripes and lettering. I removed the PORSCHE letters for black paint. (Had I not drawn them backwards, it would have been easier.) Once dry, I pealed off the rest of the areas to be painted yellow. A few quick coats and then backed with several coats of white. Normally you would want to paint the darkest colors first. Then I pealed off more of the mask leaving just the windows and trim covered. With a 000 liner brush, I painted the rear emblem gold, fog lights silver, tail and flasher lights orange, chameleon gold and deep red. I backed the lights with more silver. I then strayed about 4 light coats of black. Once all that is dry, I removed the trim mask and sprayed chrome in three very light layers. That was then backed with black to give it it's reflective qualities. Because the windows were a little rough, I lightly tinted them with black at very high pressure. Once all of the painting was done, I removed the gloss from the roof, grill and bumper tops.
If anyone has any questions, please ask. I'm more than happy to help. I'll be painting the 4 that I ordered as soom as I get through Mikes Tee and a helmet. Oh, I also have 2 other bodies that came in from another 914club member. If he doesn't tell me what he wants, then I'll paint them a nice HOT pink with Raspberry trim.
Here's the latest of the 1/24 scale bodies...
Closer...
Skinny...
Can the owner of these two email me with a shipping address?
Can the owner of these two email me with a shipping address?
Sean Lee
1305 N. Leland Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46219
I can paypal you if you like.
1305 N. Leland Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46219
I can paypal you if you like.
Looks good!
It almost looks like PETG, not Lexan (btw, polycarbonate and Lexan are the exact same thing. Lexan is just the GE certefied name for polycarbonate). I cant really tell, but PETG tends to be a little bit cloudy when it gets hot.
I was thinking of making one in 18th scale for myself, but I cant really justify the time or money. A 10th scale (about 12" long) would be killer, but in the RC world, almost all the popular 10th scale bodies are some variation of a dodge stratus
.
You might consider trying some vinyl to clean up the "PORSCHE" script on the side. If you have a personal vinyl cutter its pretty easy.
I hate to throw out a SHAMELESS plug, but if you want to check out some of the bodies the company I work for makes visit www.ptiracing.net . We have a couple of P Cars.
It almost looks like PETG, not Lexan (btw, polycarbonate and Lexan are the exact same thing. Lexan is just the GE certefied name for polycarbonate). I cant really tell, but PETG tends to be a little bit cloudy when it gets hot.
I was thinking of making one in 18th scale for myself, but I cant really justify the time or money. A 10th scale (about 12" long) would be killer, but in the RC world, almost all the popular 10th scale bodies are some variation of a dodge stratus
.You might consider trying some vinyl to clean up the "PORSCHE" script on the side. If you have a personal vinyl cutter its pretty easy.
I hate to throw out a SHAMELESS plug, but if you want to check out some of the bodies the company I work for makes visit www.ptiracing.net . We have a couple of P Cars.
Hi Matt,
I also doubt these are lexan. This stuff is much more fragile and can crack very easily. They are actually quite clear, just not very smooth. Also, The pics aren't that great.
Oh, I like your cars, I'll be painting the two 956 cars I have someday soon. Got any pull to do a 200mm 914? I'll even help with the molds is need be. Can you shed some light on how your molds are made and some tips?
Seanery,
I'll get them out to you ASAP.
I also doubt these are lexan. This stuff is much more fragile and can crack very easily. They are actually quite clear, just not very smooth. Also, The pics aren't that great.
Oh, I like your cars, I'll be painting the two 956 cars I have someday soon. Got any pull to do a 200mm 914? I'll even help with the molds is need be. Can you shed some light on how your molds are made and some tips?
Seanery,
I'll get them out to you ASAP.
QUOTE(MattR @ May 3 2004, 05:31 PM)
I hate to throw out a SHAMELESS plug, but if you want to check out some of the bodies the company I work for makes visit www.ptiracing.net . We have a couple of P Cars.
Matt
You work for PTI??
When is the Micro Monster truck going to be available? I've been waiting for it to come out for many months. Any chance you can get me an early kit????
Demick
lol, I knew djm was an rc'er, but I had no idea anyone else was.
I really dont think we're going to be doing a 914 any time soon. I would like to, but the molds cost around 3 grand, and we have to pull 100 at a time, so thats another few hundred in lexan, plus 500+ decals which is about 800 bucks... it adds up.
I can give insight on how car bodies are made. First, we have a mold maker whose been carving RC bodies for YEARS (used to do slot car bodies), who takes a hunk of grainless wood and starts carving away by using various pictures to capture the shape. Then, when thats all done (after about a month of work), he primers it, sands it to a mirror shine. Then pours silicon rubber over the top, and then a mixture of metallic epoxy inside that for a 1:1 replica of his original pattern. Then, he prepares the mold by drilling holes for venting and stuff, and it goes on the vacu-form machine.
