TOPIC:

I bought some "grafiti remover", sort of gel that smells like oranges. It is called "Paint remover" so I expect it removes paint. Infact it reminds me a lot of the substance we used for removing grafiti when I worked at a housing company here in my neighborhood, but this one smells much better.




I also had the opportunity to test it on one of my heads. So from this ...




... to this:



I think it does a great job. Now I only need to spray it with a primer again, and hopefully it'll be as good as new again to paint in a new motif.


I also stripped the paint from one of my two baja bug drivers, the one with the super-white helmet. I just can't make up my mind what theme I want to use, .. like women who can't decide what shoes to wear!? It's driving me crazy!



I ordered a black XF-85 "Rubber Black" from ebay, for the rubber rim around the hemlets And in the future I'd like all my helmets sprayed, not brushed, to maintain that smooth round look. Also I will be sanding the helmets more generously to hide any edges and crevices. Also I am thinking about always spraying my helmets with "Racing White" color, keeping a white (or grey) suit, and seat belts red with black buckles. Gloves would be red or red/black. I need a style, sort of create an identity for myself in the RC world.

Dude! The Uncle Tom Team. Why not yellow suits like your avatar?
Your paint remover looks efficient. Not too agressive for plastics.

Hahah.. yeah, Team Uncletom. Why not. Ok, the orange you see on my avatar (Mobo from Bonanza Bros. SEGA 1990) is more like Tamiya's "Camel yellow", which is a good color. Infact sprayed my beetle with it.



It's OK but ..., I don't love it. It isn't my color. I can use it in transitions or when striping. If I had a jeep I'd use it. But not on my off-roaders. I'd rather spray my bug bright white with double stripes from front to back, red, orange or camel yellow, or some lighter blue. My paint remover is a relief, now I can change my mind without buying another body. Also my Tamiya ABS Cement is a great glue - it's not permanent! Yes, I can disassemble anything glued with it, and re-glue it again.

Now is the moment of truth. The dawn of creation is here, I am about to be born.

I like it in camel yellow. That changes. And it is shiny.
Why not a black suit with yellow strips on sleeves? With a TUT logo.

Black suit with yellow stripes, along the arms / sleeves? Hmm.. interesting. I'd need a flat black then, and a bright flat yellow. And I need to get some more white primer.

In this case I'd rater do a dark blue suite with yellow, or white stripes on the sleeves. Otherwise it would just all blend in with the flat black on the driver's base-panel on the Buggy Champ and Fighting Buggy.

For reference I'm including Tamiya's PS-chart. I would still use the XF-colors (10 ml) but I can't find a complete chart over them at the moment.

A quick question about grease. These aren't the same greases, are they? The bigger tube "ceramic grease" I got with Sand Scorcher, Fighting Buggy.. etc, and the smaller tube "Tamiya Grease" I got with the Holiday Buggy re-re.

Is the Tamiya Grease some cheaper budget grease? I have a feeling the ceramic grease is the one to use.

flat black is xf1 semi gloss x18. You can use pc1 for polycarbonate but flat on plastic.
Ceramic grease is a ceramic charged grease, and tamiya grease is a more multi purpose grease like molycote grease. I personnaly use copper grease or Renault plastic grease or a bearing grease. That's depending of the viscosity you need. I like «hard» grease like the copper charged grease. This one give the transmission harder and a harder diff. I had one matter on a ta02 with ceramic grease. It eated all gears like if they were sand blasted. (I had this problem only one time) .
So, like I had the opportunity to have copper and «plastic» greases at work, I use them. But better ones exist and hard drivers should give you better advices than me.

oh. For your pilots suits, you can use juices or pastels to make them used.
Jonny Retro wrote articles on that and the result is just crazy.
I use easy solution. Oil pastels on a brush. White, black, brown etc. And I mix the different colors. The result is nice. I used this method on several of my military scales.

Thanks for the good lesson about grease. This Tamiya Greas seems very thin, like oil almost when I get it on my fingers and it gets a little warm.

About painting; Sting, you forget that I am not so advanced. I only just began this hobby. I cannot mix colors and do realistic patinas on my drivers. It is way beyond my skills, and ambitions. But still thank you for the tips. Perhaps I will try it one day.

I have a very small skill and I don't know how to do do nice patinas. I use oil pastels (like crayola) on a brush and «brush» dirty zones with brown or white or black. That's very easy and you can back if the result is not good for you with paper towel