squarehead.design: r/c & helmet painting

[ApexSpeed]

I figured it was about time I posted some of the work I have done over the years. I have been painting R/C bodies for over 25 years now, and in the last year started painting helmets, too, for a living.

Hope you enjoy my efforts... :)


doug

[ApexSpeed]

The "trophy girl" car from the 80s Associated ads:
http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/vintage/trophy_girl/trophy-girl-RC10_001.jpg

A replica of the RC10 from the original RC10 manual:
http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/vintage/rc10manual/rc10_manual_004.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/vintage/rc10manual/rc10_manual_009.jpg

[ApexSpeed]

Early RPS Yokomo reproduction body, from the original mold:
http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/rps-yokomo/squarehead_rps-v1_002.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/rps-yokomo/squarehead_rps-v1_001.jpg

[ApexSpeed]

A reproduction Kyosho Ultima Pro scheme, based on the customer's original body colors:
http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/c_lanzalotti/ulitma_pro/ultima-pro_003.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/c_lanzalotti/ulitma_pro/ultima-pro_005.jpg

[ApexSpeed]

Yokomo 870c reproduction, with undertray:
http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/b_scotti/b_scotti_yz10_006.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/b_scotti/b_scotti_yz10_001.jpg

[ApexSpeed]

A body for the new Ultima SC-R for a Wisconsin racer:
http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/a_reichow/a_reichow-sc_000.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/a_reichow/a_reichow-sc_004.jpg

[ApexSpeed]

Freshly finished, a Cliff Lett "Team Moo" RC10T replica:
http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/a_kaminskas/kaminskas_lett-rc10t_004.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/a_kaminskas/kaminskas_lett-rc10t_002.jpg

[ApexSpeed]

A couple of retro-themed RC10 Protech bodies for the same customer:
http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/j_peacock/retro-rc10_001.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/j_peacock/retro2-rc10_001.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/j_peacock/retro2-rc10_002.jpg

[Jamie.T]

Love the SC body, very nice work.

[area52]

Love the SC body, very nice work.

Love all of them! :wub

[jonmiller]

yeh man, nice work buddy.

jon

:)

[ApexSpeed]

Thanks guys. Here's a few of my personal cars over the last few years...

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/personal_paint/mypaint/b4_paint_013.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/personal_paint/mypaint/bj4we_013.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/personal_paint/mypaint/cefx_paint_010.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/personal_paint/mypaint/mi3_035.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/personal_paint/mypaint/kyosho-rb5_026s.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/personal_paint/mypaint/putnam_edm_005.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/personal_paint/mypaint/tc3_latemodel/latemodel_002.jpg

[ApexSpeed]

Thought you guys might like to see this. It's from a few years ago, and was a design challenge. The idea was to paint a car using ONLY 2 main colors. In this case, it was red, and a slightly darker tint of red to create something that I don't think has ever been done on an R/C body before. It was easily one of the most time consuming paint jobs I had done to that point.

Hope you like my creative study...

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/_random/b3_proline/b3_proline_002.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/_random/b3_proline/b3_proline_003.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/_random/b3_proline/b3_proline_004.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/_random/b3_proline/b3_proline_005.jpg

[ApexSpeed]

Here's a suite of cars I did a few years ago in a bit of a different scheme...

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/personal_paint/mypaint/jrxs_paint_001.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/personal_paint/mypaint/xxxt_001.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/personal_paint/mypaint/xxxbk2_001.jpg

[ApexSpeed]

Here's the last helmet to come out of the paint shop—pearl white & white stars, 3 pearl reds and 3 pearl/candy blues with a nice metalflake in it:

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/helmets/trackside/captain-america_012.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/helmets/trackside/captain-america_008.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/helmets/trackside/captain-america_009.jpg

[DCM]

nice work, what paint do you use on the Helmets?

[ApexSpeed]

I shoot water-based on everything at this point. All of the paint on the R/C and helmets is AutoAir, Createx and Parma Faskolor. The helmets are clear-coated with a low VOC polyurethane.

[DCM]

I didn't realise you could, might have to give it a bash, what base coat do you use?

[ApexSpeed]

Yeah, you could use finger paints or Sharpie markers if you wanted to. :woot: The base prep needs to be clean and the helmet needs a solvent-based clear coat when finished.

For new helmets, I thoroughly scuff the new surface with a red 3M pad or 600 grit wet/dry paper. Clean well with a degreaser and paint. If the helmet is used or not white, I will scuff the same way as a new, then apply a couple of coats of AutoAir 4001 (white) or 4002 (dark grey) base coat. Mask and paint as usual.

