Painting tips?

[Sebkauff]

I have a few questions about painting polycarbonate body's with rattle cans. I've painted a few before and on them all I cut out the body before painting it. Is this the best way? Because sometimes the knife can mess up the protective film on the body's so I was wondering if it's better to paint the body then cut it out. What do you guys do? And when using masking tape for patterns do you cut the tape or use smaller pieces of tape to match the pattern outline? And do you wash the body then mask it or maske it and then wash it? Because I feel like I touch the body a lot when I'm masking it (I haven't had any problems yet with paint not sticking but I would love to avoid it. ) Thats all I had but if you seasoned pro's have any extra advice I would love to hear it!

 

[NCNitro]

I always cut and fit the body first. Its easier to get everything lined up properly, especially body post holes. Also cutting after painting you run the risk of damaging the paint job. As far as washing, I wash it first to remove the mold release, you will get cleaner masking lines too. Then after masking I will carefully clean the area to be painted to be sure there are no oils from your hand or any other contaminants. I prefer to use liquid mask rather than tape for anything other than straight lines.

 

[Chubaka]

Wash the body in warm water before paint and masking.

For taping, I try to use wholes for edges. I save the smaller ones to fill holes and gaps, or larger inside sections. If you do the latter, overlap the small ones a little.

I mostly cut first. On my new slash body, I cut the wheel wells to get the holes drilled. Thats because its huge and hard to handle.

Wash your hands before masking. Before paint, rubbing alcohol and let dry before paint.

 

[The_RC_Dude]

I have a few questions about painting polycarbonate body's with rattle cans. I've painted a few before and on them all I cut out the body before painting it. Is this the best way? Because sometimes the knife can mess up the protective film on the body's so I was wondering if it's better to paint the body then cut it out. What do you guys do? And when using masking tape for patterns do you cut the tape or use smaller pieces of tape to match the pattern outline? And do you wash the body then mask it or maske it and then wash it? Because I feel like I touch the body a lot when I'm masking it (I haven't had any problems yet with paint not sticking but I would love to avoid it. ) Thats all I had but if you seasoned pro's have any extra advice I would love to hear it!

TBH, I've never painted a thing with spray cans before (don't laugh guys), but I've picked up a few tips from YT videos. You'll want to degrease and clean the whole body before masking. How about clean/degrease it, mask it, then wash it. When washing, be careful not to rip up all the tape, and/or get water underneath! You could flip the first and last step with each other I guess.

As for the painting a trimmed body vs. a non-trimmed one, I mostly see people do the former, maybe because it's easier. Sure, you won't mess up the film this way, but I'm thinking it after painting, if you cut it out and you used brittle paint or something, you could get some damage along the edges of the body shell; but to be fair, I've trimmed little bits off stock, pre-painted body shells with no issue, so .

How about experimenting, try painting the whole lot, then cutting it out, you probably won't have issues as long as you have decent technique.

 

[Chubaka]

Forgot to say. A new blade every body. Clean cut tape, clean cut outter film everytime.

Dark colors first, lighters last so it doesn't bleed. I usually spray white then silver behind light colors to go darker. I back mine in silver then black. Black last gives it a realistic look.

 

[Sebkauff]

Thanks for all the reply's everybody! Some great advice from you all.

TBH, I've never painted a thing with spray cans before (don't laugh guys)

sorry had to laugh I couldn't hold it in

 

[The_RC_Dude]

Thanks for all the reply's everybody! Some great advice from you all.


sorry had to laugh I couldn't hold it in

I think I'm speaking for everyone when I say "You're welcome!"!

Humph, self control, and duct tape! I get the irony here, some guy who's never spray painted anything giving another dude paint advice!