# Any good "how to paint" Lexan links?



## HadaSlot (Oct 22, 2007)

I enjoy a good VW body and I found 4 of these a couple of years ago. They are still, well three are, still in the sheet form. I got scared trying to cut this one out. Any ideas on how to cut out and paint. I understand that you have to paint it backwards but what is a good method? Dave


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## T-Jet Racer (Nov 16, 2006)

there are a lot of videos on youtube mostly rc video but its just smaller here. no link do a search


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## GoodwrenchIntim (Feb 22, 2005)

Yeah Id love to see a "how to" of one of those too. I have a box of about 50 lexans needing painted an Im not the best at the smaller scales. 1/10 rc bodies was much easier to paint.
I do know you paint the inside. You can use a fine point permanent marker for a lot of the smaller details, you can use scotch tape as window mask. Just stick some on the inner window an with a sharp exacto knife lightly cut around the window. Those are the basics, Id love to see a full on "how to" though

BTW LOVE the VW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## martybauer31 (Jan 27, 2004)

Here's a good one done by Greg Williams, an excellent lexan painter/artist.

http://planetofspeed.net/slots/Painting-and-Mounting-HO-Lexan-Bodies.doc

Marty


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## HadaSlot (Oct 22, 2007)

Maybe I am overthinking it. I have some cool white sprint cars from RRR and they take the paint on the outside just fine. That might just be what I need to do to the clear bodies. Painting the inside would be crazy hard. Ok I will try this and update pics. Yes I will use covers over the "glass".


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## GoodwrenchIntim (Feb 22, 2005)

A recent one I painted, wasn't the clearest body so the windows are scratchy, I used liquid mask on the windows on this one, should have used scotch tape


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

HadaSlot said:


> Maybe I am overthinking it. I have some cool white sprint cars from RRR and they take the paint on the outside just fine. That might just be what I need to do to the clear bodies. Painting the inside would be crazy hard. Ok I will try this and update pics. Yes I will use covers over the "glass".


I likes that yellow!!! I looked under RRR and can't find the body. Is that one you reworked??? RM


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## HadaSlot (Oct 22, 2007)

You probaly won't. I bought 4 from his wife off epay over two years ago, The add stated the were the last of Phil Neidart's (not sure of spelling) last cast's of this model. I have a cool pic but I can't find it.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

I paint all of my own lexans using Parma Faskolor, liquid mask, masking tape, picture glue, decals, and paint brushes. Never paint the outside, it will rub off in no time. It's much easier than you think to achieve excellent results and is very enjoyable and relaxing. With lexan bodies being so inexpensive you can afford to learn as you go and develop your own style. Do not be intimidated by any aspect of the hobby, take your time, and reap the rewards of doing it yourself. While I am very impressed by the artistic quality of others, I get way too much enjoyment from painting my own bodies to use a store bought lexan body, unless it is a gift from a friend.


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## gear buster (Dec 1, 2005)

I to use parma fas- koulor paint. If you are thinking of a design to place on the car a great idea I use is draw it on the outside of the body using a fine tip black marker. Don't worry it will clean off with rubbing alch.
Paint your colors backwards. Last color first,(or sponsor decals if needed), then your main color. For the windows.I use liquid masking for RC cars and Frisk Paper for airbushing. Frisk paper is a sticky back clear masking.Cut small peices and place on outside of window opening,trace window opening with felt pen, peel off and lay back on the paper backing for the frisk. Cut out with sissors and place back on the inside of the window you traced. Presto. instant window mask. Paint you body and peel off for clear windows.
For fender well cut outs. first ruff cut the fender well to shape, use small drum sander for the dremmel and light sand it to give it a smooth finish.
On older lexan the plastic won't handle the laquer RC paints from pacra. It will buckle the plastic due to the heat of the paint. Enamel model paint will hold(For a couple shots or crashes) then it will start to flake off. And it is a mess to clean up and try to paint again.
Hope this helps. There is also a Book on painting and detailing RC lexan bodies which gives you the break down of washing the bodies to painting.
Number one rule. Always wash the bodies in a mild dish soap first before painting. This cleans up the finger oil and release agent off the body.
Picture is one Done years ago for racing at local track.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

I definitely concur with everything gear buster said. Cleaning the body is essential. Regular shaving cream (the cheap stuff without any lube additives) works well for cleaning lexan too. When painting on the inside (which is the only reasonable way to go) paint your dark colors first and your light colors last. If you are using a translucent or candy color you will usually want to put a light color on top of the translucent color. Good choices for the backer color are white, silver, and gold. I've heard that you can dye lexan to get an overall translucent look and back everything except the windows with white. I have not tried this, yet.

One nice thing about the Parma Faskolor is it's water based so cleanup is a breeze. It also mixes easily to achieve custom colors. If you are just starting out you can get all the primary colors and mix them to get many other colors. For HO bodies you only need a few drops of paint at a time. If nothing else, painting your own bodies allows you to have unique one of a kind colors. 

