Painting a new 10.3 body

[RCTom]

Hello,

Looking to get some advice about painting my new 10.3 body. I'm not the world's best painter--far from it in fact. I'm wondering how folks paint flares , trim, tops, grilles, etc. to have that matte and/or satin black look. Here's an example of what I'm talking about. This pic is of mikemcE's awesome 10.3 from the Axial 10.3 page in this forum. I want my top and grille to be the shade of black a soft top would be, and glossy on the main body color (since it's a new Wrangler after all).

What I don't understand is if people are painting the top, grille, etc. from the inside or outside? And what paint do they use?

Also, what about tinting the windows? I still want to be able to see into the interior--but just like a stock Wrangler with tinted windows on the sides and back and clear windows in the front doors and windshield. Although, my understanding is that the stickers for the 10.3 Wrangler body are tinted (which will save some time) but I'd like to know how to do it for other bodies I'd like to paint.

So what materials do I need?

[Inspector86]

Any matte finish will need to be painted on the outside otherwise you just see the lexan shine. I have never used it but you can buy window tint spray paint.

[lonleycreeper]

I recently painted my nephews Jk...



I painted the black, for the top inside, and outside the body. The lexan paint tends to be fairly flat so it works out good. I used the overspray film for a mask and that worked better than I imagined it would.

[DrewKlant]

For precision work, I always use a paint sprayer, I'd recommend you do so too. But look out for one that suits small projects like rc crawlers cause most of them are too heavy-duty to even consider. https://popular.reviews/best-paint-sprayer/ There's a Rockler here that seems pretty ok for the job.

[RCTom]

Originally Posted by lonleycreeper

I recently painted my nephews Jk...



I painted the black, for the top inside, and outside the body. The lexan paint tends to be fairly flat so it works out good. I used the overspray film for a mask and that worked better than I imagined it would.

Awesome-looking JK you painted up. I'm still working up to it, LOL. Worried I'm going to ruin the body. But this is what I'm looking to accomplish.

[RCTom]

Originally Posted by DrewKlant

For precision work, I always use a paint sprayer, I'd recommend you do so too. But look out for one that suits small projects like rc crawlers cause most of them are too heavy-duty to even consider. https://popular.reviews/best-paint-sprayer/ There's a Rockler here that seems pretty ok for the job.

Thanks, I'll give that site a look.

[B-MOW71]

For the black matte finish on the outside, I use a couple coats of Tamiya Black #PS-5 painted on the outside. I then use a couple coats of Tamiya Flat Clear #PS-55 on top of the black. I use the outside film as a mask. The flat clear will help protect the black from getting scratched. I use this method on all of my rigs and have had great success.

Here is an example on my PRO





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