Www.rcdriver.com



[Pro-Line web article]Featured pic should be used twicePro-Line Airbrush Paint for Polycarbonate bodiesFor nearly 40 years, Pro-Line has been deeply immersed in the RC industry producing high-quality products that we the hobbyist have come to love and count on. All the way back in 1982, Pro-Line started out making off-road tires and wheels to meet the needs of the quickly growing off-road market and soon became the go-to aftermarket company for RC accessories. A few years later in 1995, Pro-Line teamed up with PROTOform Race Bodies to expand its presence in the on-road market as well as grow the company’s range of bodies. Pro-Line continued to reinvest in itself and is well known for its excellence in product development. They offer many products beyond bodies, wheels and tires like RC vehicles, performance chassis and body components, scale accessories, pit gear, etc. One item that Pro-Line has not touched on, until now is RC body paint. It makes perfect sense that a company that produces so many types of bodies for all different scales of vehicles to now offer their own paint for those bodies. The Pro-Line RC Body Paint is a high-performance water-based airbrush paint that is specially formulated for polycarbonate bodies and is ready to spray right out of the bottle for super easy use. Other brands of airbrush paint can be difficult to achieve the proper mixture and the right blend to flow correctly. That is not the case with the RC Body Paint because Pro-Line did that step for you. It was developed by RC body painters for painters so you can rest assured that this paint is not only easy to use, but also ultra-flexible and extremely durable to handle what our RC bodies face when racing or bashing. The paint allows the body to deform and come back to shape while not ruining the painted surface. Like the rest of Pro-Line’s awesome products, the paint is made in the USA. Currently, Pro-Line has released 34 different colors with plans to release more. They are sold separately in 2 fl. oz. bottles and in convenient 6-pack sets. At this time there are four 6-pack sets available with more coming.(BULLETS)Primary Color Set (#6323-00) – Paint Reducer, White, Black, Red, Yellow, and BlueSecondary Color Set (#6323-01) – Orange, Green, Aluminum, Metallic Charcoal and Pearl BlueMetallic/Pearl Color Set (#6323-02) – Metallic Copper, Metallic Gold, Metallic Pewter, Pearl Orange, Pearl Lime Green and Pearl WhiteFluorescent Color Set (#6323-03) – Fluorescent Red, Fluorescent Orange, Fluorescent Yellow, Fluorescent Green, Fluorescent Blue and Fluorescent FuchsiaPro-Line’s goal was to ensure that the RC Body Paint would allow you to achieve professional results and have the paint ready to spray so that you could use it right out of the bottle. Each color comes pre-thinned which makes it fast and easy to simply grab the color you want and spray without the hassle of mixing. Just shake the paint for approximately 30 seconds to achieve the optimum color mixture blend and then pour into your airbrush. The RC Body Paint is formulated to be used with an airbrush set up with a 0.5mm tip @ 30psi. You also have the option to use smaller airbrush tips and for other specific applications by reducing the paint using the Pro-Line RC Body Paint Reducer (#6324-00). And for cleanup, the Paint Reducer works great to clean your airbrush when switching between colors and as a final rinse after cleaning the airbrush with water. Airbrush optionsIn case you don’t already own an airbrush setup, here are a couple options to consider that will get you up and running with a quality airbrush system. It can be a bit overwhelming as you look into the different airbrush options whether it be just an airbrush itself, an air compressor or a complete airbrush system due to the numerous options that are out there. The Master Airbrush option is a gravity feed kit that includes an airbrush with three nozzle sets and a powerful compressor with air storage tank. The included airbrush is a precision dual-action gravity feed airbrush. stepsRC Body Paint rack (#9907-06)Keep your Pro-Line RC Body Paint nicely organized and displayed with this Pro-Line RC Body Paint rack (#9907-06). It has a footprint of only 11.5”x9.0” yet it is able to hold 72 bottles of paint. There are 12 rows and each row can hold 6 bottles of the RC Body Paint. Now if you are a big time painter or own a hobby shop and want to store or display more paint, the rack is easily expandable thanks to its versatile design where a second rack can be stacked on top via interlocking tabs. This keeps the foot print the same to take up less bench/counter space. Along with the rack, Pro-Line includes a header card and paint color decals. Currently four 6-pack of color setsPrimary Color Set - #6323-00Paint ReducerWhiteBlackRedYellowBlueSecondary Color Set - #6323-01OrangeGreenAluminumMetallic CharcoalPearl BlueMetallic/Pearl Color Set - #6323-02Metallic CopperMetallic GoldMetallic PewterPearl