what to use to attach a car body to a sick for painting

[lanesteele240]

i saw a few picks of a guy using a wood dial or stick to hold a car body from the inside roof for painting. i think that is a cool idea but i dont know what he used to affix to car to the stick. i dont want to get a car half painted and it drop off of the stick. after he painted his model, he placed the stick with the model in a pegg hole on his work bench. i have came up with a way of bending a stainless tig fill rod into a square base that then goes up and added a 90 bend at the top for more holding area. do i use hot glue? will silly putty work?

thanks, this is my first post on this site and i now waste more time here and that is taking away from my models

[george 53]

Lane, I've never seen the particular system yer talkin about, but from the sounds of it, maybe ya could just use some Duct tape to hold it on the end of your stand taped to the inside of the roof. Yet ANOTHER use for duct tape!!!

[93Z34]

There are several different ways to hold a body to paint. One is taping it to an old spray can and then holding the can as you paint the body. othersuse a coat hanger stretched and bent to hold the body. If you're using a paint booth to paint your body, affixing it to a motorized turntable is a great idea as long as the turntable rotates slowly enough to allow you to apply enough of a color coat the various sides of the body.

Just a few suggestions...

[Fuel Coupe]

Welcome Lane,

If you want to spend the money Tamiya make a really nice stand that I use and love it.

The bent coat hanger is a good way to go to....

[charlie8575]

I've found the Tamiya stand with the clips on it is especially useful and highly recommend its purchase. The one with the body holder takes a little tinkering to get to work, but is also a good product.

Empty spray cans also work well, especially on closed body-styles, just don't forget to touch up where the can lid was inside!

Coat hangers are useful especially if you want to move the body around by hand unrestricted, or are on a budget; I know a couple of guys who unwind them and turn them into a sort-of U-shaped apparatus. Coat hangers can also be used to prime whole trees of parts by hanging them.

Another solution that's not too expensive and is very easy is to take a small block of wood (about 2-4" wide by about 6-8" long by no less than about 3/8" thick,) drill a series of holes in it along its length about a 1/4" deep and place four plastic, brass or aluminum rods, or wooden dowels (I'd recommend about 1/16" to avoid making it too big,) in it. This will provide perfect stability and you can adjust it to fit different lengths of cars.

For helping to hold parts in place, I'd suggest using double-sided tape or masking tape.

Charlie Larkin

[LoneWolf15]

Lane ,

Take a 6 inch long x 1/2 in or 3/4 in diameter black iron pipe nipple . Fold a 2/12 in wide piece of masking tape about 2 in long and place it sticky side up on the top of the nipple. Fold it over and wrap the sides with another piece of masking tape . Smooth it down until it lays flat on the top . Stick your car body down onto it . This way you can turn your body 360 degrees in any direction when you paint it .

Donn Yost

Lone Wolf Custom Painting

[Randy Kern]

I have been using stands I have made, that are close to what Charlie described, for about 15 years, and they work great. Very simple, inexpensive, adaptable to any body. The Tamiya stand is very nice for the money, and Donn's method is good, too. I don't really leave my stand on the paint booth floor surface, as I always hold it while turning it, so I don't need a rotating stand. The large holes I put in mine make it very easy to turn as I hold it. I have adapted my dehydrator so that the extra height fits fine. Here's a couple pics of what I use:

A small piece of wood, a coat hanger, and there you have it. Plus the satisfaction that you made it yourself.

[philo426]

Instead of a stick why not use one of thse devices.Easy to use and you can vary the angle.

[randx0]

you can use a small amount of cheap super glue to attach the dowel but make sure you alow it to dry for awhile to avod frosting . when you are done painting just snap it off carefully.the paint stands are a better way to go in my opinion but it is all up to you and what you feel works best.

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

I use Kikkoman Soy Sauce bottles for paint stands.

You can buy them at a Walmart Supercenter in the ethnic food section for less than $2.00 per bottle. I have about 10 of them that I have acquired over the years for this purpose. They stand about 5.5 inches tall with a base of 2.5 inches. I use masking tape to attach bodies or other parts for painting.

If you are painting several small parts the same color, you can put globs of Fun Tack on the bottle top and attach parts with pieces of wire.

Or, masking tape and toothpicks.

I like these bottles because they are short with a sturdy wide base, they fit good in your hand, and they are easy to rotate while painting.

Give 'em a try!!!

[Ddms]

Really like that bottle idea. We don't use that much soy sauce, so I hope it will also work with bottles used for other kitchen ingredients.

For small, light parts, I usually use poster putty, aka poster tack, to attach parts to a paddle for painting. Michaels sells it under the name "HandiTAK." It will lose its stickiness if you get much paint on it. I stick the paddles into a lump of clay to dry.

I don't use clips much anymore because they attach to both sides, and I'm usually painting one of the sides.

Double-sided carpet tape - the white stuff used to tack down rug edges - holds the part more securely than looped masking tape. You can get small rolls that don't cost too much - about $6 a roll as I recall. It comes in 1 1/4" wide rolls and has a slick paper cover that has to be peeled away from one side of the tape. The tape tears off easily; only a small piece is needed for a strong hold. It's best attached to unpainted surfaces because the adhesive is pretty strong and there's a risk that it will pull paint off.

Carpet tape is one of the most useful items on my table. I think I find a new use for it every day. I have a square of it stuck to a corner of my workbench. Whenever I need to hold small parts firmly in an exact position, I put them on the tape. When the sticky surface gets too dirty, I just put another piece over it. Now I'm also going to put some on a bottle cap and use it to hold car bodies and other large pieces. Thanks, Marc!

You can get carpet tape at any DIY home store like OSH, Home Depot or Lowes.

Edited September 30, 2009 by Ddms

[crazyjim]

Old prescription pills bottles work too. I got some tall ones - about 6" - from my local Walgreens. I just asked and they gave me a few. I load the bottom with lead to stabilize (I do stained glass so I have asupply of lead). I roll a piece of painter's tape on the top and stick the body to it.

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

Really like that bottle idea. We don't use that much soy sauce, so I hope it will also work with bottles used for other kitchen ingredients.

We don't use soy sauce at our house either. Some might consider it a waste, but I just poured the sauce down the drain.