Spent a couple of hours yesterday painting this bodyshell for my nitro car, and really impressed with the results considering I was going to chuck it in the bin before I had even started!

It started off looking really nice, until I got the paint out to spray it. I managed to spill chrome paint all over the inside which ruined it straight off - but luckily I managed to wipe most of it off before it dried - phew! Once off, I then started to spray the chrome only to realise the nozzle on my airbrush was fubared and "splodging" paint everywhere causing it to run. But, my persistance paid off and I managed to get these results:

Its not easy to see on the photos but the flames are a blue pearlescent blending to a purple pearlescent. Im quite pleased considering it was one that went miserably wrong

I personally would've liked to have seen more of the blue colour that's on the bonnet, but nonetheless very good

Looks good mate, now go wreck it.

Looks good, do you fancy doing my one . I have a blank Dodge Stratus (is that the same as yours?) to have a go at when I get my hands on some paint.....that will turn out a Mess I'd say .

Any tips ? I've never done one before.

How did you get the curves? Mask or have a very steady hand

Looks good mate, now go wreck it.

Indeed, off to Halifax for a Serpent day to:

1) spend lots of money

2) wreck bodyshell

3) have a laugh

Looks good, do you fancy doing my one . I have a blank Dodge Stratus (is that the same as yours?) to have a go at when I get my hands on some paint.....that will turn out a Mess I'd say .

Any tips ? I've never done one before.

How did you get the curves? Mask or have a very steady hand

If your stuck for ideas on what design to do then use this as its really handy:

Bodyshell template

Once you have decided on your design, simply draw it on the OUTSIDE of the bodyshell making sure of course that there is overspray film on the shell. If there isnt overspray film thats ok, just use a permanant marker to draw your design on the OUTSIDE of the shell, and when you need to remove the outline just use some nitro fuel.

When you have drawn all over the outside of the shell (as you can see on one of the photos I attached) you can then turn the shell over and put masking tape (not cheapo pound shop stuff :P ) on the inside covering the area where you want your design.

Now get a lamp, and use it to allow you to see the design you drawn on the outside from the inside through the masking tape. This allows you to trace the line with a hobby knife very lightly, making sure to only cut the tape and not the shell. Once you have cut the tape, peel off the areas which you dont want masking.

Im sure from this point you can guess the rest:thumbup:

Otherwise you can use masks, there are some available at model shops but they are overpriced and not of great quality. I get mine from Sakapu as I race with the guy all over so its very handy I still use the above method though to get certain effects.

Just done another one today after work (naff pic I know ) & 2 more to go for my electric TC's :

look's good m8. hopefully c gaff's wee yin racing in a cuple of hrs.

If your stuck for ideas on what design to do then use this as its really handy:

Bodyshell template

Cheers for the tips and template. I got some Purple, Orange, White & Black Paint. I'd love to get my hands on Illuminous colours but its hard here. Hopefully it ain't too much of a mess

Looks good mate, now go wreck it.

I wimped out mate Didnt dare run it yet, so Ill save it for the Nationals

Ran my other shell instead and turned out to be a good choice when a marshall decided to put a car infront of the race leader (me) whilst I was going full speed :eek: I came off alright barely loosing time, but the poor guys car I hit launched about 5 foot in the air and lost a box full of parts

Really good day though, and highly informative thanks to serpent drivers sharing tips and set ups etc with handy workshops which took drivers step by step through building a 720 for optimal set up.

I was very lucky at one point though, as I lost the screw mid practice that holds the servo horn down for the throttle - which meant the throttle could have jammed on full whack at any moment :eek:

Anywho, enough of my talking, heres some piccies and Ill try to sus out how and where to put div x videos for you all to view

The pits

Weeeeeee!!!!

Close racing

Dirty horrible tire wear!

'Av it

Glad I didnt run the new shell:D

Good stuff Mike! Where is your track? I need to find one somewhere near where I live.

Good stuff Mike! Where is your track? I need to find one somewhere near where I live.

My local one is just down the road from me but its pretty crap, so the nearest to me is about 1hr away which is Halifax (the one in the pics) but there are quite a few tracks around the UK, just not many nitro on road in the North East :(

Go to British Radio Car Association - Clubs for a list of clubs

Also, check out the National dates to see if there is a national meeting near you, its worth popping down for info and makes for a good day out as the National level of driving is top class. 1/10th IC National dates and locations

Also, 24th / 25th March there is a Kyosho pre season test day which is open to all makes of car at Tibshelf, which is a very fast track (IIRC lap times in the region of 13 seconds) with a

Cheers Mike, I've had a quick gander on there but nothing for IC's that I can see in the immediate area. :(

Closest looks to be about 50 miles away, but I'll scour that page a bit more. Cheers for the linky.

I'm still re-learning my car now. I removed the front driveshafts so that it's rear wheel drive now. It's just a little bit tail happy.

Shell this started with looks good.