Team Associated RC10 4WD Part 3
"Body Shaping, Paintwork and Decals"
Hello fellow RC enthusiasts from around the World. I hope you are all well.
As this post unfolds over time, I will be cutting, shaping, painting and decaling the shell for the RC10 4WD.
As I have installed (see the picture below) the Team Associated RC10 B6 wing mount, the body shell at the rear of the car will have to be cut away to incorporate the mount as it will foul the bodyshell.
This means that all of the body shell that covers the rear transmission and the motor will have to be removed to incorporate the rear wing mount and I am reluctant to do such a dramatic cut to the body shell (but I did). Therefore, I have bought a second bodyshell to replace this shell if I am not happy with the results.
I have also bought a the RC10 B6 rear wing (below), as the wing that came with the kit has different mounting holes than the 4WD wing mount.
The picture of the B6 wing above shows the mounting hole indentations of where the wing is to be mounted from. It also has a different cut line that makes the shape different to that of the standard RC10 4WD wing. I much prefer the shape of the B6 wing to that of the standard 4WD wing. The position of the wing on the car is a little further towards the rear of the car due to the mounting of the wing mount, I think?
Cutting and Shaping the Body Shell and Rear Wing.
You may have guessed that I am not going box art on the shell that will incorporate the B6 wing. I have chosen a striking colour design that I saw over at Poor Boys RC which you can see here. I did message Fil to find out the exact colour he used but he cannot remember, so I have chosen a colour that is as close as I can get. The paint I have bought is not a Tamiya PS type but it is for lexan bodies. The paint, the B6 wing and the new body shell will be here next week and that is when I will start the cutting, shaping and painting of the shell. I have invested in some new dedicated scissors for both curved and straight cutting, so hopefully the cutting and shaping should be straightforward.
The original body shell that came with the kit, has beautifully prominent cut lines which can be seen in the picture above.
Another look at the B6 wing mount.
With the uncut body shell placed on the car you can see how much material needs to be removed. Another thing I have to take into consideration is that the top of the front suspension upright is bridged, so the shell will need to go through the opening. There are going to be some decisions to be made over time as the shell is being cut and shaped.
In the picture above you can see where the top of the shock tower is bridged so that the body shell will have to pass through the shock tower.
With all of these factors being taken into consideration, cutting and shaping plans may change over time.
OK let me begin the cutting and shaping...
First of all I removed the B6 rear wing mount (above).
After removing the rear wing holder, I got my new tools out which can be seen above.
I then started removing the excess material from the body shell.
I was cutting ever closer to the cut line.
With quite a lot of the excess lexan removed from the body shell (I did not dare cut any closer), it was time to use the rotary tool.
I would be using an assortment of abrasive wheels to take the plastic down to the cut line.
Again I was moving (removing) now up to and including the cut line with the rotary tool, being ever so careful not to go beyond the line.
Another picture of the bodyshell with most of the material now removed.
With the material removed up to the cut line, it was now time to smooth off the edges with some P800 wet and dry sandpaper.
With the edges smoothed off with the sandpaper, the body shell is nearing the end of shaping but I'm not 100% happy with it yet. Maybe an hour or so to completion...
After a couple of hours of trying to get the body shell to fit at the front and at the back, I finally realized that the fit of the shell would only be possible with some radical shaping of both the front end and the shock tower area's.
The front end of the shell had to lose a lot as can be seen in the next two pictures.
The above picture shows a beautifully shaped front end of the body shell, however it would not fit into the hole of the shock tower s I had to shave it down considerably.
As you can see from the picture above, the front end of the shell had to lose a lot of material to fit in between the shock towers. Even with all that material removed, the shell still has to be bent to fit into the hole.
The above picture shows the front end of the shell on the buggy. You can see that the body mount has to be extended with washers to fit onto the body shell.
With the front fitting as best as possible, I cut away the rear of the body shell to make room for the rear wing mount.
As you can see from the picture above, I have tried to leave as much detail of the shock tower as possible so the transition isn't just a straight line.
Time to start cutting and shaping the B6 rear wing.
Using my new lexan scissors, I started to remove the bulk of the material.
and then I used the rotary tool to carefully shape the wing.
After a couple of hours, the wing started to take on it's final shape and I got it to a point where I was happy with it.
The wing was now complete.
With the wing complete, I fixed it to the car along with the body shell.
