A customer asked me to paint a shell like this diecast car:

So, I set to it today and thought Id make a tutorial out of it, so here it goes...

Cut out the shell, following the lines already on the shell.

***TIP*** Curved scissors are perfect for the wheel arch areas - just dont lend them to anyone because you'll not get them back .

Also, if you struggle to see the lines that you need to follow, use a permanant marker on the outside of the shell to mark the lines better. This will be removed later when the protective film is removed (if you dont have film on your shell, just use some aerosol sprayed onto a cloth to rub it off).

Once cut out, mark where you want your body posts to be with the permanant marker by sitting the shell on the car and making sure the wheel arches match up with your wheels. You can either drill the holes for the posts now or later - its up to you.

Wash the shell in warm soapy water, this removes the residue left over from the manufacturing stages, then dry. While you have the warm water out, chuck the cans in there. This will warm them up for later.

Furthermore, for good paint adhesion, lightly key the surface.

Now, heres time for the artistic side of you to take hold!!!!:P With a permanant marker, draw your design on the outside of the shell. If your using a few colours make a note of the colours you will be using for that area.

Remember that the general rule of thumb is darker colours first!

Use masking tape on the inside of the shell to cover the area where you want to be masked up, avoiding overlapping of the masking tape as much as possible.

Masking for the windows is usually included, however on this shell stickers were included.

Once masked, hold the shell up to the light and you will be able to see the outline that you made on the other side. Using a craft knife, LIGHTLY cut out the excess masking. Too hard and you will make the shell weak!

Give the shell a quick wipe on the inside with a clean towel, this will get rid of any fluff that might have got in there when you were masking up. Now your ready for spraying...

Make sure the area you are spraying in is well ventilated and dry, and also not windy.

Shake the spray can for a good 2 mins. After the 2 mins, spray for 3 seconds away from the shell.

Now spray the shell using a "wax on, wax off" motion, spraying evenly across the shell, and moving the can at all times. Once the shell has been given a single coat, allow it to dry for about 5 mins (use a hair dryer to speed up drying time;) ).

Then continue with further coats in the same manner, allowing it to dry after each coat. If you have followed my tip of darkest colours first, then you only need to give a light coat (3-4 coats) of the main colour. Once the paint has dried, and sufficent coats have been applied, its then time to remove the masking...

Using a craft knife, lift an edge of the masking and peel it off. Be carefull not to chip the paint as it will not have dried 100% yet.

Once all the masking has been removed, continue onto the painting stage, in the same way as you did earlier.

Your now done painting, congratulations:D

If the outside looks a bit dissapointing, dont worry, its likely that some paint will have landed on the outside - just remove the overspray film to reveal your masterpiece! Now you can put your decals on, which Im sure you dont need a tutorial for:P

more pics

That looks brilliant! The pic on my phone didn't do it as much justice as this does;)

Nice job there

Ta, excuse the messy table, I have my monster truck and heli in bits at the moment and slowly running out of room

Nice little write up fella! Looks smart!