After working with the Dingo and realizing that regular spray paint does not hold up well on RC cars, it cracks and chips once it's cured. I wanted to try something different, but I was also on a limited budget. I had some old Liquitex acrylic artist colors that I wasn't using and I knew that the acrylic paint was flexible when dried. However, I did not know if it would hold up on the lexan, nor how to apply the paint. After doing some research, I found that acrylic paint is the standard for RC cars with lexan bodies. It's usually sold as a spray paint. As stated on another website; "Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylics remain flexible when dry, and thick films remain free of cracks and chips over time."
Example of the problems with standard spray paint. The gray patches are from "repairs" to chipped paint. The yellow showing in other areas is the original paint showing through chips that haven't been "repaired".
how to apply the paint???
Next... How do I go about applying the paint? I don't have an airbrush system, so instead I used paint brushes. Since I was painting by hand, I did not have to use any masking to cover the windows. Since the trim work would be flat black and the flat would be glossy if painted on the interior side of the lexan, my lines did not have to be perfect. After painting the interior of the body black, I hand painted the trim work in Testors flat black.
The final hand painted truck. Interior of the body has been brush painted with Liquitex black acrylic paint. The external trim work was brush painted with Testor's flat black model paint. No masks were used.
caution!
Acrylic paint is flexible, but it can be peeled off of a smooth surface after dried. Since I have the Cherokee body over the top of the Dingo body, I have several places that rub. To fix this, I applied duct tape on top of the paint in areas where there was a chance it would be rubbed.