We have the mold for a P962 in super size (280/300mm wheelbase) that we showed at RCX. Its really a piece of art. Its a very big 962. Im not too sure we're going to go to market with it though because the super class is prett much dead.
I would love to send you an early kit, but I dont even have more then 1 functioning prototype. There wont be much downtime between when the tooling is done (hopefully within the next month or so) and the kit will be released. We got screwed really bad like twice by a tooling company, so we've switched recently. Things are definatly moving though!
I really dont think we're going to be doing a 914 any time soon. I would like to, but the molds cost around 3 grand, and we have to pull 100 at a time, so thats another few hundred in lexan, plus 500+ decals which is about 800 bucks... it adds up.
I can give insight on how car bodies are made. First, we have a mold maker whose been carving RC bodies for YEARS (used to do slot car bodies), who takes a hunk of grainless wood and starts carving away by using various pictures to capture the shape. Then, when thats all done (after about a month of work), he primers it, sands it to a mirror shine. Then pours silicon rubber over the top, and then a mixture of metallic epoxy inside that for a 1:1 replica of his original pattern. Then, he prepares the mold by drilling holes for venting and stuff, and it goes on the vacu-form machine.
We have the mold for a P962 in super size (280/300mm wheelbase) that we showed at RCX. Its really a piece of art. Its a very big 962. Im not too sure we're going to go to market with it though because the super class is prett much dead.
I would love to send you an early kit, but I dont even have more then 1 functioning prototype. There wont be much downtime between when the tooling is done (hopefully within the next month or so) and the kit will be released. We got screwed really bad like twice by a tooling company, so we've switched recently. Things are definatly moving though!
QUOTE(MattR @ May 3 2004, 06:07 PM)
lol, I knew djm was an rc'er, but I had no idea anyone else was.
Yep. I'm an r/c addict. Here's my current collection. As you can see, I've been into the smaller scale cars lately. Can't wait to add a micro monster to the collection!
Demick
Damn Demick! And I thought I was bad...
No recent pics of my stuff...
'90s era, Associated RC10L CF
'95 Tamiya Golf VR6
'03 HPI RS4 SS (Sniff, Sniff, Mmmm Nitro!)
'80s Tamiya Tamtech Lotus F1 (1/14 scale)
'90s MRP Oceanis Sloop
'80s MRP CAT (26 cell, twin mod, lake skimmer)
'90s Dumas Chris Craft
I only have to finish the 1/18 scale Ravell Die Cast then I can start painting some of my own stuff again. I've collected several RC bodies that I want to go crazy with. 993, 996, gt3, 956s, 914s, etc, etc, etc.
No recent pics of my stuff...
'90s era, Associated RC10L CF
'95 Tamiya Golf VR6
'03 HPI RS4 SS (Sniff, Sniff, Mmmm Nitro!)
'80s Tamiya Tamtech Lotus F1 (1/14 scale)
'90s MRP Oceanis Sloop
'80s MRP CAT (26 cell, twin mod, lake skimmer)
'90s Dumas Chris Craft
I only have to finish the 1/18 scale Ravell Die Cast then I can start painting some of my own stuff again. I've collected several RC bodies that I want to go crazy with. 993, 996, gt3, 956s, 914s, etc, etc, etc.
Sorry, I got you guys beat. I have a whare house full of cars
We are expecting about 250-500 on our first run of our Evo 2 electric sedan. Fortunatly they are almost all pre sold. And when the micro monster truck hits, we should make probably a thousand or two on the first run.
Nice collection though!
We are expecting about 250-500 on our first run of our Evo 2 electric sedan. Fortunatly they are almost all pre sold. And when the micro monster truck hits, we should make probably a thousand or two on the first run.
Nice collection though!
Dave,
I need your email addy for paypal.
I think I remember the amount, but refresh me please.
-sean
I need your email addy for paypal.
I think I remember the amount, but refresh me please.
-sean
Sean,
The original quote per body was $15 for a trimed, 2 color paint job. Because you got your order in before I saw these first hand, I'll stick to that price. Also, because they took longer for me to finish, I won't charge you extra for all of the little details and chrome paint.
The ones I'll be selling will be priced a bit higher due to all of the little problem with painting such a small car. $10 for one body color, $5 trim, $15 for chrome and details plus price of body. Maybe I'll sell Ready To Run cars too.
The original quote per body was $15 for a trimed, 2 color paint job. Because you got your order in before I saw these first hand, I'll stick to that price. Also, because they took longer for me to finish, I won't charge you extra for all of the little details and chrome paint.
The ones I'll be selling will be priced a bit higher due to all of the little problem with painting such a small car. $10 for one body color, $5 trim, $15 for chrome and details plus price of body. Maybe I'll sell Ready To Run cars too.
ok, we're getting closer. Paypal? if so, what's your email addy to use?
thanks,
-sean
thanks,
-sean
I can attest to Martins "skills"...I was in awe at his collection and painting talent 
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