OrangePearl Lime GreenPearl WhiteFluorescent Color Set - #6323-03Fluorescent RedFluorescent OrangeFluorescent YellowFluorescent GreenFluorescent BlueFluorescent FuchsiaPaint Reducer #6324-00Matte Clear #6324-02Once you are setup with the Pro-Line RC Body Paint and an airbrush system it is time to paint your RC car body. To ensure that you end up with a high-quality paint job that will also last, there are a few key steps to follow and we figured we would go over them in this article. Step 1 – Clean the bodyWash the body in the sink with some dish soap and scrub the inside of it with a paper towel. Be sure to clean the entire inside surface including the tight areas and corners. After you rinse the soap off the boy, it should make a squeaking sound when you rub your finger over it. Cleaning the body is critical so that you remove any residual mold release agent from when the body was made and to clean off any other contaminants like the oils from your fingers. Don’t skip this step even if the body looks clean or else the paint won’t properly adhere and will easily flake off. Step 2 – Dry the bodyDry the body completely to get all of the moisture removed. You can carefully use a hairdryer for this step. Just don’t get the body too hot to where it can deform. Using a rag or paper towel can introduce lint and other fibers to the surface which will show through the paint job. Step 3 – Apply window maskMost body manufactures, including Pro-Line, include pre-cut window masks for their bodies. Using the masks will give you clear windows once the paint job is complete and will give your body a more realistic look. Be sure to seal the edges of the window mask to prevent paint from bleeding underneath and to give you a crisp solid line when it is removed. Your finger nail is a great ‘tool’ to seal the edge of the mask onto the body. Step 4 – Draw the paint schemeUsing a marker, you can draw the masking line onto the protective overspray film that is on the outside of the body. This will give you a guide to lay the masking tape on the inside of the body and then trim it to the desired pattern.Step 5 – Mask inside of the body on marked areasUsing the lines you drew on the outside of the body as a guide, mask the inside of the body. Then gently cut the outlines with a hobby knife and remove the excess tape. Step 6 – Mask remaining areas as neededOnce you have the paint scheme masked and depending on your design, apply mask to the remaining areas of the body that need to be covered. Step 7 - Paint most dominant color of paint scheme.Paint most dominant color of paint scheme first. In other words, the color that will cover the majority of the body. The first coat should be sprayed on in a light even coat and allowed to dry. Then follow up that first coat with medium even coats. The first coat will act like a ‘seal’ around the masking tape to keep any bleed through from happening. Step 8 – Remove mask for next dominant color Remove the mask once the first color is dry and spray the next dominant color. Use space heater, fan or hairdryer sparingly to accelerate the drying process. Follow the paint process as mentioned in Step 7 for each remaining color in your paint scheme. Painting tips>> Back white with aluminum to lock in brightness.>> For other colors, back them with white to prevent tinting.>> If you want colors to be darker, back with black. Then colors like silver will have a more metal appearance. Step 9 – Back entire body with blackCover the entire paint scheme with black to give the interior a ‘clean’ look. This step will also keep the body from being semitransparent where light can show through the body. Step 10 – Remove window mask and outer protective filmThis is our favorite step when painting the body…removing the window mask and overspray film. Although the overspray film is clear, it gives the body a dull look. Once it is removed, the dull look of the colors become super vibrant and glossy and your new custom paint. Step 13 – Apply decals and mount the bodyApply the detail decals onto the body and any other decals that you want to use to dress up the body. Then it is time to mount the body and take it for a spin. Personalize Your Crawler With Pro-LineNot all that long ago there was a time when there weren’t any rock crawling kits or RTRs (ready-to-runs) available to purchase. Hobbyist would take an RC vehicle, highly modify it by trying different parts and setups so that it could conquer seemingly impossible obstacles. The same can be said for full size rock crawlers where people would take their stock 4x4 trucks and customize them for crawling and/or trail running. Part of the fun was the trial an error process that came with building these one-off specialized trucks. The challenge made it interesting and worth the time and effort. Modifying, testing, failing and then trying something else was how people would figure out how to make their truck able to conqueror the terrain they run on. The very same concept