So here is my painting story.
The first time I painted a body, I had it unwrapped, trimmed, painted

and mounted in about an hour.
This body took about 14 hours over 2 days. To all those out there with

insane painting skillz, I hand you my respect .

I first started by trimming up the excess lexan from the fenders and

panels. I left some excess to work with later but took most of it away

for easier handling.Then I washed the body in the bathtub. I simply

dribbled a fair amount of SunLight dish soap into the body, and used

the shower head to rinse, and a clean cloth to rub. This took about 5

minutes.




I put on rubber gloves to prevent any oil's or contaminants from

getting on the inside lexan, Quickly layed some clean paper towel down

on my work bench and went to work. I coated the inside with 4 layers

of Parma Fasmask, I rigged up a little heater to blow on the body

between coats, to speed up the drying process. This Proline Desert Rat

body has a lot of little nooks and cranny's, and I was un-prepared for

getting into the areas. I did the best I could, but my paitence ran

thin. I ended up with some un-cured fasmask in some areas but I will

get to that later.




I had previously drawn out my rough design, using Metallic Black, Indy

Silver and Candy Blue. The Silver really accents the blue and nearly

perfectly matches the powder coating on the frame. Once all the

fasmask was cured, I used a small hobby knife, with a very small flat

edge blade to start removing the trim areas. This is when I realised I

was in trouble. Using spray cans, once I spray the trim it is going to

be very hard to see the other lines of the design.



Luckily, I followed the body contours in most areas so I made do. An

Air gun would have been very nice :roll:
I layed on about 8 coats of Black around all the trim areas. Some

(like around the rear fin) were very hard to get to. And this is where

the rushed, uncured fasmask got the better of me. I did the best I

could to remove the fasmask cleanly, but even then I couldn't angle

the spray can to fully get into the crevaces. Paitence again started

to run thin, so I settled with what I had, rather than forcing it and

botching the entire job.

(was too excited to take picture at this point. Was about 2 in the

AM)

I left the heater on between coats, and the light coats dried in ten

to fifteen minutes making it fairly quick. I hate the waiting game.I

then but out and pealed away the Silver areas. This is where my rookie

skills with fasmask and painting show through. The areas where I was

too thin, or too fast with the parma came up and were hard to cut. I

did my best to rectify this but there is some bleed through in some

areas.



6 coats of silver paint, again with 15minutes between each coat. Then

removing the rest of the fasmask, minus the window areas. 8 very light

coats of Candy Blue got me the dark, transperant color I was looking

for. I practiced on multiple cut up bottles in the previous weeks, so

get a good feel for just how dark the blue needed to be, to match the

TVP's. With 5 coats of Indy Silver backing, the blue really began to

POP (When painting complex bodies, flip it over between coats to

help you get into all the little areas, dont worry if you miss a spot

on your first pass, there are many passes left to go )







I backed the entire paint job with 3 thick coats of Rustolem Latex

Paint. It dries very flexibly and I think it will hold up fine to

light bashing. This truck shouldnt roll over....... :roll: Then I

rememberd to mark the body holes, I used a yellow paint marker, dabbed

the top of the body posts, and very carefully set the body on straight

and even.Using the smalles drill bit I had, I dilled a hole from the

inside. The drill bit will pull the material towards the drill, so for

best results, drill from the inside working up to a 5/16th bit with

is slightly larger than the body posts, for easy install but a snug

fit.



Finally, I removed the window masking area, wiped the inside of the

body with a paper towel, and vacated the garage. Its too dirty for

what I did next. When you remove the overcoat protection, the body

changes. Its just....better :mr.green:





I hope you all enjoy! I know I do! This was my first real attempt at

painting a body, Read as many threads as you can, use the knowledge

from 10 or 12 guys who have done it, then get to work. Be Paitent,

Walk away if you half to (I did) and most importantly, just keep

thinking of the end result.