To remove any residue left on the body after molding, you must wash it inside and out. Use warm soapy water in your sink, paying special attention to the tight curved areas and corners. Dry the body with a clean towel or hair dryer. It must be completely dry before you paint it.

If your body came with a wing or spoiler molded into the excess material, you must cut it off. Some wings are molded in the opposite direction of the body. If this is the case you must remove the protective film, and paint the reverse side.

If your body does not have mounting holes marked for your chassis you can mark them before you paint. Drop the body over your chassis, center it and use a permanent marker to mark the body posts. You can also mark the wheel wells. Touring car and On-Road bodies sometimes have no rear wheel well outlines, this give you freedom to make a perfect fit for your chassis. (Touring Car body shown)

While your body is over the chassis, you can also mark the wheel wells if neccessary. Touring car and on-road bodies sometimes have no rear wheel well outlines, this give you freedom to make a perfect fit for your chassis. A great tip is to make a wheel well template, and use it to trace 4 identical wheel well shapes. They can be made from either scrap lexan, or cardboard.

Using the molded in window lines as a guide apply the window masks to the inside the body. Be sure to press down all the edges to keep paint from sneaking under. The masks keep the windows clear while you paint.

This paint scheme is quite simple, and uses straight masking tape for the design. Make sure you use high quality masking tape, and press down all the edges. First mask off the color that you want to paint last.

Fill in the area you want to paint with your second color. I used blue and beige tape to show the separate paint sections. Painting from dark to light is ideal, so leave the darkest section clear, and paint this first.

Fill in the area you want to paint with your second color. I used blue and beige tape to show the separate paint sections. Painting from dark to light is ideal, so leave the darkest section clear, and paint this first.

When your first color has completely dried, unmask the second section of the paint scheme. While removing the tape, watch that you don’t remove any of the stripes accidentally.

Again spray light coats and cover evenly. You can then back it with white or silver, but in my case I will use silver for the stripes, so no need to back it separately. When the paint has completely dried remove the taped stripes.

Now fill in the stripes with silver, and also back up the blue section in the middle, and on the bed.

Painted window trim is very popular, and easy to create. When your final backup coat is dry, trace and trim around the inside of the window mask creating a border. Remove the borders from all the windows and spray with your favorite color.

Another option is a flat black tonneau cover or bedliner. With a sharp hobby knife cut the protective film around the bed, and peel it away. Spray the bed with hobby paint, or flat black enamel. The film will protect the rest of the body.

Trim out your body using curved scissors for the wheel wells and straight scissors for the lower lines. Drill out your body post markings with either a Dremel tool or reamer. The protective film will help keep your body from getting scratched as you cut and drill.

Peel back the protective film, and remove the window masks.

Apply the decals included with the body, add extra details with a paint pen or Sharpie marker if you wish.