transfers to the RC world. A big part of the fun is figuring out how to make your own truck tackle the obstacles that you typically face. An added benefit in RC is we are able to make changes to the appearance of our rigs to cause it look more the part where the change is just about looks and not for a performance improvement. As many people do, I like to not only have my truck perform well, but also look the part. Today we are very fortunate that we have so many rock crawlers available to us in kit and RTR form. This means the hard work is done for us and we are left with customizing our rigs to personalize them to our tastes. A go-to location for quality aftermarket parts and accessories is Pro-Line. Pro-Line has loads of products available for the rock crawling segment that can make your stock truck look and even perform better. When you are customizing your rock crawler, be sure that the parts you are getting will work with your specific crawler. Here we are selecting items to outfit one of our stock Axial SCX10 crawlers and you can use this as a guide for your truck if you don’t own a SCX10. First off, we are changing out the stock Axial body in favor of Pro-Line’s hot retro 1985 Toyota HiLux SR5 body (#3466-00). Now you don’t have to do a body swap to customize your crawler because there are plenty of accessories offered by Pro-Line and other aftermarket manufacturers that will allow you to personalize your truck and make it your own. The main reason why we selected the Toyota HiLux SR5 is that it comes in two separate pieces…the cab and the bed. Our plan is to use just the cab of the HiLux and mate it to the Pro-Line Back-Half Cage (#6322-00). Pro-Line did an awesome job in capturing the fine scale details of the full-size 1985 Toyota HiLux which is officially licensed by Toyota. It is constructed of crystal clear genuine GE Lexan, has paint-then-peel overspray film on the outside of the body, includes a detailed decal sheet which will all help ensure your truck looks incredible once you lay down your very own paint scheme. Although our plan is to install the Pro-Line Back-Half Cage, hold onto the bed that comes with the HiLux so that you can later install it in place of the cage when you want a different look. The Pro-Line Back-Half Cage (#6322-00) is one of the new additions to Pro-Line’s accessory line-up and will definitely make a crawler stand out from others. It is made of extremely durable Black Nylon and is designed to resemble a custom welded cage. The Back-Half Cage comes as a kit where you assemble it using the included metric hardware. You then install it to the cab of the body, which in this case is the Toyota Hilux. The molded in gas tank detail also acts as the spot for the rear body post holes. A couple very cool features of the Back-Half Cage is the spot designated for mounting a spare tire and wheel and a rack for attaching scale accessories. To further make a personalized crawler more realistic, a Pro-Line PL-T Interior (#3497-00) can be installed into the cab of the Toyota HiLux body. It comes molded in clear Lexan and is meant as a direct fit to the Pro-Line 1991 Toyota 4Runner Body (#3481-00). In order to make it fit in the Toyota HiLux body, you would just have to trim behind the front seats and it will slide right into place. The interior includes many carefully sculpted details common to trucks from the 80’s. Scale dash, shifter console and door handles decals come with the interior and all that is left for you to add is a steering wheel of your choosing. So far the aforementioned mods will make a truck look much different, but if you want to go a bit crazy and outfit the truck to look like it is headed for a serous crawling expedition…check out these other crawler option parts from Pro-Line. The roof of the Toyo is a bit bare and can be decked out with a Pro-Line Overland Scale Roof Rack (#6278-00). It perfectly integrates with the Pro-line 4” Super-Bright LED Light Bar Kit (#6276-01) as well as the Pro Line 2” Super-Bright LED Light Bar Kit (#6276-00) in which they not only look realistic, but they also offer plenty of lighting for those dusk trail runs. The 4” Light Bar fits nicely in the front opening of the Roof Rack and an included mount for the 2” Light Bar allows you to attach it to the rear of the rack. Like the Back-Half Cage, the Overland Scale Roof Rack is constructed of durable Black Nylon and comes with the necessary plastic mounts and hardware. The mounts have a hemispherical shape that will allow the Overland Roof Rack to be mount on body and cage surfaces that are not completely flat. You will notice that Pro-Line designed the Overland with many cutouts covering the bottom for scale straps and ties to attach to. This allows you to add various other scale accessories to the rack and have a way to keep them held in place. Turning our attention to the chassis of our Axial SCX10, the look of the front end can be altered with the Pro-Line Ridge-Line High-Clearance Crawler