RCD Paint Plus

I think most of us remember the old chopper building show with the father/son team. Their two different approaches to the creative process really helps make my point here. Senior wanted to draw everything up in advance on a computer to show the customer what they would be getting.

Recently I was hanging out with my friends, racing 1/10-scale 2WD buggies at the local indoor clay track. As you may know, buggies are an open wheel class where you avoid contact with the other cars. In between races we were watching the 4WD short course trucks run. These trucks were really too much for the tight indoor track, but these guys were really thrashing away, slamming into the walls, the pipes, and each other.

Parma has so many of these muscle car bodies for short course trucks for me to cover, that I’m kind of running low on unique ideas. I’ve done stock cars, a drag car, hot rods, etc. Aft er pondering this one, I realized I’ve missed the most obvious idea. These bodies open up a whole new option for your off-road chassis. An on-road conversion!

I've watched short course trucks evolve from an entry level, semi-scale, basher class to a full-on race class packed with serious competition. As the class evolved, we saw the bodies evolve from scale representations of full size models, to slick, aerodynamic bodies swiss cheesed with vent holes to prevent parachuting.

When Associated re-released the original RC10, it brought back many fond memories for a lot of people. My memories are more bittersweet. When I was a kid, I had several friends who owned RC10s and I really wanted one. Whenever I brought it up with my dad and tried to show him my catalogs, he would have nothing to do with it.

I have noted in this column that Parma’s ever growing lineup of car bodies for short course truck chassis gives you the creative freedom to turn your short course into just about anything you want. Their recent lineup of muscle car bodies have been a hit with the guys at my track.

What is frustrating for me is when you look at a clear Lexan body, it is a blank canvas that could become anything, and I just never know what that will be. Part of that is because of my backwards creative process. Most people will have a particular RC that needs a new body and will order a body specific to that car.

Here’s a tip for you. When you you’re picking your next RC, don’t let the body on it influence your decision. Why? Because bodies are wear and tear items that will be replaced and when you replace it, your new look can be anything you want.

Now I have one of the lightweight Parma: Speedflo 2.0 Body versions, I just need to slap a paint job in it so I can see how it drives!

Usually when we see new product in the hobby world, it is based on full-scale automotive or other existing technology. While I'm sure the technology is out there, this month I have something I've never seen before. I would guess that between the original and the remake, most of us have seen one of the versions of the movie Tron

By the time you’re done building a chassis, painting
 the body can be a chore but this is no time to be
in a hurry. For me it is the best part of seeing an
 RC vehicle come together. When I saw the Vaterra Ascender release I just saw an awesome ‘86 K-5 Chevy Blazer body with a cool molded plastic chrome grill.

Parma always comes up with interesting bodies that fill a niche market, and I always happen to be in that market. I loved that they made a dune buggy body for a short course chassis, and now they have come up with this, a classic car desert racer! I have seen pictures of these cars off road, and the little angel on one shoulder tells me I should stick to the theme of a classic Baja racer, but when I look at this body, the little devil on the other shoulder says, “Hot rod flames!”

When I was a kid I loved Stompers! Older readers might remember them, but for younger readers, they were little motorized 4x4 trucks with realistic bodies that looked like the real trucks. My favorite was always the Jeep Honcho. Parma made a Honcho body back in the eighties for 2WD monster trucks. For a while they were hard to find and sought after, but Parma released a slightly revamped version not too long ago.

One of the more challenging parts of doing this column is continuing to come up with original ideas, while also addressing all different skill levels. When I originally painted Parma’s Ford Raptor SVT body for the special RC Short Course Driver issue #1, I felt that with all the decals, including the factory graphics that this body comes with, it was best to do a basic one-color paint job to show beginners how easy it is to create a nice body

This month I’m going to be painting a body for one of my favorite cars. This car started out as an Losi 8IGHT 2.0 RTR nitro car. After running his first racing season with it, the original owner passed it …