It is pretty weird that I've decided to write an article on shell painting, given that I've never painted one and that the majority of all other kinds of painting in the past has been done by Dave (wolf).

So I guess this a good tutorial for anyone new to painting.

I decided a while ago that the colour scheme for my cars would be orange and black.

This is the Xanavi Z Tamiya shell. Painting it is pretty easy. Silver and red. The stickers are huge and cover a lot of the car including windows.

I also decided that for the Tamiya Championship Series I would use a car not typically used. (Edit. In the TCS - this silver and red Xanavi was the most popular car on the track)
I wanted a Nissan but there are no Tamiya R35 shells so... the Z Xanavi is my shell of choice. Now because the car and stickers come in silver and red - and I want black and orange... a customized paint job was the logical conclusion.

This is the actual touring car. I took it in to Photoshop (you can use any paint program - or print it out and use markers or pencils) and tweaked the colours until I found a paint scheme that I liked.

The first thing to do is body preparation. Get yourself some proper Lexan scissors and you will find the job a lot easier. Finish off the edges with files and some sandpaper.

This is the shell after I have cut it out and sanded/filed the edges smooth. I've masked up the windows with standard Tamiya masking tape.

Now, I'm using a Tamiya shell and it has a clear plastic film on the outside of the car which you peel off when you have finished with the painting thus avoiding excessive handling and/ or scratches. It's also good to draw on and tape things to.
So after prepping (yes I washed the shell in warm soapy water to get rid of the release agent...) I scanned in the stickers that are used to give the car it's broad brushstroked look. I'll be using these to help me make masks.
I then printed and cut these out, positioned them on the inside of the car and taped them down.

Just print these out in Draft mode as you will probably throw them away later. I used a little tape to get the positioning right.

Then I used a black marker and traced the lines on to the outside.

I just used a permanent fineliner marker. Even if you buy a shell with protective film you can still mark it on the exterior and then use the Tamiya cleaning spray or something similar to clean it off later.

I then removed the template. Now you have a guide for masking!

So I wouldn't get confused (this was my first shell) I wrote the colour on every section so I didn't paint it by accident.

I used Tamiya masking tape to mask off everything I wanted black.

Use the tape along the longer edges to avoid cutting. Then lay your tape in and using a sharp knife, hold the shell up to the light. The black lines will be visible and you can use them to cut out your mask.

Rather than use a lot of Tape to mask off everything, you can use paper to fill in larger areas.

At the end of this stage I thought I'd put in about 40 hours. It was more like 3. If I had to do it again I could probably cut my time in half. I lot of this was learning and I took my time to get it right.

At this stage you can add in anything you want to sit in front of the black with either brushed on paint or marker pen. Once this is done, spray in your first coat of black. I want it really black so I gave it a few light coats.

Warning: When you spray this polycarbonate paint, make sure you do it outside. It stinks and your girlfriend/wife/mother/partner is likely to get very upset!

When you're painting, hold up the shell to the light - this way you can tell if there are any pinholes or lighter areas that need a bit more paint.

After the first two coats you will probably still see pinholes. Persist and they will disappear. There's any number of reasons for them; residue still left on the shell, paint adherence, etc.

Once this was dry I peeled off the tape, leaving my window masks in place. You are bound to get some bleed or overspray but I found that a scapel and a green scouring pad got rid of most of the unwanted paint. You can also use a highgrade sandpaper as the next coat of paint fills in any buffing. For small areas of overspray you can also use an alcohol based cleaner.

When you are removing the tape make sure that your windows masks stay in place.

I had the choice of either masking the drop shadows or carefully painting them in by hand. In the end I used a combination of both to achieve the effect.

I wasn't happy with how straight the lines were when I painted them in. Afterwards I used thinner masking tape to mask over the top and this created much cleaner lines. After the orange and white was painted in, I removed the tape and brushed in the silver.

Next I shook up a can of Tamiya flourescent orange and sprayed it in - again using a few coats.

I wanted this car to really stand out so I used the entire can of flourescent orange.

Once this was done I gave it a couple of coats of white so that the orange would really "pop". Some people then give it a coat of silver but this is up to you.

This is after the white has gone in and I have removed the tape for the silver drop shadows. Everywhere that you can see daylight, I brushed in silver. Yes, I could have sprayed the silver in - if I had a can... ah - next time!

I then took off the masking for the windows and applied a couple of coats of "smoke" to achieve the desired window tint.

Before you paint in the smoke wipe down the windows with a damp cloth so you get rid of any residue the tape leaves behind.

There are stickers that come with the shell for the windows but I'm loathe to use them.
(Edit. I did use the decals on the top and bottom of the front and rear windows)
I prefer my glass to look a little realistic. Once this had all dried I took off the remaining masking tape and let it dry for a couple of days.

Not bad for my first go!

As you can see I have achieved the effect with just a little preparation in the beginning.
I was very happy with how the drop shadows turned out as it just adds that extra highlight to make it really stand out.

The orange looks quite yellow in this picture. Just the result of the flash. Some of these drops shadows were masked and some were painted with a brush and a steady hand.

At this stage I'm applying both the stickers that came with the shell and some custom stickers I made for this project. For a full tutorial on making your own stickers click here.