Front Bumper (#6341-00). Pro-Line designed this bumper to not only work with the SCX10/II but also the Traxxas TRX-4 and Vaterra Ascender. The goal of this bumper was to offer remarkable scale appearance while also giving the highest front bumper clearance. Pro-Line made this bumper to be very versatile where you can either run with the molded winch fairlead or swap it out and install the Pro Line 2” Super-Bright LED Light Bar Kit (#6276-00) for an integrated bumper light. Furthermore, the bumper comes with a push bar that can be installed as well as D-Ring shackles that nicely finish off the scale look of this bumper. Mounting hardware is included with the bumper. Next are two option parts that will aid in the rock crawling performance of a truck and its overall appearance…wheels and tires. For this build we chose the Pro-Line FaultLine 1.9” Bead-Loc 10 Spoke Wheels (#2748-15) wrapped with a full set of Pro-Line Class 1 Hyrax 1.9” Predator Rock Terrain Truck Tires (#10142-03). The design FaultLine Bead-Locs exude scale realism with its alternating star pattern and molded lug nuts. Each wheel comes with two metal rings to hold the tire securely to the wheel. The outside ring has a decorative scallop design while the inside ring is smooth to give maximum clearance. The main part of the Bead-Loc is constructed of durable Nylon and has a satin black finish. As for the tires we selected, the Class 1 Hyrax rock crawling tire is purpose built for maximum grip on the toughest off-road terrain. Pro-Line molded the Class 1 Hyrax in what can be said to be the softest rock crawling rubber ever made…the all new Predator Compound. It excels on wet or ultra-low traction surfaces so that grip won’t be an issue on your crawler. With close inspection of the Class 1 Hyrax, you will see that it has an aggressive and open tread pattern with each tread block containing multiple sipes for impressive tread flex. On the sidewall is a highly detailed connected tread that is ideal for side-hilling performance and has more forward gripping edges. The last item we are suggesting for this build has a dual purpose. The Pro-Line Scale Recovery Tow Strap (#6314-00) is for the rock crawling enthusiast which is perfect for getting your scale rig out of tough spots. Whether it be a rollover or if your truck is stuck. The Tow Strap is made of a Kinetic strap material that is fitted with a metal D-Ring for quick attachments to larger tie-off points. On either end are metal hooks and abrasion wraps that have been sewn around the hooks and D-Ring for scale appearance and improved durability. The Pro-Line logo is imprinted onto the strap as well as the scale duffel bag that comes with the Tow Strap. It not only functions as a real tow strap but can also add to the look of your scale crawler by mounting it onto your rig. Then it is ready if the need arises. One way to make your crawler a better performer is to make adjustments to the suspension setup and weight distribution. Once you exhaust those adjustments you can look at swapping out parts for other types. The trial and error process is actually part of the fun Full size rock crawling came to be when people would modify their 4x4 trucks to handle rock crawling. Modifying testing failing and trying something new was how people would figure out how to make their specific truck able to conqueror the terrain they run on. The very same concept transfers right to the RC world. A big part of the fun is figuring out how to make your own truck tackle the obstacles that you typically face. Not all modifications will work for all trucks and that challenge makes rock crawling a lot of fun. In RC we also benefit from being able to make changes to the appearance of our rigs to make it look more the part where the change is just about looks and not a clear performance improvement. I like to not only have my truck perform well but also look the part. One way to make your crawler a better performer is to make adjustments to the suspension setup, weight distribution. Once you exhaust those adjustments you can look at swapping out parts for other types. It was only about a year ago that rock crawling was the exclusive domain of custom trucks. No kits, no RTRs…if you wanted to crawl, you had to spend a long time at the bench before you got to spend a minute on the rocks.What better way to make use of a big 4WD truck than to customize it to conquer seemingly impossible obstacles? In the full-scale world, 4X4s are modified for such tasks. These customized trucks, called rock crawlers can scale almost anything from large boulders and logs to incredibly steep inclines. I took a Tamiya TXT-1 monster truck and built it into a rock crawler to match the awesome capabilities of its full-scale equivalents. I also went ahead and added a bunch of stuff to trick it out too, but a few critical mods are all you really need to make your truck a rock crawler. I’ll show you how. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download