Some people spend the holidays with family. I spent this past thanksgiving with my custom Tamiya F-350 body. As you can tell by the photo, I joined the rear of one body to the front of another to make an extra cab truck like my full-size rig. After joining the two cabs together I reinforced the glue joint with small ¼-inch strips of plastic on the top of the roof and inside of the body. This doesn’t have to be pretty because no one will see it. Once the glue dried I covered the big hole in the rear with a piece of plastic that I cut to fit the opening. The center of the hood was made by joining a few the sides and center of another hood and glued on top. I then mixed some 30 min epoxy together and spread it over the joints inside the body to add strength. To smooth out the joints in the back, on the hood, and roof I use automotive spot putty filler. I like this filler because it dries fast and is easy to sand. I use it to get the body close then switch over to some Tamiya filler to fill in any holes and imperfections that I missed once I have a little primer on the body. I wet sand the spot putty filler smooth and wash the body with soap and water before letting it dry and applying the next coat of filler. Use an old tooth brush while washing the body to get any left over filler residue in the door lines, hood lines, or vent on the body. Once I am happy with the joints and think I am close to where they need to be I like to coat the filler with think CA to keep it from cracking and shrinking. I just put a little on the filler and spread it with a paper towel. Once the CA has fully dried, I lightly sand it with 600 grit sandpaper to smooth out the glue and once again wash the body. Then give it a light coat of primer to see where I need to work the body before giving it a final coat of primer. I in this case I’m going to apply primer to the major reworked areas of the body to keep the layers of paint to a minimum. When you get too much paint on these bodies you start to lose detail. I’ll show you guys more once I get some primer down.
