Painting lexan?
 

I have never painted a lexan body before. So some tips and maybe a good site would help me out a lot. I'm painting a HPI Jeep body. I want to paint soft doors on it, rollcage and rear tub cover.

i have one tip, paint the body in one day..... i did three coats in the last day, then this morning, the window masks were all shrivled up, and here i am, with a half painted body, and no masks.....

It's a lot harder than you think. Your first 3 bodies or so won't turn out very well. The only way to get good at it is to practice.

http://www.rctech.net/articles/paint...ntedmyst.shtml

If you like to use tape. http://www.jamestowndistributors.com...s.Masking.Tape

If you like liquid mask. http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXC099&P=ML

Since the two guys below showed there work here we go.

when i paint lexan bodies i usaly use about 2-3 hours... i just painting... always paint the darkes colour first, and start with one ligth coat, this wil help sealing of the masking... dry betwhine coates with an hair dryer... i normaly wait 15 min before nex coat..

if you are uasing brigth fluoricent colours the put an layer of white pait over it, this wil bring the glow out in the fluoricent coloure...

It is important that the body is clean, and if you like you may sand it easily with an wery fine sandpaper.. but if you clean the body good and use lexan pain, there are no point of sanding it...

Here are one pic of an body i did....

feele free to ask if you have any questions... or if you don`t understand my stinking english typing.... lol

http://img488.imageshack.us/img488/9...03400vt.th.jpg

I strongly suggest the liquid mask. It is easy to work with and gives good results.

Take your time and plan ahead.

Remember that you will be painting in reverse so to speak.

Wash the inside of the bodie with dish soap. I also use an alcohol swab after washing.

If you use a candy, pearl, or metallic paint always back it with a solid color or you will see through the paint.

If you have an airbrush, great but it isn't necessary. If you decide to get an airbrush, get a dual action. You will think you don't need one when looking at the price, but as soon as you want to replicate a certain effect you will regret wasting money on a single action.

This is the 6th body I painted with an airbrush:

i got a question. is it best to cut the body before or after painting? Ive had a hummer body laying around for the past few months and maybe ill start hacking away at it today.

After

alright thanks. thats what i was going to do.

This is the 2nd body I have ever painted.. I cleaned it up real good and then cut it to what I wanted. Then cleaned it again ( don't touch the inside after you have cleaned it- leaves fingerprints) and masked the parts using your basic masking tape (papertape).. Took about 3 hrs. to do, but I think 2 1/2 hrs. was all the cutting/fitting and masking. Preperation takes the longest.

http://www.rccrawlermedia.com/rcc-al...0/MVC_008F.jpg

Why's this? I've got the body for my nylint that needs painting, and I'd like to do this one a little better than the last. I'm using spray cans, A. because I already have the paint, B. I don't spray often enough to justify an air brush right now, unless I came by a setup for very, very cheap.

well if you put a design on your body and paint it before you cut it, half the design will be gone. If you cut it first, then you dont have to worry about the design getting cut off.

You know where the wheel wells are going to be though, so you can draw around them. some designs look cooler if they flow through wheel wells and what not, then are cut out.

then if you want to do that kind of design then go ahead. Its just if you want something that doesnt get cutoff then its a good idea to do the cutting first.

What kind of paint is best? Will model car paint work? The kind you find at Wal-Marts model car section. If it will work I'm ready to start painting. If not I can order different paint.

i would not use any paint that is not for lexan...the lexan bends and flex's so if the paint does not it will crack and flake....i'm getting ready to paint my 3rd body. so you might want to get more info from the experts(:shock:)..

I think the packages the bodies come in even tell you what kind of paint to use. Polycarbonate (sp?) I believe.

Sorry one more thing. Can I lay the tape down on the lexan body draw my design and cut it out with a hobby knife and just peel off what I want painted? Does that make since? I have painted My 1:1 and some 1/18th Nylints.

http://ozarksjeepthing.com/forums/al...php?pic_id=272
I'd like to put this on the hood. It used to be a Toyota in the middle, but I changed it to a YJ in PhotoShop.

as for as the tape, yes you can...a lot of people are using liquid mask..it's great and i've only used it twice...most of the new bodie's come with a film on the out side to protect them from over spray,i just coat the inside with mask and draw my design on the out side film...then cut out the mask ..

as far as cutting, i like to cut everything out first and then paint..this way my fat fingers dont scratch any paint while cutting...

the cross looks cool..good luck, and lets see it when its done..

Here is some good lexan tips
http://www.rctech.net/articles/paint...ntedmyst.shtml

http://rcxotic.com/pkg-mask/flames01.shtml

http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/

http://www.rccars.com/rccp/


This is more detail and scale info.


http://www.briansmodelcars.com/tutorials/index.asp