To be honest, I thought I had made a huge mistake cutting such a large chunk of the rear body shell away but, once the rear wing was fitted, it started to look good.
Hopefully you can see from the above picture that the wing fits under the rear shock mount body moulding details so it should look good once the paint is applied. It will make a beautiful contrast and look like a professional finish!
With the rear wing fitted, the rear of the buggy doesn't look as naked as it did without the wing.
It's starting to look good after many hours of careful shaping and lots of doubting my decisions my cutting. Some people may not like that I have cut off the rear end, and I would have agreed with them until I put on the rear wing. I can't wait to start applying the paint now!
In the picture above, you can see there is around an 8mm gap between the wing and the rear of the body. The rear wing actually bends down under the body and when painted this should be very prominent with the contrasting colours I have chosen.
I think it's looking very cool.
Painting the Body Shell and Rear Wing
So I masked up the windows and edges of the buggy where the insulating plastic was either thin or damaged from the sanding.
Then I sprayed a couple of fine coats on it. I have never used this paint before so I'm unsure of how it will go on and how it will dry. At this point I thought it best to wait 30 minutes between coats. I'm also unsure of which colour to back it up with, white or silver?
After six coats of the Blue-Green the colour was solid and even throughout, so it was time to back it up with the white Tamiya Paint.
After shaking the can for two minutes, I hit the bodyshell with the white.
The body shell above after a couple of coats of white polycarbonate paint.
I gave the white paint an hour and a half to dry and then I removed the window masks and the clear film protecting the body shell.
It turned out not too bad. There is some paint bleed around the windows if you look closely.
There is also some white paint bleed onto the outside of the paint but that will come off with some paint thinner.
I let the paint fully dry for 24 hours before I placed the body shell on the car.
To be honest, I am not fully taken with the colour but sometimes you have to take risks to find out what it will be like. Yes I know I haven't fitted the decals yet because I'm going to keep them for the box art body shell I plan on doing. When I do the box art body shell, I'm going to remove the Dragon Punch shock towers and replace them with the ones that came in the kit to see if I can leave the front of the body shell intact with it's body detail.
The picture above shows how I'd like the front of the body shell to look with this profile, rather than being flat like it is now.
I have ordered some decals from Wheelspin Models that are called RC10 CC. They cost £18 and should be here by Friday 2/10/2026. The decals aren't exactly the same as the 4WD but they are very close and have the same colours as the 4WD decals so the decals will be fitted when they are delivered.
The side of the wing I am about to paint was covered with protective plastic which I removed before painting as I want the other side to be of a gloss finish.
It looks more red than pink though.
Above is a picture of the rear wing with 4 coats of the fluo pink colour.
In the above picture I can see a slight run in the paint. I will have to wait until the paint fully cures now and sand it out with some wet and dry sandpaper.
After the paint had dried, I had a closer inspection and I couldn't see a run in the paint so now it was time to back the fluo pink with some Tamiya PS1 white.
Above is a picture of the rear wing after 1 coat of the Tamiya PS1 white.
Above is a picture of the rear wing after 2 coats of the white PS1.
After 4 coats of PS1 white, it is now a solid colour and is finished with painting. I tried to finish the white paint as glossy as possible as this will be on view. However, I am going to add some decals to the white side of the wing.
After leaving the rear wing for an hour to dry, I went back to it to see what the finish was like on the painted side. I was really happy that the paint had dried with a gloss finish as can be seen in the picture below.
After removing the protective masking tape, I can't say that I was happy with the colour of the wing. It has ended up being more of a fluorescent orange rather that the pink I was aiming for. Although it hasn't turned out with the colour I wanted, I was more than happy with the finish of the wing. Maybe it will look better with the decals in place.
At least there is a striking contrast between the two colours.
I rested the wing on the car to see how it would look and I can't say that I am completely happy with the colour scheme. Both of the colours I have used have not turned out as I had hoped. I should have either gone with the box art or used only Tamiya PS colours. At least with Tamiya colours you know that they will turn out as they are shown on the can. I am unsure if I will place the decals I have bought on this shell and wing as it might be a waste of them. The question I have to ask myself is, "Do I buy another body shell and try and recreate what I had in mind, or just leave this shell as it is and live with it?". I suppose I will let a few close friends see what they think of it and make a decision from there.
