PT Cruiser With Flames

This body was the first one to go with my Dad's, and Zac's grandfather's, Stampede. The PT Cruiser was a natural choice since he likes the style of that car so much and I chose the blue because it's a color he's fond of. This blue is actually a little lighter than the shade found on the PT Cruisers, but it was metallic which I thought added a nice touch.

I started out with a 2001 PT Cruiser Body from Pro-line. This body is actually a 190mm touring car body that can be adapted for use with a Maxx or a Stampede. The body is a little wider than some of the bodies for the Maxx and therefore requires that you raise it a little higher or enlarge the wheel wheels to give sufficient clearance for monster truck tires instead of touring car tires.

For the flames I used the flames pattern from RC Tech. I printed out their pattern and traced it onto a Parma Uncut Vinyl Mask Sheet and cut it out. A big thanks to RCExotic and the designer of the pattern, Ashneel Singh.

The design looks like the following, and is available in 1:10 scale at the above link.

I also used the following colors in Faskolor paints.

• White
• Black
• Yellow
• Blue

Click on a picture to enlarge it.

The first thing I did, was to take the clear body and mark with a permanent marker the location for the body posts. If you mess up and mark in the wrong place you can simply erase the marker from the lexan with some rubbing alcohol, or "x" it out if your body comes with an overspray film. Then I applied the paint mask. Below are some pictures showing the PT Cruiser with it's window and flame masks applied.

Following that I highlighted the flames with black for a shadow effect, and sprayed the blue inside the rest of the body. Then I removed the paint masks to get it ready to spray the flames.

I then painted with the yellow on the back half of the flames.....

.....and then followed that by finishing up with the white for the front of the flames.

After applying the stickers and removing the excess lexan, I have a finished and flamed PT Cruiser.

In hindsight, I wish I had used the fine tip for my airbrush when highlighting the flames. However this is my third airbrushed body so I'm still learning the techniques needed. I'll apply that lesson to my next body.