|
Author |
Message |
Stacy Groves
Administrator
Posts: 786
Registered: Jun 2005 |
 Posted April 3rd, 2007 10:16 PM IP   
Painting and Mounting HO Lexan Bodies By Gregg Williams - Right Stuff Racing
http://www.homestead.com/ahora/LAXEN.html
Part 1
Nothing fancy, just a table, box and newspaper.
Badger 200 that I’ve had for many years. Been rebuilt by Badger twice.
Campbell/Hausfield compressor with simple regulator.
My workbench. Note that on the left side of the purple cloth are 3 X-Acto knifes, a machinist ruler and 2 scissors. I rotate the knife blades to always have a fresh one for precise cutting. On the right side are the green pad and a piece of glass used for cutting masking tape. Can anyone identify the black block in the center with the chassis and body on it?
Right away I wash the body in mild dish soap and warm water. Make sure it is completely dry before painting.
Put body over chassis. In this case the popular BSRT G-Jet RTR, Scale Auto’s Vintage Trans Am Mustang Boss 302 #847 and Scale Auto’s test track section HT396. This gives you an idea of how much to trim. This is a body I will be painting for David Hast for our G-Jet race. Note how high it is! It will be done in solid blue with Mustang Club decals ala the 1967 Shelby Trans Am Mustangs.
Trim sides carefully and keep putting body over the chassis to note position. I use Revlon’s curve scissors available at drug stores. The key is the front and rear parts. A little short on the sides is okay but short front or rear makes it more difficult to level. Insure body does not touch anything other than the posts. A body that touches the chassis can affect handling. I prefer bodies by Madd, Thunderbolt, Scale Auto or Rothwell. Their bodies are done so well that in some cases the lines can be used to check that the body is level and exactly alike on both sides! I dislike backpours as they are usually poor quality and low sides that curve out too much.
Once the body is at a position I use pins to punch mounting holes. I mark the center of each wheel on sides with a detail pen for wheel/tire masks. With this body it’s no big deal with such cool fender flares. Perfect positioning with the pins is nice but if it’s off no big deal as we can adjust later.
(Edited by Stacy Groves)
|
|
  |
|
Stacy Groves
Administrator
Posts: 786
Registered: Jun 2005 |
Posted April 3rd, 2007 10:30 PM IP
Part 2
Mounting prepainted bodies is more difficult. You can use BSRT very trick body mounting block HT398 if using the G3 chassis. Position the body on the block and punch through the pre-positioned holes on the sides.
Or you can use a clear test track section. You can hold a pen light from above or below to see where the body posts are at.
A little trick I do here is hold the body from above and with the body in the proper position gently press on the sides. The body posts will make small indentations in the body indicating where to punch through.
Back to painting now. With my #2 knife with a sharp blade carefully trim the inside flare of holes to insure that parachute tape that protects the holes goes on the inside completely flat once painted.
Put precut wheel circles on body or you can cut you own as I do. Using sharpen Wilton cake decorating tips, green pad and masking tape you can do different sizes. The #14 tip for wheels, #2 headlights and #2 enlarged for number circles and any other circles like fuel inlets, etc.
I use clear scotch tape to cover my windows. My #1 (sharpest) knife with a brand new blade to carefully trim the tape around the windows.
Using ¾” tape on my piece of glass and machinist ruler I measure the various parts of the body such as the grille, bumpers, rear section to get a general idea of the size of the mask. I use a mechanical pencil to outline the dimensions. Then cut the masking tape with my #3 (dullest) knife.
Here is the body masked and ready for painting. I have Microsport #502 waterslide decals available from Scale Auto which are an exact match of those used on the Gurney Mustang. The XXX Main is a glue/sealer I use to hold the decals inside. I have heard of some using Elmer’s Glue.
Using Parma’s Faskolor FasPearl Blue I put light coats on letting them dry in between. I don’t use heat to speed up the drying process as some of the HO lexan bodies have extremely thin sides and can easily warp. My focus is even coats and insuring I get into the tight areas like the tops and corners of spoilers. I use to thin with water but after reading’s OWH’s excellent tech article by Craig Rieland and Paul Klassen on Painting 101 I will be trying 409. I try to start with dark colors first. With this body the paint sequence is Faspearl Blue for body, Faspearl Silver for grills and finally white for bumpers and backing up silver. I vary air pressure depending on how I want the paint to disperse. Basically from 35 to 45 psi.
Here is the painted body with the Microsport’s #511 Vintage Trans Am peel and stick decals applied and detailed with a Pilot Ultra Fine SCA-UF permanent pen. Tailights are hand painted red with brush.
|
|
|
|
Stacy Groves
Administrator
Posts: 786
Registered: Jun 2005 |
Posted April 3rd, 2007 10:41 PM IP
Part 3
When the body is ready to mount I cut the wheel wells with the Revlon scissors. There is some discussion of cutting the front wheel wells. I believe and I may be patting my own back that I was the first pro to run enclosed front wheel wells at a “national” event. I have since abandon that since I want my front wheels and tires as far out as possible. Scale Auto’s front ends are at the legal width and I like using them at that width. Enclosed front wheel wells do support the front of the body in crashes and clearing but learning from the “guru” to avoid crashes especially those that can be driven into makes it unnecessary. Every time I drive a narrow front end car it feels, well, funny in corner entry. Personal opinion of course.
I then lay the body over the chassis with the pins in to see how it mounts. Carefully trimming the bottom of the body for track clearance. Keep checking to insure the body is level as is the bottom trim. I tend to leave a little more on the bottom for customer bodies to allow them to trim to their personal preference unless stated otherwise.
You can use the bottom edge of the chassis for a guide while trimming to get a straighter cut. Once everything is trimmed check to see if the body is level before applying parachute tape. You can “fudge” the pin holes if you need to adjust the way the body relates to the chassis posts. You can slightly enlarge the hole using either a pin or turning an X-Acto blade in the hole to the place it needs to go. Be sure to very carefully trim the inside flare to avoid scraping the paint.
Once you are sure the holes are in their proper spots apply parachute tape to the inside of the body. It is an old habit with me but I also back up the parachute tape with thick, clear tape. Some go with just clear tape, just parachute tape or whatever. This is the way I have done it for many years for both national sprint races or long enduros. In my opinion the type of pin is more important. I prefer either Scale Auto’s plastic pin HT163 or their aluminum pin HT164. Some use small pins, bent .010” or .015” steel rod in a staple shape, brass pins, etc. Some put tape on the outside of the body to secure the pins. I run without tape on the outside. If the pin begins to loosen I carefully remove the clear and parachute tape and put fresh tape to get the pins snug again.
Finished Product!
There is a debate on how much the body should “float”. I like it to float and flex a little. .007” bodies are getting harder to find but I try different bodies for more serious races to get maximum handling. Although seem think the body doesn’t factor into handling for me personally it does a great deal. Currently it is tough to find something that handles better than Scale Auto’s or Madd’s Nissan NPT90.
Here is a sample of some of my work. Hope you enjoyed the article and found it helpful.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Speed Zone! :: :: Tracks & Equipment :: Lexan Body's 101 |
|
