1st paint job: 2 questions

[ebeowulf17]

Hey everybody, I painted my first body and overall I'm really happy. Lots of little details that I could've done better, but the overall effect is exactly what I wanted!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cyGp7C3jqNxDL1qi9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/VJzyZbEHr2bJk2qT8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/LLLskAnkQevzesQW7

Unfortunately, you can see in that last pic that the pre-cut mask that came with the body (Axial Wrangler Rock Racer) wouldn't release cleanly. There's tons of adhesive left behind in the headlights (I masked those so that I could add buckets and headlights later.) Everything else was masked with high quality blue masking tape, which worked great. The included mask seems horrible though!

Any advice on what I can use to remove masking tape adhesive without clouding the lexan or ruining the good paint?

Also, I'm a little worried that the paint where the body rests on the posts will get beat up during rollovers and such. Any advice on protecting the paint around the body post holes?

[Kingmeow]

Originally Posted by ebeowulf17

Hey everybody, I painted my first body and overall I'm really happy. Lots of little details that I could've done better, but the overall effect is exactly what I wanted!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cyGp7C3jqNxDL1qi9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/VJzyZbEHr2bJk2qT8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/LLLskAnkQevzesQW7

Unfortunately, you can see in that last pic that the pre-cut mask that came with the body (Axial Wrangler Rock Racer) wouldn't release cleanly. There's tons of adhesive left behind in the headlights (I masked those so that I could add buckets and headlights later.) Everything else was masked with high quality blue masking tape, which worked great. The included mask seems horrible though!

Any advice on what I can use to remove masking tape adhesive without clouding the lexan or ruining the good paint?

Also, I'm a little worried that the paint where the body rests on the posts will get beat up during rollovers and such. Any advice on protecting the paint around the body post holes?

Nice job! What brand and color paint? Rattle can?

For the sticky stuff I would first try a piece of tape and carefully try to stick it on the sticky stuff and not the paint and pull to see if it grabs the residue. I would do as much of that as possible. Then I would use some denatured alcohol on a Q-tip and clean up the rest avoiding the paint. If you don't have denature, try 91% rubbing. 70% rubbing is probably too weak. Alcohol is safe as it won't dissolve lexan. Don't try acetone, Off! (which is Xylene) or anything that would dissolve lexan.

As for protecting the paint where the body posts rest, excellent concern! I cut out a square of packing tape (the slightly thicker 3M type), tape over the hole and then use an X-Acto knife to trace/cut out the hole. I have that on my SCX10 OG Rubicon and it works perfectly with no wear on the tape.

They are stuff you can buy like foam or felt pads but packing tape is the thinnest and won't interfere with the body clip fit.

[ebeowulf17]

Originally Posted by Kingmeow

Nice job! What brand and color paint? Rattle can?

Thanks! It's Tamiya rattle cans, PS-14 Copper and PS-23 Gunmetal. I'd intended copper and black, but gunmetal was the closest they had at the LHS, and I decided to take my chances on it. The basic look was inspired by the SCX10 Jeep below, although obviously I haven't done any of the cool custom fabrication work or parts upgrades they have. Just a basic paint job for now.

Copper Rubicon G6 Build

I'm not sure what the builder in that thread did, but for mine I backed all the copper with black (actually gunmetal) in order to make the underside of the body disappear. I've read lots of opinions that you really need to back metals like copper with white first for better color. I'm not really sure how different it would've looked, but I'm certainly happy with what I got!

Thanks for the advice regarding cleanup and protection. Much appreciated!

[Gula]

Goo gone, goof off. Should work

[Inspector86]

WD40 on a rag or paper towel will also work. BTW, I like the color! Generally speaking, the choice of backing with black or white will change the brightness of the color it just depends on what you want.

[Vmax]

Good advise on getting the adhesive off.

For quick protection around body posts I'll lay some electrical tape around the post holes. For a more durable solution, smear a little bit of shoe goo around the holes and let cure. Make sure the paint is completely dry before applying!

[QuesoDelDiablo]

I use Isopropyl alcohol for cleaning gunk off my bodies..

For protecting the paint I'd lay down a piece fiberglass mesh drywall tape and then spread shoe goo or E6000 over that. Also works beautifully for repairing body damage/cracks etc..

[ebeowulf17]

Many thanks to everyone for the great tips. I tried using tape to pull the adhesive residue off the lights, but no luck. Next I tried denatured alcohol, and that worked pretty well. It's still tricky getting the adhesive off right next to the paint without taking up the paint, but I got close enough to be happy with it.

As for body hole protection, the packing tape seems to be working great so far for the holes themselves, but I discovered later that there's a different rub point on this body where the 90 degree turn in offset posts hits the corner of the gas tank molded into the body. I ended up bulking those points and the surrounding area up with drywall mesh and shoe goo (after doing touch up painting to fix the damage that had already been done.) That seems to be holding up well too.

I also tried the trick of scratching lines into the headlight plastic to mimic classic headlight lenses with ridges (fresnel lenses, maybe?) If you look closely, the lines are pretty irregular and messy, but the overall effect from a couple feet away is still what I was hoping for. I'm pleasantly surprised the headlights look as good as they do without using separate lenses.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/UsMZdBUFfqRGbJFp9

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zSkp9tysfPizebnn6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/dG7R9xki1BNYU9N59

https://photos.app.goo.gl/n8VQV3gswQwGeshF6

[Kingmeow]

That headlight scratching technique worked out great! I'll have to do it myself!