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PAINTING and MAINTENANCE

Painting the Shells:

  • Wash the bodies in warm water with dishwashing liquid. This removes the vegetable oil which is used as a release agent during the moulding. After washing rinse under normal cold water and allow to dry.

  • For best adhesion of the paint, rub back the surfaces to be painted with a very light wet and dry sandpaper (600 grit) is best. Do not rub back the clear windows.

  • The best result can be obtained by spraying or hand painting with polycarbonate or acrylic based paints. Both of these are water soluble and flexible and give great results. Turps based enamel can also be used, but it is more brittle. Do not use lacquer based paints or Pactra polycarbonate paints as these are lacquer based (They make the plastic very brittle).

  • A coat of thin PVA glue over the inside painted surfaces helps to keep everything in place during the rough and tumble of racing.

    • Maintenance:

  • PETG is a very tough plastic and will resist most average knocks. It will however, tear if it put into a shear situation (the same as polycarbonate-Lexan). If this happens, tape the tear in place from the outside, with masking tape and repaint if necessary around the tear. Then run a bead of PVA glue along the tear with a toothpick. Allow to dry for 24 hours and this will hold under most situations.

  • If you sand some of the clear areas of the shell, these can be repaired by coating them with clear gloss acrylic paint. This fills up the scratches and smooths them over so as they are not visible.


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