New to the whole thing......

[LilMaverickk]

A while back I bought an airbrush, and I have only painted one body. Not a profesional brush but definitely enough to get the job done. The body was just a neon green color and I added some stickers. I noticed that I made a few mistakes and I wasn't surprised. One of those mistakes was the paint seemed to be in "blotches". Some were heavier than others when I held it up to the light. I will be buying another crowd pleaser body soon. I am going to attempt to make a very good body. The neon body I did in one night (thats why I wasnt suprised I made mistakes) and on this one I plan to take a week. I NEED ideas on what to do as far as like colors, and stuff. I am blank-minded, although I have a few ideas but those wil probably be woarse than the neon body if I did them =) I plan to post my neon body, and after using all of the tips you guys give me I will post a picture of the latest one. If you could answer a few of my questions and maybe give some tips I would really appreciate the help. Here are my questions I would like answered if anyone can:
1) What brand of paint would be best to use?
2) Is there a specific tip I should be using on my airbrush?
3) Do you guys use stencils for letters and words?

[hanomag]

If you could answer a few of my questions and maybe give some tips I would really appreciate the help. Here are my questions I would like answered if anyone can:
1) What brand of paint would be best to use?
2) Is there a specific tip I should be using on my airbrush?
3) Do you guys use stencils for letters and words?

OK I'll try to help you with what I know!!;)

1) There is a lot of brand available on the market. Make sure that they are paint to use for lexan. It depends on what you can get. For me, I tried 3 different kind of lexan paint.

Pactra Racing finish acryl is a good paint. I like it. It cover well, easy to use and they have a good variety of color.

Tamiya are also fine but they are available in can. You can use them with an airbrush but you will have to use a straw in the nozzle of the can and then spray the paint in a bottle that can be use with your airbrush.

Faskolor is good also. I like them. Wide range of color. Easy to use.

It really depend on what you like. The big secret about airbrushing is: take your time. I mean, spray a fine layer. Like a mist on your first time. This will help you to seal any masking inside the shell. Then, spray another layer but change the direction that you did on your first time, go across. And keep going until everything is cover. For me, I'll used 3 layers of each color I have to paint. And make sure to wash the body before painting. I like to scrub the interior of the shell with a green scrub pad that you can use to wash the dishes.

2) For a different tip, it depend on what you need, not sure what to say here. As for your airbrush, some airbrushes can use different needle to spray large area. So, this would be a good thing to do if you can. Also, some airbrushes are single action and others are double action. In this case, single is ok cause the area, that need to be covered, is big.

3) I never used stencil cause I never tried to paint letters on my cars. I did used some home made decals. But yeah you could use stencil if you feel comfortable. Depend on what you want to write on the car.

So, I hope this will help a bit. If you have more questions, dont hesitate.

Clarence

[LilMaverickk]

Thank-you! I really appreciate the tips. If you want I could use some ideas on what to make my body look like. I hope to be getting a body and some paint for christmas. I really appreciate the time you took to help me. Well I gotta go, dad's taking me to the track! Oh and if anyone else feels like it, post any tips that helped you when you were new. Thanks guys!

[hanomag]

No prob with time!!! It's a pleasure!!!

I forgot to mention in my previous post that when you finish to paint the shell, use another layer of silver color to back up you paint. This way, the light won't show when you will hold it up to the light.

For any idea on what your next shell should be, I think this is a matter of personal taste. Like for me, I'm not into those body paint that look like the one you will see on 1/8th buggy. I personaly think this look like a toy. I prefer something more realistic like the body of a drift car. It depends on what you want. I like the paint scheme of any monster truck. Those look nice to me. Maybe you want to look at different gallery on any rc website to get an idea. My only advice will be:take your time to choose.

If for any reason you don't like what you did with your shell, there is a way to take the paint off the shell without damaging the shell. You have to use brake fluid or oven cleaner. You just spray the oven cleaner inside the shell and wait for about a day and then with a toothbrush, you can scrub the paint. But before you do that, try to find something you like. This clean up job is a bit messy.

The first job I did, I just made sure that the edge of the masking tape was well done to make sure that there was not a bleeding of the paint. So make sure that you double check. And don't be afraid to experiment. That's the best way to learn.

Have fun

[brushlessdirtyal]

I'm still learning too. I just went down to the hardware store and bought a sheet of lexan to practice on. I just experiment with different air pressure and thinning. Right now I use Faskolor and I thin it with windex.

[hanomag]

If you want to practice without buying lexan, use 2liter plastic bottle like coke or pepsi. You just cut it in 2 part from 1 end to the other end. Then you can practice!!!!