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/helmets/dixon_vortex2/dixon_001.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/helmets/dixon_vortex2/dixon_004.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/helmets/dixon_vortex2/dixon_023.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/helmets/dixon_vortex2/dixon_037.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/helmets/dixon_vortex2/dixon_039.jpg

[Gayo]

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/personal_paint/mypaint/xxxbk2_001.jpg

This thing is :woot::woot::wub
What a steady hand you must have! Incredible skills :thumbsup:

[ApexSpeed]

Here's another road racing helmet loosely based on the 1970 Porsche 917L "Hippie" from LeMans.

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/helmets/scotti/b_scotti_007.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/helmets/scotti/b_scotti_011.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/helmets/scotti/hippie917_002.jpg

[ApexSpeed]

Here's one fresh out of the workshop—the famous RC10 box art car. This one is a pre-production test body that was a bit of practice on the paint and custom mixed colors, as well as a placement test on the new squarehead.design RC10 Box Art decals. This was a press proof of the decals, so there were a few things that needed to be fixed (like the wing decals, among other things), so it's not 100% complete. All in all, though, I am really happy with the results...

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/vintage/boxart_rc10/paint/rc10_boxart_007.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/vintage/boxart_rc10/paint/rc10_boxart_002.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/vintage/boxart_rc10/paint/rc10_boxart_006.jpg

[ApexSpeed]

A few new pieces of Kyosho art for one of my customers in France...

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/r_gayoso/r_gayoso_kyosho_003.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/r_gayoso/r_gayoso_kyosho_005.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/r_gayoso/r_gayoso_kyosho_006.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/r_gayoso/r_gayoso_kyosho_007.jpg

[ApexSpeed]

One of my increasingly popular retro-esque RC10 bodies...

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/c_lanzalotti/rc10/lanzalotti_rc10_002.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/c_lanzalotti/rc10/lanzalotti_rc10_004.jpg

[GRIFF55]

now that rc10 is niiiiice!

[ApexSpeed]

now that rc10 is niiiiice!

Thanks! Looks better in person, too. :)



Another new school Tamiya TRF 201x body freshly minted and ready to ship. The pearl white on this one actually glows-in-the-dark, too. :D

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/a_reichow/a_reichow-201x_002.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/a_reichow/a_reichow-201x_001.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/a_reichow/a_reichow-201x_005.jpg

[Gayo]

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/5471/p1020644h.jpg
http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/7945/p1020646.jpg
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/6718/p1020649d.jpg
http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/1003/p1020650k.jpg

More pics on my blog, link below.

[rednoise]

These ones had a serious impact with my eyes Gayo!Love them!
see you m8!

[Gayo]

Yes, you need sunglasses to drive those :cool::lol:

[ApexSpeed]

Extensive update and addition to the squarehead website... R/C paint!

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/rc-paint/

[ApexSpeed]

Latest helmet to come out of the squarehead spray booth...

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/helmets/sadwin/s_sadwin_001.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/helmets/sadwin/s_sadwin_005.jpg

[ApexSpeed]

A few more recent jobs...

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/rc-paint/gallery/large/e_balbier_001.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/rc-paint/gallery/large/e_balbier_003.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/rc-paint/gallery/large/e_balbier_004.jpg

[ApexSpeed]

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/rc-paint/gallery/large/b_scotti_mr4bx_001.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/rc-paint/gallery/large/b_scotti_mr4bx_003.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/rc-paint/gallery/large/b_scotti_mr4bx_004.jpg

http://www.squareheaddesign.com/paint/rc-bodies/b_scotti/mr4bx/b_scotti_mr4bx_004.jpg

[racingdwarf]

I love the orange on some of those bodys,:drool:.that is it a ferrari? that is just sweet,poss one of the most striking shells I have seen on here, :wub

[ApexSpeed]

I love the orange on some of those bodys,:drool:.that is it a ferrari? that is just sweet,poss one of the most striking shells I have seen on here, :wub

Thanks much! I seem to have developed a pretty cool looking "Tequila Sunrise" fade of colors but it's FAR brighter in person. Someday, I'll figure out how to show bright fluorescents in photos.

The body is a Protoform Sophia GT, 200mm pan car body. It's based on the Alfa Romeo 8C road car.

[Ghostrider86]

WOW, just WOW, the best body paint i have ever seen! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

You have taken it past painting and made it an emotional art form! :wub:D

If i ever get good enough i am calling you !!! Otherwise i will be have the best looking last place finisher! :cry: