Tips on cutting out oval bodies

[NCNitro]

I use a new sharp exacto knife. I don't cut the two numbers apart, but I trim everything very close, about 1/16th of an inch around all the decals. I even trim precut decals, I hate how much extra material is around the precut decals. To make placement easier you can use windex, just spray some on the body where you want the decal, this will keep it from sticking until you have it exactly where you want it. Then just squeegee the windex out from under the decal and let it dry. The dryer works great because it softens the vinyl and makes it much easier to get it where you want it without damaging it. Cmon man, I wanna see some pics!

 

[Lessen]

well I can tell ya now that the #12 is gonna turn out a little better than the #20 simply because of the learning curve, but that's just in the really anal details. I've been tryin to cut about 1mm from the outside of the decals... sometimes even closer. The hairdryer works pretty well but I think It would have come out better if I had worked it in better from the get go. (The decal in question is the larger hood Home Depot decal that covers two hood grooves). Holy crap, say that three times fast! Anyways, I'm workin on 'em now. Still havn't decided If I'll cut then paint or paint then cut. i'd hate to get overspray on the outside of the body. I could spray the outside with the clear plasti dip aerosol but I don't know how hard it will be to peel it off with the decals underneath.

 

[NCNitro]

Personally I would have cut it out before anything else. But as far as getting paint on the outside. Take the bag the body came in and tape it to the outside of the body. It will keep the overspray off the body. Make sure to use the blue painters tape, it wont or should I say shouldnt peel up the decals.

 

[Silent]

Those decals can take forever to finish. I did a JR bud car for the nitro a couple months ago. Didn't drive it too long before I put another body on it: the aero wasn't for touring). It really takes a long time to meticulously cut em out with an exacto. I cut right to the painted edge, and grouped things together when I could.

I used Bright red, with a black backing, but it turned out darker than I liked. I think for this next one I'm gonna do, I'm going to try Florescent red, with a white backing and letters/sponsors. Cutting the numbers and sponsor out of the liquid mask will almost be easier than exactoing the decals. (exactoing?). I think I'll like driving the brighter color, even if its a little more "artistic" than the real thing.

I'm definitely tuning in Friday.

 

[Wardo]

I have the heavy duty

You have an old thicker body or the high downforce one?

Few things, try applying liquid automotive wax to the outside of an uncoated body and let it sit for a few minutes. Any overspray ends up on the wax and will wipe away when you're done. Lighter fluid also removes overspray easily. if you use the wax, make sure you wash your hands with some Dawn if you need to touch surfaces that will get painted.

Super speedway is the oval version of just about every pan car since about 1991. They narrowed the chassis and bodies up alot, somewhere in the 25-30 MM range for oval. Standard pan cars are "wdie" cars, oval cars are "narrow" or super speedway cars.

 

[Lessen]

You have an old thicker body or the high downforce one?

I belivee it's no longer in production.. but not that old. It has "HD" embossed at the top of the windshield instead of "MD" like the newer ones do.

Decals are done. Time to paint.

 

[Lessen]

Guys, I feel really bad. I know some of ya are waiting on some pics of these cars but there just ain't enough time in the day to get everything done that I need to get done. I feel poopy for punkin out but I gotta get some sleep for all the drivin tomorrow. Sorry bout no pics but here's a written update...

The #20 car is 95% complete. Just needs cut and trimmed as well as a few little decals that I wanted to delay for after painting (windshield brackets etc.) I have to say that I've actually impressed myself a little bit. Aside from the creamsickle colored "white" decals (guess I shoulda backed them before the orange). It's lookin pretty darn good.

the #12 car is decaled but still needs painted. This car i consider my 2nd attempt since all steps were done after the #20. Paint scheme is simple just don't have the time.

Again, I apologize for the my picture slacking, maybe I'll get a digi cam for Christmas

 

[Silent]

Its cool man, its just a hobby. I hope you get a digi-cam too!

 

[Lessen]

oops!

O.K. guys, holidays are over and I'm back at it again. I've trimmed the #20 body and i've run into an unexpected problem. The "home depot" decal on the rear of the car between the tail lights looks perfect untill I place the spoiler where it's supposed to go. The mount area of the spoiler slightly covers the top of the home depot decal in a couple spots. Makes it look half ass and I don't like it. Those decals have been on for a while so I'm wondering if I can move it by softening it up with the hair dryer and move it. Or has the adhesive set for too long already? I was also thinking I could remove the paint from the mount area of the spoiler (since it goes right on the body anyway) so you could simply see through it. Whataya think?

 

[Silent]

hmm, I don't think you'll get the decal off alive. I would opt for the clear spoiler. (don't use anything stonger than finger nail polish remover on lexan) We're going to use ours in the OVAL class, so I was going to just leave the wing clear.

 

[Lessen]

the #20 is Finished. 19 pictures in all in my gallery. I was gonna start a new members project thread to show off all the pics but I don't know how to put them in the thread at full size.

 

[NCNitro]

It came out great man! Very nice job. One question, it is his rookie car right, so wheres the yellow stripes on the rear bumper?

 

[Silent]

Excellent attention to detail! That would look tough on the track. I should have my Gordon car finished this weekend. I'd like to see the whole oval class be Nascar-themed.

 

[Lessen]

It came out great man! Very nice job. One question, it is his rookie car right, so wheres the yellow stripes on the rear bumper?

Actually, I was pondering whether to use them or not since it's not a Pontiac, but I might as well. Since technically it's rookie "themed" it would only be right. I'll get those on tomorrow. Thanks for the compliments guys, I worked really hard on it. I can't believe how many hours that took. I can't even think of estimating. It was supposed to be a gift for a buddy for x-mas but since I didn't make it in time I think I'll just let it sit on my shelf... oh well hehe

 

[Wardo]

To make placement easier you can use windex

FWIW Windex has ammonia in it and removes glue. Might not be a big problem on this project but could be on others. If you're gonna use glass cleaner to apply decals, try Glass Plus. It was one of a very few without ammonia in the mix.

 

[Lessen]

Iused a window cleaner but it wasn't Windex.. no problems