Help! Painting a polycarbonate shell on the outside!

[Petrol_fumes]

Morning all,

I was hoping for some advice...

I’ve got an old Tamiya 911 GT1 r/c car; it was a thoroughly loved toy from when I was a teenager and when I ordered a Merc CLK GTR, I decided I wanted to restore the Porsche so they could look good.

The issue is Tamiya don’t make the old shell and stickers and they won’t sell me a body for the new re-release road car

So I bought reproduction stickers and set about cleaning the body and painting the outside...

...and it looks st.

For some reason I used a gloss Enamel paint and while bits have a good finish, after several layers now I have areas that just looks crap.

Any ideas? Is there an easy way to strip the paint off and start again? If I stickered it up and lacquered it, would the orange peal be invisible?

[The_Jackal]

Regardless of anything, your first base layer must be a Tamiya lexan paint. This will be a primer so the paint adheres properly.
Then it is just down to your painting skills.
To be fair what you are trying to do is very hard to get to look good unless you are experienced. An airbrush will make the paint that much flatter and thinner and professional.
Painting with spray cans is like painting with a hammer.
Also, I wouldnt use enamel paint either.

[Stussy]

Carson paint killer would probably strip the paint safely, then repaint correctly on the inside

[Blakeatron]

Also had good luck with brake fluid, use cautiously on polycarb!

Ive painted a few trim pieces and details on the outside of lexan, lots of very light coats and only ever used tamiya poly cans

[generationx]

Nitro fuel also strips paint from poly shells, but it needs work (and is flammable!).

[C.A.R.]

Tamiya literally just re-released this very car as a limited edition depicting the road car (no livery). That's the best way to go about obtaining one! But the kit and sell the chassis on eBay?

Painting on the outside will work but requires a lot of effort for what will end up being a very fragile piece.

MCI racing make good reproduction decals of the original livery too.