The picture glue is a product that allows you to adhere paper or film to the inside of lexan bodies before you paint them. You could, for example, cut a small Coca Cola or Mountain Dew logo (plastic film) off a 20 oz soda bottle and use this glue to adhere it to the inside of your lexan body to form the basis of a custom paint scheme. Even a small picture or cutout from a magazine would work. There are no limits, let your imagination take charge.

Another tip I picked up for lexan racing bodies is to mix a little matte compound, the glue used to adhere scenery in your landscaping, in with the paint. I mix it in at about a 20% ratio (one drop of matte compound to 4 drops of paint). This gives the paint an even better bite and greater flexibility. It does make a difference in durability. I've used the Woodland Scenics brand of "Scenic Cement" as well as my own homemade matte compound created from white glue, water, and dishwashing liquid. Both worked very well.

Parma sells strips of lexan bodies, 5 on a strip, for around $5. They have 3 different sets and the bodies are especially well suited for AFX sized cars. These are great starter bodies for honing your painting skills. The set that has the classic 1971 NASCAR bodies (RoadRunner, Monte Carlo, Charger, and Cyclone) is great for home tracks. I'm a huge fan of the Porsche 917K and one or more of the Parma strips have these. These are all 0.010" bodies. Most racers tend to prefer the 0.007" bodies and I'm a big fan of the Thunder Road bodies that Wizzard High Performance and others sell. The Thunder Road bodies often come with window and wheel well masks and have a removable film on the outside which is extremely helpful for spray painters.


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

I know these bodies are normally painted on the inside to make the paint job more durable, I haven’t really worked with a clear body since I was a kid.

I recently picked up a Lanser 1/24 Chaparral 2G body that I’m going to use to build a static curbside model using a Chaparral 2D plastic kit for parts. I have never worked with the lexan paints before. How will to the flow and you need a special thinner or are they water based? I was just planning on painting the outside of the body since it will be static and I wanted to get away from the clear plastic look.

Would it work to spray the body with a primer and then just use normal acrylic paints?

All of these slot car bodies were at least allow me to build a nice collection of the sixties racers.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

The water based Parma paints dry flat and would look pretty lame on the outside. You would have to experiment with other oil based paints to see how they react with the lexan. If you can get it to stick and not melt the lexan you should be good to go. But again, painting on the inside is absolutely No Big Deal and you always end end with a shiny finish.


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

I will paint it on the inside of the body as a last resort, to me, it just always leaves a little bit of a plastic look to me though, and the paints that were used back in the sixties didn’t leave the cars normally with that high of a gloss.

I will have to give the Parma paint a try and after it is dry, giving it a coat of Future and see if that gives it some gloss, if it’s too much, a tiny bit of flat clear can always be added to the Future.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

I dip my painted lexans in Future to help lock down any stickers or decals I apply on the outside. It works well. The insides where the paint is take on a semi gloss with one coat, more gloss with more coats. 

Future has a remarkable effect on clear plastic if you coat both sides, it makes the clear plastic look even thinner than it is. This is a trick used by model airplane folks to make plastic canopies look more realistic.

Good luck.


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## Dunk21 (Mar 23, 2007)

i have a mold for the yellow car but somehow last time i tried to sell bodies some know it all moron accused me of stealing a bsrt body which is from California and there molds are sculptures but this is not a bsrt body its from Missouri so that law has no affect but even if i do have someones body i can fill it and vacuum form as many as i want because its backing up the product (same is true for dvd's i can burn as many as i wish as long as i have possession of the original just cant get rid of them IF THE MOLD WAS FROM CALIFORNIA)


thank you have a nice day!


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## HadaSlot (Oct 22, 2007)

I don't know all the in's and out's about infringing but I really got into these from this add on ebay from RRR, or his wife should I say. The pic is the one I grabbed for reference from the old add. I watched and waited patiently and finally won the bid on an off night. I then bought up all of the AJ's Ultra wides and slammed them on some Non-Mag AFX with custom brushes and vintage blue and yellow mags. They will hang out the rear all the way around the corner and spin out from a stand still. I'm going back. Wish I hadn't whored out the Ultra's. These bodies paint very well on the outside with Testors. Dave


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

AfxToo said:


> I dip my painted lexans in Future to help lock down any stickers or decals I apply on the outside. It works well. The insides where the paint is take on a semi gloss with one coat, more gloss with more coats.
> 
> Future has a remarkable effect on clear plastic if you coat both sides, it makes the clear plastic look even thinner than it is. This is a trick used by model airplane folks to make plastic canopies look more realistic.
> 
> Good luck.


Thanks, that’s good to know. I’ll have to try some different paints on some of the scrap I cut off.

Future really is incredible for clear plastic, learned that when I was one of the editors on LSP, some guys would even use it as an undercount to get a glass smooth finish since it has such great self leveling properties. On and off, I am working on a 1/32 Cobra helicopter, the canopy was just terrible and you could barely see through it, after dipping in Future, there was still a little bit of distortion from the plastic, but you could basically read the instructions through it.

You can add up to 30% clear flat to get a really flat finish if you want.


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