Monday, July 16, 2007

Customize Your Radio Control Car With A New Aftermarket Replacement Body

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!

About the author:
Visit http://www.RadioControlRC.com for more great info on the
exciting radio control car hobby!

3 comments: