Stand to hold car while airbrushing

[rctori]

Hey,

I'm currently working on the General Lee right now. I attempted to airbrush the body. I set the body on an old spray can, needless to say it fell off the can mid spraying, then I ran out of paint.

My question is: Is there some sort of contraption I can make/buy to hold the body, while being accessible to get all areas?

Thank you

[Kaleb]

There are a few ways, I dont have pics but some of these guys will,

First a jig made of a 2x4 and straight stiff wire in four corners bent at the top to hold the car in place,

Second an old wire hanger will also give you a handle

Third is the one I use a cylinder( I have an tube from a old firework and I put tape on the top to hold the car or parts in place

this next one is for the parts I paint I use a piece of cardboard with tape to hold them in place.

Some of these guys also use a 2x4 with gator clips, which I will get to eventually.

[highway]

I don't have any pictures of them, but what I usually do is bend a metal coat hanger in half using the hook as the bending point so that the ends will act as a spring to hold the body in place. Use some masking tape to secure the body to the hanger, and since it still has the hook on it, hang it up so it won't fall until the paint is dry. Easy, simple, and you have the paint stand done in just a second or two.

If you want a little more permanent stand, you can use a 2x4 or something similar, you can take some old hangers and bend them to an "L" shape, and drill the block of wood to accept the top of the "L" of the coathanger. You could also make them with a bracket " [ " shape between the two "L" shaped legs per side, and that will hold almost any body at the doors, and use some masking tape again to secure to the stand, or rubber tubing on the long part of the bracket to keep the body from slipping. It would look like this from the top, [ ] with the legs going down into the block of wood.

By the way, since you didn't say if it was the reissued 1/16 scale General Lee or not, both methods would work in any scale, but the more permanent stand would have to be built for the larger scale so it would be large enough for the larger body. One for a 1/25 scale just wouldn't be wide enough for a big body.

[Zoom Zoom]

I used to rely on an old wire coat hanger, bent in a fashion that I could tape the body to it, and it made it's own stand as well.

I have two commercially-available paint stands, both work well. I use the "Hold-It Easy" the most, but the Tamiya stand works well for some more oddly-shaped projects. I also use the four clamps that come with it all the time for holding smaller parts or trees.

My Favorite Paint Stand

Tamiya Paint Stand

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

My favorite paint stand is a soy sauce bottle.

I use masking tape to hold the body or other larger parts. Sometimes I use poster tack to hold smaller parts. I have about ten of these in my shop.

[niteowl7710]

I too use the cutting edge bent coat hanger!

I use it for bodies, and chassis pans. For smaller parts I use bits of that "Silly putty" stuff you used to hang posters attached to the end of coffee stirrers or direct to a piece of cardboard depending on the type of surface it is, and if I need to paint both sides at once.

[RodneyBad]

and the coat hanger thru the wooden base is a nice one.

[LoneWolf15]

I use black iron pipe nipples , 1/2 or 3/4 in , 6 in. long . Take a piece of 2 1/2 masking tape , lay it sticky side up on the top of the pipe nipple , take another piece and wrap it around the side to hold the top piece in place . Simply stick your body onto the pipe nipple and you can turn the body 360 degrees while you are holding it and airbrush at the same time .

You'll find it very easy to handle and your overall paint coverage will improve tenfold !

Donn Yost

[Sam Cates]

I bought this convenient little set up a couple years ago, nifty little things with carousel bases, I use the hell out of it. I think I paid around $18 at Hobby Town. Made by Tamiya.

[jbwelda]

once again, tamiya leads the pack. there is one problem and that is the top separates from the bottom rather easily so i run a bit of masking tape around it to hold them together. you dont want to be walking with the wet painted model and have the base come apart on you. ask me how i know.

but the pair are excellent for bodies or small parts, one of the best features are all the various sized holes on the one with clips around its periphery. great for toothpicks or coat hangers or anything.

[ra7c7er]

I have to say the Tamiya setup is the best.

I personally use a block of wood with leftover styrene rod from parts trees on it, but I will be picking up the Tamiya stands when I can.

[MikeMc]

I use black iron pipe nipples , 1/2 or 3/4 in , 6 in. long . Take a piece of 2 1/2 masking tape , lay it sticky side up on the top of the pipe nipple , take another piece and wrap it around the side to hold the top piece in place . Simply stick your body onto the pipe nipple and you can turn the body 360 degrees while you are holding it and airbrush at the same time .

You'll find it very easy to handle and your overall paint coverage will improve tenfold !

