Tips on painting Lexan (polycarbonate)
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crazydave
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Tips on painting Lexan (polycarbonate)
Just a random assortment of things I've picked up along the way.
- Always use paint intended for polycarbonate. Such as Pactra's Racing Colors, or Parma's FasKolor. Tamiya also makes polycarbonate paint.
- Wash it out really good with dish detergent and warm water. These bodies always have a lot of residuals from the molding process.
- Soak paint in warm water so they lay thinner.
- Remember you're painting from the inside. Keep that in mind when coming up with your paint scheme. This differs in that you'll be laying the darker colors first
- Don't trick yourself into thinking you can avoid overspray. Wrap the outside of the body in tape, to protect it. Sucks you can't see what's going on, but it saves a lot of hassle later, and it's it's kinda fun to peel it away and be surprised by the results.
- A trick to doing windows, is to put the tape on the outside. Use a ball point pen to push it into the crevices, and make your line. Then transfer it to a piece of glass and cut it out. When applying it to the inside of the body, remember it's mirror imaged so it goes on the opposite side of the body. (i.e the driver's side window goes on the inside of the passenger's side)
- Make any antenna and/or body mounting holes before painting. It's much easier when clear.
- Don't use a Sharpie for detail lines. The magazine would reccomend this, but it always looked like crap when I did it. It was purplelish, and the ink didn't like flowing onto the lexan, always had to restart it on a piece of paper. I tried a Parma detailing pen, but it was just a Sharpie with a Parma logo. Then I disovered these permanent markers called Ink Tank. Forget who makes it, but that's the good stuff. Nice and black, flows heavily, and doesn't rub right off.
- For years I boggled over realistic headlights, not quite white, not quite silver, nothing looked right. Now I got the gig. Mask them off, leave them clear, draw headlights on a separate piece of paper, and tape them behind the "lense". To get a fairly realistic effect, I use a silver Sharpie, leaving some white spots showing, and pull some thin black lines into the corners. It's all about angle and perspective.
- To do realistic bumpers and other chrome trim, you want Top Flite Trim MonoKote Chrome. This is thin vinyl for RC planes. It comes in small adhesive sheets, and beside chrome it comes in aluminum and multitude of other colors.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wt ... LC2222&P=1
That's it for now. I'll add more when it comes to me. Feel free to add to the list if you think of anything.
- Always use paint intended for polycarbonate. Such as Pactra's Racing Colors, or Parma's FasKolor. Tamiya also makes polycarbonate paint.
- Wash it out really good with dish detergent and warm water. These bodies always have a lot of residuals from the molding process.
- Soak paint in warm water so they lay thinner.
- Remember you're painting from the inside. Keep that in mind when coming up with your paint scheme. This differs in that you'll be laying the darker colors first
- Don't trick yourself into thinking you can avoid overspray. Wrap the outside of the body in tape, to protect it. Sucks you can't see what's going on, but it saves a lot of hassle later, and it's it's kinda fun to peel it away and be surprised by the results.
- A trick to doing windows, is to put the tape on the outside. Use a ball point pen to push it into the crevices, and make your line. Then transfer it to a piece of glass and cut it out. When applying it to the inside of the body, remember it's mirror imaged so it goes on the opposite side of the body. (i.e the driver's side window goes on the inside of the passenger's side)
- Make any antenna and/or body mounting holes before painting. It's much easier when clear.
- Don't use a Sharpie for detail lines. The magazine would reccomend this, but it always looked like crap when I did it. It was purplelish, and the ink didn't like flowing onto the lexan, always had to restart it on a piece of paper. I tried a Parma detailing pen, but it was just a Sharpie with a Parma logo. Then I disovered these permanent markers called Ink Tank. Forget who makes it, but that's the good stuff. Nice and black, flows heavily, and doesn't rub right off.
- For years I boggled over realistic headlights, not quite white, not quite silver, nothing looked right. Now I got the gig. Mask them off, leave them clear, draw headlights on a separate piece of paper, and tape them behind the "lense". To get a fairly realistic effect, I use a silver Sharpie, leaving some white spots showing, and pull some thin black lines into the corners. It's all about angle and perspective.
- To do realistic bumpers and other chrome trim, you want Top Flite Trim MonoKote Chrome. This is thin vinyl for RC planes. It comes in small adhesive sheets, and beside chrome it comes in aluminum and multitude of other colors.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wt ... LC2222&P=1
That's it for now. I'll add more when it comes to me. Feel free to add to the list if you think of anything.
Last edited by crazydave on Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Stoli
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Hey Dave thats an awesome idea.
I know from my Computer case modding days I used to dye my lexan/polycorbonite parts with clothing dye. It also makes for great custom colors as well
Found this link directed at R/C parts for anyone interested in dying vs paint.
http://www.dirtyrc.com/dirty_hop_ups/dy ... _parts.htm
I know from my Computer case modding days I used to dye my lexan/polycorbonite parts with clothing dye. It also makes for great custom colors as well
Found this link directed at R/C parts for anyone interested in dying vs paint.
http://www.dirtyrc.com/dirty_hop_ups/dy ... _parts.htm
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payaso
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Cool tips Dave.. You should cut and paste a copy in to this thread here.
http://bitpimps.lixlink.com/pages/phpFo ... php?t=5560
silla
http://bitpimps.lixlink.com/pages/phpFo ... php?t=5560
silla
payaso......
"Imagination is everything. It's the preview to lifes coming attractions" -Albert Einstein
"Imagination is everything. It's the preview to lifes coming attractions" -Albert Einstein