| Mounting & Painting Lexan Bodies - 1 |
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| By Greg Wiliams |
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.