Donn Yost

I like Donns Idea..but humidity down here is bad, iron pipe will rust quickly...So I use PVC tubing...I' or 1 1/4'

once again, tamiya leads the pack. there is one problem and that is the top separates from the bottom rather easily so i run a bit of masking tape around it to hold them together. you dont want to be walking with the wet painted model and have the base come apart on you. ask me how i know.

but the pair are excellent for bodies or small parts, one of the best features are all the various sized holes on the one with clips around its periphery. great for toothpicks or coat hangers or anything.

I learned the same way......

[crazyjim]

The Tamiya stand is the best thing since sliced bread. I still make use the bent clothes hangers and another item - empty prescription bottles. I put some lead to weign them down.

[Zoom Zoom]

once again, tamiya leads the pack. there is one problem and that is the top separates from the bottom rather easily so i run a bit of masking tape around it to hold them together. you dont want to be walking with the wet painted model and have the base come apart on you. ask me how i know.

My Tamiya paint stand works just fine (plenty of friction between the base and the holder), but I was using one at a friend's house and his stand had the same problem you mention, almost caused a disaster.

[VW Dave]

I still use spray cans quite often, but a small 'sticky-side-out' loop of masking tape on top of the can helps keep the body in place while laying down the color. I have a lazy Susan in my spray booth(9 bucks @ Big Lots), so there is minimal handling of the spray can stand when painting it.

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

I use black iron pipe nipples , 1/2 or 3/4 in , 6 in. long . Take a piece of 2 1/2 masking tape , lay it sticky side up on the top of the pipe nipple , take another piece and wrap it around the side to hold the top piece in place . Simply stick your body onto the pipe nipple and you can turn the body 360 degrees while you are holding it and airbrush at the same time .

You'll find it very easy to handle and your overall paint coverage will improve tenfold !

Donn Yost

That's why I use the soy sauce bottle for the ability to turn 360 degrees while painting. The wide base of the bottle is easy to grip and makes a great topple-free stand.

[Agent G]

I use a beer bottle. I fill it about 1/3 full of sand for weight, then block that off with paper towels pushed in the neck.

No shortage of any of those at my place.

G

[Guest Johnny]

I primarily use the bent hand held hanger method. I also use empty paint cans to paint hoods on!

Years ago when I had a shop I could paint inside of I used an old cracked bowling pin with the top cut off and squared off on two sides! Just used a doubled over piece of tape to secure it!

[Pete J.]

I use a little different method. I make individual stands from foam core and glue them up with hot glue. The parts are stuck to the stand with blue tack. The part generally stays on the stand throughout the build. That protects it from my own clumsiness and bench scratches.

[ra7c7er]

I use a little different method. I make individual stands from foam core and glue them up with hot glue. The parts are stuck to the stand with blue tack. The part generally stays on the stand throughout the build. That protects it from my own clumsiness and bench scratches.

With a bit of finish work on the stands and a different way to attach the parts your stands would make really cool stands for an "exploded view" model.

[mikemodeler]

I have used many methods- Tamiya stand, old spray can, blocks of wood, coat hanger- but use my Tamiya stand the most. It is spring loaded and holds the body tight. For smaller pieces I use a large paint stirring stick from Home Depot with doubled over tape to hold them while painting. Makes it easy to manipulate it for complete coverage.

I got an email from Micro-Mark today, they are having a sales and have discounted their shipping. Check with them or any of the other online retailers and you could probably find a dozen different ways to hold a body or parts for painting.

Like just about anything else in this hobby, we all have different methods to acheive similar results so don't be afraid to try something!

[Pete J.]

With a bit of finish work on the stands and a different way to attach the parts your stands would make really cool stands for an "exploded view" model.

Hmmmmm, never thought of that but you got the wheels turning! Thanks.

[ffreak]

I used to use the paint cans and folded over tape method, until I kept having trouble with the bodies falling off and ruining the paint job. Then I made the 2x4 stand with coat hangers. That worked forever and you could always bend the wire to adjust the tension. Then I bought the tamiya stands and the other tool that Bob was showing you. Those are my favorite by far but I occasionally go back to the 2x4 deal. There's always room for ingenuity in this hobby and I love the different methods we all use for a better mousetrap !!

[shatteredsoul76]

I also use the Tamiya paint stand set and while they work great and hold the parts nice and tight I find that they sit a bit too low on the craft table I use and it makes it hard to airbrush the bottom edges of the body. I do like the taller stand that Rodney has pictured and I will probably make me a couple of those, if for anything else, just to get some room to spray the bottom easier.

[rctori]

Wow, I didn't expect to have that many responses! It really gave me some options tho. I will try the coat hanger attached to a piece of wood first because that fits my budget right now.

I will try most of these ideas to see what works for me.

Thank you everyone for your help, very appreciated.

rctori