Cutting bucket holes- before or after painting

[Westside Charlie]

I'm preparing for painting my Vaterra Ascender body and will mask using tape and Tamiya cans. Nothing too fancy -- one color for the main body and white for the top.

The basic body trimming is all done - bottom and wheel wells. I will need to cut out areas for the front light buckets, and the same for the rear (third-party parts.) Should I cut all those areas out now, before I paint, or afterwards? I'm inclined to cut now but am concerned about controlling paint bleed later.

And if I cut out the wells later, should I do it before peeling of the body backing, or after?

Also, in the past, to cut an open in the lexan, I drilled a hole in the center of the area to be cut out, and then used a blade to carefully score from the drilled hole to the edges of the area to cut out, and then scored around the perimeter of the area. That allowed me to bend the scored pieces and successfully break away the unwanted area. I'm wondering if this might be easier using a dremel. Any opinions about cutting/grinding with a dremel? And if so, what sort of tip is best?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[durok]

I used to use the conical grinding stone tip on Lexan. Have to have a steady hand to keep it from wandering, and it would start to melt the edges as it cut. Worked pretty well, though.

Amazing how fast it would wear out the Dremel tip, but you should be able to do many bodies before it's toast. As far as the melted edges, I would just clean them up with an Xacto blade.

The body I'm going to be using now is all aluminum panels, some will need cleaning up on the edges even though they were precut when I got them. I may mildly mod them as well.

[hoyt]

My 2 cents

I have always cut first and then painted. If some of the backing has started to peel I usually just mask over it. I paint last because I never wanted to risk scratching the paint and having to worry about touch up especially if you are using multiple colors. Then many very light coats of paint to control for bleeding even though it might take a little longer.

As far as dremel on lexan I can honestly say I have never tried. Maybe some of the pros have some tips. But for lexan I have always stuck with good cutting scissors (straight/bent) and blades.

Again I'm just a rattle can guy

[Westside Charlie]

Thanks for your feedback. I think I'll stick with blades and tape, especially since I really only need to drill some holes for lights and chrome pieces, rather than custom rectangles. All my cutting is done, and I'll drill all my holes after I paint, and then remove the backing. I think a sharpie is sufficient to mark all the positions.

Thanks agin and any other thoughts are welcome.

[TacoCrawler]

I've put the holes in both before and after paint.

Bottom line... use good quality painter's tape when masking the hole off
and spray light coats first, allow to dry, before another.

If ya don't the paint can bleed under the tape.

An airbrush can apply paint drier then will a rattle.
So use lite coats initially when using a rattle can.

As far as the holes go...

A Dremel can wander occasionally fubaring the hole and surrounding area.
So tho' it can be made to work... a hand held reamer will be more accurate.
and is easier to stop, check the hole size, and ream a little more if needed.

ie: (there are lots of choices and sizes that can be obtained for cheap)

General Tools T-Handle Reamer

[Hobbezco]

I am assuming that you are painting the K5 Blazer shell? I have painted about 6 of these now and have not cut any holes for buckets in any of them. The lexan behind the front grill is designed specifically to be left intact with the buckets on the inside of the shell showing through a clear space that is taped off with the two small squares on the window mask sheet. They don't include anything for rear buckets, but you still wont need to cut any holes, just mask a clear spot smaller than the decal or lens that you intent to apply to the outside.

If you are stuck on the idea of cutting bucket holes, then I suggest starting with a hole drilled in the center, then square out the hole with a tool called a "nibbler". I use this one.

https://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Plated...s=nibbler+tool

This tool is a super way to trim any kind of plastic.

[TacoCrawler]

oh... I must've misunderstood.
I thought you were installing LEDs into the buckets.

For cutting the body...
always use curved lexan sissors and round your cuts edges.

A dremel and barrel sander works well...
but may not offer a small radius that that is needed.
Unless using a smaller diameter barrel sander or stone bit maybe.

If you end oup with a straight edge - cut
while changing the cut's direction...
Don't scar the surface past the point that is to be removed.
If that happends you risk the lexan /or poly cracking at that cut's change
of direction.

I usually paint first and then fine trim the body out afterwards.
With the exception of maybe the body's lower skirt (edge)
Which I most always cut off prior to painting.

Always make your cuts rounded - curved
Hence curved lexan sissors.

Drilling round holes can actually help...
but a dremel and barrel sanding tip should work too.

Realise that high speed barrel sanders or stone bits...
can sometime melt the lexan/poly rather then cut.

So a slower cutting speed helps reduce the possible melting
of the lexan/poly when using a dremel.

A sharp exacto blade works too...
If you break off maybe 1mm off the tip
as that will reduce wander.

But curved lexan sissors are better then an exacto blade...
especially if you hands aren't very steady or the exacto blade slips
past the point you intended to cut.

[Westside Charlie]

Great feedback! I'm glad to hear that I shouldn't worry about cutting out holes for the lights -- just mask off those areas and let the light shine through. Even so, I'm going to get a set of those nibblers, which I'm sure I'll use at some point.

I've already cut away the skirt and wheel wells -- all with a blade. I do use curved scissors but this time I stayed gentle with the blade and was able to break off clean sections all around -- and use the curved scissors for a bit of cleanup.

So the only other holes I need to make, probably, are for the posts and screw holes for the chrome parts. I'll park those spots and use a reamer to make the holes after the painting is done.

Thanks for the help!