Painting and Detailing Tips for Slot Cars by Max Studio

Section 1 - Introduction

We all love the wonderful detail of some brands of slot cars such as Fly. Most of us have the favorite Beater car that looks ok and runs great. Most of us wished we could get our ok car to look as good as one of those really nice detailed cars we see. Well, I for one have found with a time and small amount of talent I can get a car to look really nice. After talking to Ken at Slot Car Garage I decided to work on sharing some of the tricks i have learned over the years to detail Slot Cars. These are tricks for all sorts of modeling projects. I have been a Model Craftsman for the Tire Industry in Akron Ohio for more then
6 years now. I have worked in the Design of Resin cast models for the War Gaming Hobby and have been building fine scale models for more then 20 years. I was taught to paint fine scale military models at the age of 12, using only toilet paper for brushes, By my forth grade math teacher as an incentive to do better in school. Over the years i have learned to
build fine scale models with the best and worst of materials. I have found over the years that some of the best results can be achieved with the easiest methods. I have decided with the help of Ken Marx, to share some of what i have learned over the years , so you to can detail your slot cars like a pro.

A few things to start thinking about before starting to work on a car.

RESEARCH If you want to build or repaint or just bring out the detail of a car it is well worth it to look for pictures and information on the real car. A good color picture of the real car can make a big difference. You can find details that might be missing in the model itself. If you have access to this article, you have access to the internet. Therefore you have access to research the car you want to
TOOLS What type of tools, such as paints, files, sand paper, brushes, decals and other things you might need.
MAKE A GAME PLAN There is nothing like painting mud up and down the side of rally car then realizing you haven't placed all the decals yet. Take few minutes to think about how far you want to go into detailing. Figure out
an order to do things, make notes, this way you don't wind up forgetting anything or remembering when it's to late.
MOST IMPORTANT! TAKE YOUR TIME Patience is what makes or breaks a good Model. Not the Talent of the Modeler.
DON'T BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn't. But you learn from mistakes. I spent 6 months learning from one of the best and 20+ years learning from my mistakes. 6 months didn't make me a great modeler 20+ years of experimenting DID! If you can, "ALWAYS", experiment on something
other then what you are working on. I have lost a few good models to this leading back to "Take Your Time!"

fine point detail ink pen One of the most impressive "I think" details you can do fairly easily is what I call "INKING". Inking is Just like it sounds. It is placing ink "India Ink" or another brand. Into the window frames, door jams, and any other recessed lines in the cars body. These simple accents really bring out the detail of a body design. After many years of experimenting i have found that this can be done easily with the use of a Technical Pen. A Technical Pen is a pen with a small tube or barrel that ink flows through. These Pens are available at most art stores or good office supply store. I recommend a size 0.40 (Fig.1) Just sliding the point of the pen along the seems of the door or window frame allows the ink to flow into the seems (Fig.2). Note: Make sure the body is clean and free from any oil or grease. Washing the body with soap and water helps ink to flow evenly into the seems. If you are inking a non commercially painted body such as one spray painted, be sure the paint is well cured before inking as the pen tip is metal it can scratch into the paint and can clog the pen tip causing damage to the pen as well as the paint job. Also there are many different colors of ink available. I like to use black as it stands out from across the track. But to be even more realistic, if you have a fire engine red roadster, inking the door frames with dark red or Maroon can bring out the details with out being as dramatic as Black. Technical Pens need to be filed with ink and you can change the color ink in the pen as often as you like. Note: Do not let ink dry up in the pen! Empty and clean your pen after each use to ensure many years of faithful service.

Next Section:

Detailing up Artin's 1/32 Porsche GT2

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