One of the most satisfying aspects of the radio control car hobby is the ability to customize your vehicle to your individual taste. Adding a different style body with a unique paint scheme is surely the most dramatic cosmetic change a car owner can make to his RC car or truck. Lots of owners have converted their RC cars and trucks to resemble their ‘real’ daily driver, race car, pulling truck, classic car, or even their favorite Nascar.
One of the most satisfying aspects of the radio control car hobby is the ability to customize your vehicle to your individual taste. Adding a different style body with a unique paint scheme is surely the most dramatic cosmetic change a car owner can make to his RC car or truck. Lots of owners have converted their RC cars and trucks to resemble their ‘real’ daily driver, race car, pulling truck, classic car, or even their favorite Nascar.
A body change can be accomplished both cheaply and easily with the readily availability of replacement bodies which can be found either at your local hobby shop or online. The most popular bodies are molded in clear lexan and are easily painted the colors of your choice from the inside of the body. This allows the lexan itself to act as a protective clear coat, thus guarding your fancy paint from scuffs, scratches, and chips caused by the inevitable mishaps. You can acquire custom decals to add cool graphics or even make your car look just like Dale Earnhart Jr’s #8 or Tony Stewart’s #20! Your imagination is the only limit.
Any hobby shop or craft store will offer for sale a selection of aerosol paints for you to chose from. I have also found that the ‘base coat’ paints left over from our auto body business work very well. Using these automotive paints gives us the ability to mix any wild color imaginable or to perfectly match an existing real vehicle. However, these paints require you to have access to spray equipment such as an airbrush or a small ‘touch up’ spray gun and an air compressor. Note: Always wear an approved respirator and only spray paint in a well ventilated area away from ignition sources. Paint vapors are highly flammable and toxic!
Most better quality replacement bodies come packaged with paint masks for the windows, but you will want to have some masking tape on hand for striping or tutone jobs. The new body will need to be trimmed, so you will need lexan scissors or an exacto knife. A drill is required to make mounting holes and a hole saw is very useful for making your cooling holes for nitro powered RC cars. A piece of fine sandpaper should be used to smooth all freshly cut edges. Yes, lexan can be sharp. Please be careful using these potentially dangerous tools! Get instruction on their proper and safe use if you are inexperienced. Bleeding on your RC car is not a cool way to customize it!
A little creativity and some effort will reward you with a truly unique RC car or truck that will awe your friends and provide you with a super hobby experience. Enjoy!