Painting a body with automotive paint

[Neil2704]

I'm not sure how this will turn out, but it's an experiment. I am a mechanic at a mostly collision based shop that works with bodyshops to fix accidents etc. Well I just got my tt02 kit in today. I got it shipped to my work since that's where I am during the day. Well I got talking with my co workers and we thought it would be funny to paint an rc body in the paint booth with automotive paint. It might chip and flake off. I'm not sure. But screw it. Let's see what happens. So we took ford ruby red and added a few colours of green and blue pearl and sprayed it on in 2 coats . Then we hit it with 2 coats of clear. In the pics I noticed the window maskings lifted a bit from the spray gun. Crap. But I won't know the damage until tomorrow. I was going to use tamiya smoke on the Windows but if some red leaked in I'll have to paint the Windows black from the outside or sand it with a 320 grit or something. It is this color



Then after some pearl and clear it looks like this



Even I won't know the final outcome until tomorrow. It should be interesting

[aztitan]

It will come out ok, you shoulda trimmed the wheel wells before paint, if you use it it will flake on impact. But will look good, you don't really need clear cause the lexan will be the clear.

It will work work better on a hardbody for future reference

[Neil2704]

Yeah I didn't think the clear would do much but the body guy had it in the gun already so I just went with it.

[Inspector86]

Automotive paint would work on a hard body that does not see any flex. But, unless you added some flex agent to the paint, it will likely start flaking off the lexan body during the process of trimming.

[Neil2704]

Well that would suck and if it does, oh well. I didn't like the body in the kit anyway. It's just an excuse to buy a new one

[Mike Flea]

Unless the paint is an acrylic, or a polycarbonate specific paint applied to a lexan body, it will most likely flake when it takes a hit. Acrylics and polycarbonate paints flex when dry, all others, enamels and lacquers will crack and flake unless the first coat next to the lexan is a polycarbonate specific paint.

Hard bodies, i.e. bodies made from styrene, may fare better with automotive paint, as they don't flex and bend like a lexan body, but you still have to be careful because some automotive paints will make a styrene body melt due to the petroleum or benzene content of the paint, (chemical composition).

[Neil2704]

i will not even post a picture. it is that bad. let this be a lesson to people who think this is a good idea. it isnt. that body is an epic fail. the paint basically trapped the masking tape on the windows and when i did peel them off half the paint went with it.

[AngelowDoom]

This is a good idea, but your execution is wrong. When you use automotive paint on lexan you need to prime the lexan first with clear lexan paint if you paint on the inside or a base color if you paint on the outside. This is very important so the automotive paint sticks on.
Have done this many times before with great success.

[Neil2704]

good to know for future reference. thank you. the paint peeled off like crazy the way i did it.

[Shinchu]

man... like i said in the other thread... wish i saw this before you tried it. but i'm excited for your replacement body choice!!!

[Browneye]

Nason urethane base-coat here for 2-stage...once it set up it's fine. Have wheeled it hard, even hosed it out, not a scratch or flake. Paint code match for a early 2000's Wrangler.
Scrubbed the body good with dish soap and a scotchbrite, then masked it. Black is Tamiya lexan paint. Shot with Pasche VL airbrush, #5 tip, 30psi.

[Shinchu]

Yeah but you are way more experienced than a body shop guy who has never painted an rc shell before and obviously has no clue lol

Sorry its just... it seems like they tried to do everything about this as wrong as possible.

That said, browneye is living proof you can do it successfully. Just takes some research and skill.

[Inspector86]

It sounded like the OP's painter sprayed that paint on the spur of the moment just cause the body was there. By the time they had several coats of color plus the clear the paint was way too thick and was pretty much guaranteed to come off.

[Stormin2u]

Auto paint can be very successfully used and will be extremely durable as long as you prep it with a flex additive first. Bulldog adhesion promoter or any of the polycarbonate clear coat finishes and it won't flake peal or crack, remember to mask your clear areas first.

[Browneye]

Originally Posted by Stormin2u

Auto paint can be very successfully used and will be extremely durable as long as you prep it with a flex additive first. Bulldog adhesion promoter or any of the polycarbonate clear coat finishes and it won't flake peal or crack, remember to mask your clear areas first.

I didnt bother with AP or flex, its so thin. Acrylic enamel base coat. Worked fine.

[dr frankenstyle]

I've used auto paint on a few bodies, both enamel and lacquer because I like the color choices. My Vaterra F-100 body on my pro-street truck has held up great with a combination of the 2, but it doesn't see much abuse. My Pro-Line Bronco on my TRX-4, on the other hand, took a 4 ft. fall off a rock and nachly it lost some lacquer from the inside when it landed upside down. I see it like 1:1's ... if you beat 'em up, you're probly gonna have to repair some paint.

[mikemcE]

Ive shot HOK on plastics many times. You start with a flex agent like Adherto. Once done you follow up with mist coats of color. little if any cracking will occur if done by the book