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woods

woods

I probably did it wrong.
Joined
May 22, 2020
Member Number
1120
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5,165
What are you guys using?

Getting this body for the TRX4:
41vUmfgRAML._AC_SX466_.jpg


Looking at Duratrax paint. eBay and Amazon have 4.5 oz cans for almost $20 with shipping. That's a lot of money for such a small amount. Will off the shelf paint can work, or does it have to be something special with the lexan?
 
mmk. I'll look at the Tamiya stuff too. Seems a bit cheaper.
 
I've never used anything but Pactra paint on RC bodies so I can't comment on others, but Pactra is good stuff. $40 to paint an RC body isn't horrible in today's money.
 
SLOWPOKE693 said:
I've never used anything but Pactra paint on RC bodies so I can't comment on others, but Pactra is good stuff. $40 to paint an RC body isn't horrible in today's money.
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I think that's what I need to adjust to. It used to be $20 for the lexan body and $10 at most for a can of paint. I put an Injora XJ body on my TRX4. Looked great, but its so freaking smashed now. Its heavy too. Body doesn't even stay together anymore. Wasn't cheap either.
 
woods said:
I think that's what I need to adjust to. It used to be $20 for the lexan body and $10 at most for a can of paint. I put an Injora XJ body on my TRX4. Looked great, but its so freaking smashed now. Its heavy too. Body doesn't even stay together anymore. Wasn't cheap either.
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I remember those days but unfortunately they are long gone. LHS in my home state used to stock hundreds of ProLine bodies and every color/brand paint you could imagine and for less that $75 you could walk away with everything needed to rebody an RC car.

Last RC car I bought was a RTR Axial Bomber about 5yrs ago. I didn't have any batteries or a charger at the time so I bought those together with it. Think I spent close to $750 and broke the steering servo that same evening crawling the rocks in the gardens at the hotel I was staying at in El Paso. Went back to the hobby store the next day and bought a $100 steering servo to "permanently" fix the problem. Think I'm on #2 at this point and have thrown $$$$ into it in hop up parts over the years. Now it sits on the shelf looking cool with a broken 2 speed trans, a broken shift servo, fried ESC/motor, 2 dead batteries and a useless charger because my dog chewed the power cord off right at the box. And now I find myself looking at Losi RTR King Sling mega trucks thinking I need one of those.......

What the fuck is wrong with me? :laughing:
 
I'll second the pactra. Cant remember why but we didn't like the tamiya stuff.

That body is pretty sweet Woods. Post the results.
 
I ordered Tamiya paint.

Silver and Copper I think. Wife is good at this crafty stuff. She said she'll be able to knock something out.
 
I've always had good luck with Tamiya paint. The colors can be different from the caps but find pics of finished examples to see how they really look.

I had found a good RC Lexan body painting walkthrough that I'll try to find the link again. Basically, wash the body really well with Dawn, dry, maybe a quick wipe with isopropyl alcohol (gotta confirm this), then lots of light coats. Then back the main color with a darker color to darken the inside of the body.
 
Yotota said:
I've always had good luck with Tamiya paint. The colors can be different from the caps but find pics of finished examples to see how they really look.

I had found a good RC Lexan body painting walkthrough that I'll try to find the link again. Basically, wash the body really well with Dawn, dry, maybe a quick wipe with isopropyl alcohol (gotta confirm this), then lots of light coats. Then back the main color with a darker color to darken the inside of the body.
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I'm no good at the looks side of things. I'd just spray bomb it with flat black and call it day. :laughing:


This is totally my wife's department. She'll do a good job with it.
 
Yotota said:
I've always had good luck with Tamiya paint. The colors can be different from the caps but find pics of finished examples to see how they really look.

I had found a good RC Lexan body painting walkthrough that I'll try to find the link again. Basically, wash the body really well with Dawn, dry, maybe a quick wipe with isopropyl alcohol (gotta confirm this), then lots of light coats. Then back the main color with a darker color to darken the inside of the body.
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I found this link that I used before:

www.rccaraction.com

How To: Basic Lexan Body Painting - RC Car Action

RC Cars & Trucks | News | Traxxas Horizon Hobby Tamiya and more | Readers Ride PIT TIPS Nitro RCX Event Coverage | How To: Basic Lexan Body Painting
www.rccaraction.com www.rccaraction.com

I also attached a couple guides that have some good masking/painting info in them.

Rubbing alcohol seems to be okay from a Google search to confirm.

Edit: apparently I can't attach PDFs? I'll PM them to you.
 
Spaztix is all I use. Good stuff that sticks like crazy. Little spendy compared to some but it's great paint.
 
Not sure with the Tamiya silver and copper, but you may end up wanting a solid color backing coat or they may end up looking translucent.

I'd also recommend liquid masking, much more forgiving than masking tape when it comes to paint sneaking under.
 
Disclaimer: Both lexan bodies I painted have chipped... even degreasing, dawn wash, heating the paint under hot tap water.. etc

BUT only in the light color areas, the black has always held strong. Maybe I kept black to thin coats because I could see it well. who knows? Could be temp/humidity too.

Supposedly roughing up the surface being painted helps but I haven't tried it. Eyeing a new lid to replace the 69 chevy body on my MT/Mega truck

My hardbodies have done great with tamiya paint.

Report back with what works for those of us with paint dysfunction.
 
You will probably have to back up the metallic colors with white to get the true color and it not be translucent like someone else mentioned. Any dark color sprayed to darken the inside before white will darken the metallic colors considerably vs the cap color. You may love it, or you may hate it...
 
woods said:
I'm no good at the looks side of things. I'd just spray bomb it with flat black and call it day. :laughing:


This is totally my wife's department. She'll do a good job with it.
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Back in the day before bodies that come with window masks existed I used to spray bomb my race buggy and truck bodies a single color and then color the windows in with a black Sharpie marker from the outside. A few passes in different directions allowing it to dry between passes and BOOM..... instant ghetto ass tinted windows. :lmao:
 
Bradyna said:
Reflecting back on your inquiry from two years ago, choosing the right paint for your TRX4 body remains an important decision. While Duratrax paint is a popular choice, considering alternative options could save you some money without compromising quality.
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You joined just to say this? Interesting.
 
Austin said:
You plan on contributing more or you just spamming us with your links?
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What else would you like? These aren’t my videos. Just ones I found explaining the process to guys who might want to paint their RC car bodies.
 
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