Seeing as how I'm not happy with the wing, I have just ordered another B6 wing and should be here on Monday 5/10/2026. The reason for the need for the pink wing is because the decals have a pink stripe in them and the wing must match the pink of the stripe. You will see the pink pinstripe in the following section
Applying the Decals
When I apply decals I always use slightly soapy water, as this helps place the decal in place easier as it stops them sticking straight away. Once the decal is in place it is easy to push the water from behind the decal and then it will stick firmly in position.
The decals I am applying are not from the kit (I bought them separately and are OG for the RC10 CC), so they will differ from what you might see elsewhere.
Here we go...
The first decals to be placed are the stripes. As you can see there is a pink pinstripe in the four stripes. One of the pinstripes is pink and I want the wing to match it, hence the new wing.
Once the pinstripe was securely stuck in place, I trimmed the excess with a sharp scalpel leaving a perfect cut line.
The next decals to place affixed was the white panel at the bottom of the body shell. I used the flatness of the bench to ensure the panel decals were level. I also fitted the window netting decals.
With the white panel decals in place, I could now put the "Team Associated 10" over the top of the white panel. I also placed the strip decal at the bottom of the windscreen.
Once the band under the windscreen was secure, I fitted the "TEAM ASSOCIATED" and the "Reedy Modifieds" decal over the top.
The next decal to be applied was the white "AE" symbols, one on the left and one on right hand side.
Next came the large number "10" decal over the bonnet (hood) , which was quite tricky as it's a 3 piece decal.
The next decal I placed on the bodyshell was the "Reedy Modifieds" just above the "AE" symbols on the left and right hand sides.
The next decals were the "AE Team Associated" on the bonnet (hood) near the body post hole at the front, and the black air inlet decals at the front of the bottom near the "Team Associated 10" decals.
The last decals I placed on the body shell were the American flag and the "RC10" decals on the roof. There were also two round decals placed at the front ("ROAR"), near the front bottom arms.
There are further decals to be placed on the new rear wing when it is cut, shaped and painted which will be done as soon as the new wing arrives.
As I said previously, I wasn't happy with the rear wing so I ordered a new one costing £13 including delivery. This time I would be painting the wing with a Tamiya PS paint as I know that they are consistent shade and dry as they look on the paint cap.
With the new wing at my disposal (above), I once again got my body shaping tools ready to start work.
The new wing in the picture above before I started work on it.
Using my new lexan scissors I cut the wing almost down to the cut line, leaving some material on, as I would remove the rest of the plastic with my rotary tool.
With the rotary tool (Dremel), I removed all the excess polycarbonate plastic down to the cut line then I used some P800 wet and dry paper to smooth off the edges.
The outside face was covered with a protective film, so after removing it I then covered the inside face with masking tape to protect it from overspray.
To ensure I didn't get any running of the paint this time, I started laying down some fine coats of the pink paint. Also I wouldn't be putting as many coats of paint on the wing this time.
After 3 coats of the pink Tamiya colour, I was happy to leave it to dry before I started backing it off with the Tamiya white colour.
After 2 hours of letting the pink paint cure, I started laying down the white PS1 paint down in fine coats.
After 3 coats of white paint I was happy with the finish of the whole paint job. There were no runs of paint on this wing and the finish was a solid white with no ping showing through.
I left the wing to dry for a couple of hours before I removed the masking tape to reveal the beautiful vibrant pink colour.
The outside of the wing was now a run free solid white and the inside was now a solid shade of pink. I am very happy the way this wing has turned out. I have learned many times in the past that painting any RC bodywork requires a lot of patience, fine coats and leaving plenty of time between coats for the paint to dry before adding any further paint.
After leaving the wing to dry overnight it was now time to add the wing decals.
The picture above shows a comparison between the 2 colours of the wing. I should have used the Tamiya pink paint the first time around. Anyway, it's time for the decals...
I had planned on using the side wing decals supplied with the CC decal set I got, however the side of the "B6" wing isn't as big as the standard wing so I used my own creative style to populate the wing.
It was difficult to choose what decals would fit the style I wanted, so I went with what would best fit the area I was working with and I came out with what you can see in the pictures above and below...
I think it looks pretty cool.
Well that is it for now on this body shell and wing, but please check my new posts as I will be doing a new body shell and wing for the RC10 4WD, but this time I will be doing them in the box art colours and decals.
Until then, please take care.
7/10/2026
catxls.com 2026
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