Creating a custom paint job for your new radio controlled cars lexan shell is great fun, I’ll show you how to do this with perfect results every time, no artistic skills required, you don’t need an airbrush or an entire weekend to do it, and you will be amazed at the fantastic results you can get with a little know how.

For the purpose of this article I have selected an old favorite of mine, the flames. The techniques can be applied to any design you can dream up, all you need is a little imagination.

First things first.

The first thing you need to do is clean the shell, use warm water and soap, be sure to rinse all the soap off and let it dry before your continue, it’s critical that the lexan shell is clean or your paint job won’t hold, or will have blemishes once your done.

The second thing you need to do is cut the shell out, we do this first for two reasons:

1. It’s easy to line up the wheels and body posts to the chassis
2. After it’s painted you will scratch the paint while you cut out the shell

Imagination is key

Now that we have the body cleaned and cut out we need to look for natural lines on the body that we can use to keep our design perfectly symmetrical, it’s often difficult to paint over vents and other highly detailed parts of the car so pick your locations wisely.

So after much debate we have decided to More…

Years ago I studied with an amazing painter by the name of Jack Reilly. He taught me how to use an airbrush, and really see color. I studies with Jack for several years, and learned a lot. Eventually Jack left the studio, I took over the studio and the students. I taught surfboard makers, car painters, illustrators, fabric designers, model makers, and special effects guys. I taught a beginning airbrush class, and learned a lot also from my students with all of the different applications they were using.

We used an H1 Paasche airbrush, it being a single action. The single action brushes are very easy to use for beginners. You press a button and that gives you spray, then you use the appreture setting at the tip to give you line/spray width. To start out with, I find it’s a lot easier to work with your paper or canvas hung on a wall, you standing in front of it level. Instead of worrying about learning over and spilling ink or paint out of your airbrush, with the artwork on a wall your body can move an adjust. It’s very important to keep a good stance, loose, and be able to move with fluidity. You are strifing for fluidity with the use of an airbrush, so when you FEEL fluid this helps your work. Bend at the knees a bit, and plant your feet apart even with your shoulders. You will feel steady and in control, a good thing to be while airbrushing.

Look through a magazine for a photograph of folded or draped fabric in a solid color, or shoot a pic More…

It gets pretty boring when you driving down the highway and you see all the same colors of vehicles. Sure they are different makes and styles, but color wise they are all the same and uninteresting. Then every once in a while something really dynamic pulls up beside you. Its one of those cars that has been painted with a custom design. To paint a car is one thing but to custom paint it is a whole new world.

At least when you went to buy your car you had a few more color options then perhaps your grandfather did in his day and age. Now today, not only do you have to decide on color, you need to decide if you want metallic, or rust free or even scratch proof finishes.

When you get down to wanting to paint a car with custom colors you have to really give some thought as to what you want. It isn’t cheap to custom paint a car. The paints are a very high grade poly urethanes.

When it comes time and you want to paint a car and you have decided to have a custom design put on it, then you are going to have to choose which type you want. A few years back the burning flame was the rage. To see a black car with those flames running down the sides was the envy of every avid car lover.

The flames are still very popular but the designs are somewhat different. They cover more of an area.

Another popular design is animals such as the wild mustangs or the flying eagle. Then there are designs that are just abstr More…

An Airbrush has become the most important choice for many people who have taken painting as a hobby. It can be used effectively to paint walls, furniture, nails, t-shirts, models made of plastic among many other items. You will find that airbrush paints come in a wide collection of colors that a good painter can make use of. Its quite easy to learn the art of airbrushing but the learning process can be made more pleasurable and simpler by the use of the right materials.

Airbrush paints are generally classified into two categories i.e. it can either be opaque or transparent. The transparent colors are easier to use since they are thinner than the opaque ones and do not clog the airbrush. But then during the process of learning airbrushing, you should be able to use any color.

Its important to note that the transparent colors allow the light to pass through so the bodies are seen easily. These colors mix much easier to create a new color combination.  As you may well know, the primary colors are red, yellow and blue while secondary colors are Green, orange and purple. Yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green and yellow-green are tertiary colors. These colors are found by mixing primary and secondary colors. Artists and scientists have developed and continue to develop thousands of combination since the three colors were first detected.

Water colors are considered to be the best airbrush paints, the most More…

You should have a pretty good idea of what you would like to have done. It helps greatly if you have pictures or even sketches of your own for them to work with. It doesn’t have to be perfect but keep in mind that if detail is missing from the picture and you don’t know what should go there, the artistic license will be used to fill it in. That means you’ll get their judgment and experience to solve the problem.

Generally, you will need to disassemble the parts to be painted from the bike or vehicle. Larger vehicles such as cars and trucks will need to have special arrangements made. Once you have communicated and have decided on a design for your project a price estimate will be given for the complete job.

However, many things can affect the estimate: proofs, prep work, body work (dent removal etc.), scratch repairs, sticker removal (If there is a sticker/decal that is under the clear coat it most likely will require the entire piece to be re-base coated.), primer/base coat (if required), Kandy colors, metal flakes, airbrush artwork (and it’s complexity) and clear coats.

An artists usually has a working relationship with an established auto body shop that will perform the required coatings. Generally the art project will not be guaranteed if you do not follow through and allow the artist to have the finishing coats performed. He does not want to risk his time and your money airbrushing on a questionable repair and/or paint job.

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