Painting Pro-Line Flo-Tek Lexan Short Course Bodies.

Hello everyone! I painted some bodies the other week and I wanted to share my experience! I like to use water based paint called FasKolor. I painted up some Pro-Line Flo-Tek bodies Part#3355-00. They are very nice bodies and pretty easy to paint. My painting methods may not be the best, but I am experimenting and having a great time doing it!

Here is a shot of the first body. I was experimenting with some flexible tape and some smooth flowing lines. Make sure the tape sticks without tension when you apply it. Otherwise, the tape will come up when you are taping bends and ridges.






Here are some colors I painted with. The pearl colors are really easy to paint with and only need a couple of drops of water to thin it. White some other fluorescent colors are very thick and can easily clog your air brush. I simply thin the thicker paints with 6-8 drops of water.

Here is a shot of my airbrush. The brush is just a 20 dollar tool from harbor freight with all aluminum construction. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. 

Here is a shot of the body all taped up. I used a hobby knife to the pattern in the blue portion of the tape. I like to paint the light colors first, one at a time. After each color I like to back them with white. The colors really pop and do not mix together.

Here is a shot of the body all finished. I played around with fade effects with the paint. In order to get a fade effect, do a few light coats and do not back with with white where you want the fade to occur. The fade effect really gives some character to the body.

Here is a body I painted for a friend. He wanted a replica of an old body he had. You can see that I taped up all the same patterns.

The first coat I did was Pearl white, FASPEARL. I did several light coats to get the perl to look smooth. I would apply a light coat and them blow dry the inside of the body for 4-5 min before applying the next coat. I applied 5 coats of pearl and then backed with white, FASWHITE.














The next color was the red stripe. I had pre scored the tape before I started painting, which made it easy to peel off after I added paint. For the pearl red, FASPEARL RED, I again did several light coats, blow drying in between each coat. After the red coats where added, I again backed the color with white. I had made a few mistakes when I was painting and in order to correct them, I used a cotton swab dipped in alcohol. The alcohol and swab act as an eraser and can remove overspray or paint that got under your tape.

The final and darkest color I used was FASPEARL BLACK. Again I applied several light coats and then backed with white when I was done.

Here is another body I painted, using the same technique as the previous body. I ended up applying 7-10 coats of red in order to get a very deep and vibrant color.

Here is the finished bodies together

Here is a comparison of the old body vs the new one!

Here is a shot of the fin. I got a little creative with the flexible tape again.

In order to keep the body light and avoid the paint from rubbing off, I use some Flat White Rustoleum Protective enamel. I apply 3-4 light coats of protective enamel, which makes the paint job fuel proof and extremely durable. The paint wont simply flake off. Eventually the paint will rub off if you have parts that come into contact with the body. A thick protective coating can be added, but it makes the body much heavier and thus the truck has much more body roll. Good luck with your painting! It is a lot of fun to do yourself!

Good luck at the races! Remember, you can always ask me for help, just look for the Venom powered Pro-Line vehicles and the KLA logo at the track.

                                                                  -Matthew Garcia