First Time Painting Advice

[305HemiGuy]

Hey guys, so I'm going to attempt to paint my first body and I have a couple questions about the procedure. I'm going to do a Proline Ram Rebel body, the goal is for the body to be gloss black with a blue racing stripe down the middle. Question 1, do I mask off the area that will be the stripe and spray the body black first, then remove the tape covering the stripe area and shoot that blue? Or do I mask off the entire body and shoot the stripe first, then come back and go over everything with black? Question 2, what techniques do you guys use to ensure a straight & even stripe down the entire center of the body? Thanks!

 

[aggro]

Hey guys, so I'm going to attempt to paint my first body and I have a couple questions about the procedure. I'm going to do a Proline Ram Rebel body, the goal is for the body to be gloss black with a blue racing stripe down the middle. Question 1, do I mask off the area that will be the stripe and spray the body black first, then remove the tape covering the stripe area and shoot that blue? Or do I mask off the entire body and shoot the stripe first, then come back and go over everything with black? Question 2, what techniques do you guys use to ensure a straight & even stripe down the entire center of the body? Thanks!

So I haven’t done body yet, but I have painted other hobby miniatures and stuff and done pretty well. But I would mask off the racing stripe first but also use a clear coat to seal it. It’ll take some time but do the racing stripe let it fully dry, don’t rush it, seal it, let it fully dry, and make it the same size as the masking tape you want to use so you can cover it with one piece.

When you’ve done that and mask off the racing stripe when you’re painting the body color also use a piece of thicker cardboard or sheet metal to hole down on the edge of the masking tape and go extremely lightly, multiple multiple coats so you don’t get bleed through and have a crisp line.

 

[GraniteFox]

- Yes mask off the stripe. I find the frog tape works the best.
- You can measure and mark the line on the outside over the film
- Make sure you wash the inside of the body and rough it up a little. I use dish soap and a rough side of the scrubber. don't over so it but make sure you get into all the small places. If you miss this step the paint will not bond to the body due to the residue inside and it will flake off.
- light coats are best.
- Press down on the masking between coats

 

[AIan]

I agree with the comments on prepping the body
I’d say to paint the stripes first on the inside of the body I assume your aware, do your # of coats you need, then do the black as it will also act as the backer for your stripes. Unless your stripes are a very light color that black would darken too much. I buy clear plastic 8”x12” sheets to test different paint backers so I can do a test piece bef the final test.
I used these from Amazon,

there cheap
They also have a plastic coating on both sides I believe, so be sure it does and take one off to paint on the actual plastic , then when done you can flip it to see the finished results

 

[StephenSchandelmayer]

Just tape where you want the stripe and do black on the rest first. I always start with using some rubbing alcohol on the inside of the body to get oils or whatever else off and then I typically put the tape for the stripe on one section first and make sure it's as close to straight and centered as I can just by eyeballing. And then I get more pieces of tape and overlap my other piece that I got straight which helps the rest stay straight and centered. I take a lot of time doing it peeling a section off to readjust it and what not. I love the center stripes

I agree with the comments on prepping the body
I’d say to paint the stripes first on the inside of the body I assume your aware, do your # of coats you need, then do the black as it will also act as the backer for your stripes. Unless your stripes are a very light color that black would darken too much. I buy clear plastic 8”x12” sheets to test different paint backers so I can do a test piece bef the final test.
I used these from Amazon, View attachment 239298there cheap
They also have a plastic coating on both sides I believe, so be sure it does and take one off to paint on the actual plastic , then when done you can flip it to see the finished results

Oooooo I'll be using those for the future. Thank you sir

 

[AIan]

They work great, a little messy but that’s mostly my issue but worked great to experiment with doing a marbling effect test with different colors to see a result before committing it on the rigs body. And for color mixing too I also write in sharpie what the mix or colors are right on it.
I actually cut it in half too, so I had 2x as many lol I’m cheap

 

[305HemiGuy]

Thanks for the advice everyone, it's greatly appreciated! I feel a little better about heading into this now, I'll be sure to come back and post pictures once done. Btw @StephenSchandelmayer those are some sick bodies you have there brother!

 

[StephenSchandelmayer]

Thanks for the advice everyone, it's greatly appreciated! I feel a little better about heading into this now, I'll be sure to come back and post pictures once done. Btw @StephenSchandelmayer those are some sick bodies you have there brother!

Thank you sir!! Good luck with your paint I'm sure you will be happy with the results.

 

[Velodromed]

- Yes mask off the stripe. I find the frog tape works the best.
- You can measure and mark the line on the outside over the film
- Make sure you wash the inside of the body and rough it up a little. I use dish soap and a rough side of the scrubber. don't over so it but make sure you get into all the small places. If you miss this step the paint will not bond to the body due to the residue inside and it will flake off.
- light coats are best.
- Press down on the masking between coats

everything granite fox said and I’ll add 1 thing. Do the darkest color first.