to scuff or not to scuff

[ScottfromWI]

I've got a couple bodies for my Kraton that I'm getting ready to paint, and would like some advice. Some people will lightly scuff the inside surface of the body with fine sandpaper or a kitchen scouring pad before they paint. Some people don't. For those of you who have painted bodies for their RC vehicles, what do you recommend?

 

[Ginglehopper]

I've got a couple bodies for my Kraton that I'm getting ready to paint, and would like some advice. Some people will lightly scuff the inside surface of the body with fine sandpaper or a kitchen scouring pad before they paint. Some people don't. For those of you who have painted bodies for their RC vehicles, what do you recommend?

Buy a painted body.


Just kidding, I have always wanted to paint a body, but don't have the skills, materials, or knowledge. Maybe one day.

IDK, KT always scuffs the inside of his body with a kitchen scouring pad, or scotch brite pad. They turn out nice.

 

[Edough13]

I've never scuffed up mine. As long as your using good lexan paint and clean the body good there is not going to be issues. Maybe if you want a mat finish but it would be so time consuming to lightly scuff every last single inch of the body evenly to give that effect. And then still the outer shell is "shiny" or smooth. Just make sure to wash it with some like dawn soap to get any grease residue off and wipe with a dust free cloth and blow off with air. I honestly don't see a benefit to scuffing the body.

 

[ScottfromWI]

my first try was a disaster. I used the wrong paint, and then damaged the body removing that paint. Things only got worse after I took these pictures.
I got so mad that I gave up and threw the thing out.
I did not scuff the body first, and was wondering if that's one the reasons that the paint didn't stick. Ended up being an expensive lesson.

 

[Ajag]

I've got a couple bodies for my Kraton that I'm getting ready to paint, and would like some advice. Some people will lightly scuff the inside surface of the body with fine sandpaper or a kitchen scouring pad before they paint. Some people don't. For those of you who have painted bodies for their RC vehicles, what do you recommend?

I’ve probably painted about 400-500 bodies in the past year or so and I’ve settled on this process:

As Edough mentioned before -I use super hot water and dawn soap to thoroughly clean the inside. Once dry I use isopropyl alcohol and a clean cloth to really clean the body even more.
I only handle the body with latex gloves on also
You don’t realize how much oil is on your fingers until you painting and you’ll see fingerprints where you laid your bare fingers on the

if you do these 2 things you’re paint will lay down nice and fish eye free

polycarbonate paints out of the can are less picky when it comes to a clean body
Water based airbrush paints are really dependent on a super clean surface.

Good luck

 

[RotorBalls]

my first try was a disaster. I used the wrong paint, and then damaged the body removing that paint. Things only got worse after I took these pictures.
I got so mad that I gave up and threw the thing out.
I did not scuff the body first, and was wondering if that's one the reasons that the paint didn't stick. Ended up being an expensive lesson.

That doesn't look that bad...looks intentional. I'd have rocked it anyway

 

[arrmadillo]

Ive only painted a handfull of bodies in my time and never scuffed any of them. Never had a problem with the paint.