Hardbody How-To With Brian Meharry (Part 3)

Part Three - Body Finish and Drive Train Assembly

Most of the time I cut my own designs out of masking tape, but I found some nice 1/24 Parma paint masks that I thought would suit this car well. I'm going to keep the black plastic on the front of the car. I use blue masking tape to cover the area the pre cut mask doesn't cover.

After the paint dries, peel off the mask and recover from the paint fumes for a while...

I like the clean look of water slide decals, but the Lazy 8 is high speed and I've found that vinyl decals cut with an exacto knife hold up much better over time. These are Slixx Decals that sadly have been out of production for some time. Some raceways still have some left so ask and you might get lucky.

I rattle can sprayed a light coat of Tamiya TS Gold on the interior and layed some one-shot poster paint on with my artists brushes. With interiors, practice makes perfect.

Scribble scrabble with a fine black sharpie marker to bring out the details. Taking the time to detail a realistic interior makes the whole car look better I think.

I know this is a drag interior, I like this driver figure because he looks like he has a beer gut. I'm easily amused.

While I allow the clear coat applied on the body to dry I assemble the rest of the parts that make this thing go. 

The important thing is to bend the motor bracket down about 10 degrees on the chassis. the back of the motor should be at the top of the bracket, and the front should be on the chassis. Use of the angle tooth pinion makes it possible to obtain a smooth gear mesh in this set up. I opted not to brace this car. Mostly because I plan not to hit anything...not hard anyway.

The windows can be secured with your adhesive of choice- watch crystal cement or shoe goo (clear) are two popular choices. 

I clear coated the body with 3 very wet coats of future floor wax; after it was dry (usually overnight is best), I mounted the interior with strapping tape, and secured the body to the chassis with thin strips of velcro. You can use Parma's FCR body mounts or cut your own. I can't wait to get it out on the track.

Thanks to Brian Meharry for this informative how-to. If you have questions for Brian, you're invited to post them on the Mid-America Hardbody Racing Series page on Facebook.