What Kind of Paint Do You Use to Paint a RC?

Question: What Kind of Paint Do You Use to Paint a RC?

Tired of looking at the same old paint job? Before you pick up just any old kind of spray paint or can of paint and slap it on your RC, make sure it's the right kind.

Answer: You can apply paint with a brush, an airbrush, or use spray paint from a can -- or a combination of paints and painting techniques for an RC.

If you want to do an overall paint job on the RC body you would use enamel or acrylic paints for best results. Enamel and acrylic paints bond to hard plastic, Lexan, metal, fiberglass, and even carbon-fiber -- what some chassis are made of -- making them the choice of RC professionals.

Some RC body painters recommend only using paint developed specifically for use on polycarbonate plastic. Others have good results with any old off-the-shelf paint or other specialized paints such as automotive paint when the body is properly prepped.

Brush-applied Paint

If you're doing detail work -- pinstriping, etc. -- on a Lexan RC body I recommend using Testor's Model Masters brand and other Testor's acrylic and enamel paints (Compare Prices). You don't want to use a latex paint because they won't bond to the plastic, such as Lexan, used for most RC bodies. Lexan is a trademark for the most common type of polycarbonate plastic sheet that is used to make RC bodies that you buy at a hobby shop.

Spray Paint / Airbrush Paint

For spray painting, Tamiya Polycarbonate Spray Paints (Compare Prices) or Pactra Polycarb Spray Paints are good choices.

Parma FASKOLOR (Compare Prices) is a popular choice of RC airbrush paint. Tamiya also has a large line of Polycarbonate paints suitable for brush or spray painting (Compare Prices). Testors have several types of airbrush kits (Compare Prices) which come with bottles of their own brand of paint for models.