MROgle old school funny car camaro

[Mike Casey]

That is a cool idea... Mike does show how to do this stuff every month though in Xtreme RC magazine, might be conflict of interest since he would be supplying the information free here that he charges someone to publish?

[M.R. Ogle]

Yeah, that's a bit of a sticky wicket for me.
For one, I'm a contracted contributing writer for a publication, and for two... I SUCK at painting fiberglass bodies (or anything) on the outside.

It's a pain in the butt, and although the projects may come out looking pretty good, it's not much more than a combination of the use of my vinyl cutter, Lowe's spray cans of paint, a little luck, and dogged persistence... and more luck. I'm just squeaking by on doing these, and I know it. I just always pray that my artistic tendencies can overcome my technical deficiencies.

Lexan bodies on the INSIDE, ahhhh... that's a different story! But trust me, I should give NO ONE advice on painting anything on the outside.

[stoneyberk]

Lowe's spray cans of paint,.

Rutt Roo!!! I hope that Lowe's paint you applied isn't acrylic based? Because DuPont clear coat is Lacquer based, If so don't attempt to apply it Mike... It will lift all your paint and ruin your paint job... If it is acrylic paint then just purchase acrylic clear spray bombs and apply it in the same manner as i mentioned... But make sure you apply a light tack coat and let it flash before you apply the 1st wet coat..

Good Luck

[M.R. Ogle]

No, it's all lacquer-based stuff. Should be okay.

[stoneyberk]

That's cool... Mike i know your a rookie on painting/clearing things on the outside and thought you may find these YouTube videos to be helpful... I have been painting for many years, but i think if i had to paint something from the inside out i would be as lost as you are on this project... One thing i would like to point out is... before you start to clear the car make sure your area is as clean as possible... It would also help if you would lightly spray the floor with water just prior to clearing it... The water will attract the particles within the air, which will eliminate the majority of the dust in the air... Although you will be wet sanding it... But that wont eliminate the dirt trapped beneath the clear... I don't think you want any dirt in your clear job...

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p ... ABCC25BF2E

[M.R. Ogle]

Funky... The advantage of painting on the inside of clear lexan is that you mask EVERYTHING ahead of time... then spray the foreground stuff, peel, spray, peel, spray,...

There's no waiting on drying time between paint coats, no need to let it dry completely, and you NEVER apply tape onto a painted area, as the previously painted areas mask themselves. If you get the sequence right, you can spray a body on the inside completely in several colors in just a couple hours...

And, best of all, the paint is completely protected under a layer of clear shiny Lexan, so you could paint it with a house-painting brush, but the outside finish always looks glossy and smooth.

I gotta get this going again:
www.mrogle.com

[stoneyberk]

Now see i just don't understand how this can be done... Are you saying it's some sort of a spray mask or what? I would think it's done in the same manner as painting it from the outside, except there is no clear coat... Blow in the pin color.. tape off pins, blow in the stripe color. tape off stripe, blow in the overall color, remove all the tape,,, DONE!!!!

[Nitro Rage]

Stoney,, I have a hard time Painting Lexon from the Inside too,, You Paint Every Thing backwards from standard{{ On the Outside}} Paint Jobs.... Mikes Nostalgia Firebird F/C Body turned out Great and I Know with Clearcoat it will look even Better....I cant wait to see it Running out on the strip...

[M.R. Ogle]

Let's say you had a paint job with a red, blue and yellow stripe next to each other.

On an outside paint job, you'd paint one color, mask over the other two, wait for the paint to dry, then mask off the next stripe... and you'd be applying tape ON TOP of the paint you just laid down,,,, same thing again for the next color.

On a Lexan body, all the stripes are masked first, then you peel one stripe out (exposing just that one strip of clear lexan) and spray it a color, peel the next one out and spray it immediately.... same with the third color. There's no need to wait for the first stripes to dry and tape back over them, as the second (and third) colors of paint just spray on BEHIND the first color, and so are not seen...except where you just unmasked.

[stoneyberk]

I kinda understand this now... I don't think i will attempt to paint a Lexan body anytime soon... lol So there is actually nothing protecting the paint then correct... doesn't it get damaged / chipped from removing / installing the body?

I'll stick to way we paint things!!!

[M.R. Ogle]

No, not really... most of the "damage" like impacts and scrapes would come from the outside, the only really vulnerable area on a lexan body's paint is right around the body mounting posta... so a lot of guys just put a strip of clear packing tape or duct tape around those holes. The Lexan-formulated hobby paints actually bond to the polycarbonate plastic. Most other types of paints just fall right off, won't stick worth beans.

Nitro racers have also taken to spraying a coat of Parma Faskote clear or good ol' Rustoleum clear enamel on the inside, just to kinda protect the paint from the fuel / oil residue.

Also, you gotta remember that a typical 1:10 scale Lexan body is a $22 part, considered quite expendable in most pro racing circles. We're quite a bit more careful with our relatively expensive Q-Scale bodies, but even so, the guys who really race (like the NASCAR /QSAC guys) mostly use Lexan bodies and beat the crap out of them.... they may scuff up on the outside, but the paint usually stays 90% intact.

[stoneyberk]

Oh i see... I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks... Yeah you definitely wouldn't want to put a high dollar paint job on the outside of a car and go race it....

[M.R. Ogle]

Okay, It'll be finally finished this weekend.

If it doesn't rain, I'll post a done photo in "Members Rides". This is no longer a "Project In Progress"!!!

[Mike Casey]

cant wait to see it!!