The Paint Zone III

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This is an 1/8th scale top that I did for a friend of mine. He told me a few colors that he wanted on it and said to do what-ever looks good (I like it). This looks like a simple paint scheme at first, but there are specific steps to make the colors work. I tried to make this page load as quickly as possible, so please be patient.
 
- Step one:
Ya gotta clean this thing. When they come from the manufacturer, they might have some residue on them or oil from your hands that will effect how the paint sticks to the Lexan. Use a little dish soap and warm water....make it squeaky clean.
 
 
- Step two:
This is a new idea I have learned recently, that is to use 600 grit sand paper and rough up the inside (except the clear windows) so the paint has a little more "tooth" to grab ahold of. Make sure to clean off the dust with hot water again.
- Step three:
On this one I painted the black windows first because I did not want to mask off the windows in the end so that the black paint would not bleed through the neon colors.
- Step four:
Next I make sure that all the other masking is in place...between colors I put the top under a large light to heat it up & sometimes that will shrink the tape so a few edges peel up.
- Step five:
Now I get out all the specific colors that I plan to use, a spill rag, airbrush, & an exacto knife to help remove masking. I have yet to hear from anyone that there is a better paint than ©Pactra for these lexan tops.
- Step six:
Just put a coat of black under the checkers and small fading lines to make the neon stand out against the blue (planning ahead).
- Step seven:
After using a rattle can of metalic blue on the large area, I carefully remove the checkers where the white will be applied.
• Step eight:
After the white on the checkers, I backed the metalic blue with a little metalic silver to make it a little more reflective. You can darken or lighten the metalics with your background color (black, silver or white) to create some nice effects.
- Step nine:
The line tape the I used holds a very crisp edge. You have to be careful of masking tape. In my experience it will get a little soggy from the paint thinner, then the paint will seap under the edges. My next top I will experiment with ©Liquid Mask.
- Step ten:
All the masking is removed except the side windows.
- Step eleven:
This looks like pink in the picture, but it is actually neon Red.
- Step twelve:
The neon colors are greatly effected by the next color, so to keep a little pure red at the back, I put a white undercoat that fades out. I also put a little white on the nose of the top to make sure it will not be solid neon yellow, but have a nice fade to the white.
- Step thirteen:
This picture has a little glare on it, but I got some smooth fades when the spray can of neon yellow went over everything. When that color was dry I gave it a final blast of White Fluorescent Cover Coat.
- Step fourteen:
I get a little anxious at this point. This particular kit came with some great window masking that held a very sharp edge. After this is removed, the only thing left to do is trim it out.

 

The finished product:
Here is a shot of the final. When it was actually put on the Inferno, Matt used neon rims and a matching neon yellow wing. You can see a few pictures on page 18.

Now only 5 more to go <sigh>. If you have any painting tips, secrets or questions...please send them in. THX

The Ronster

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