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Hope this may be of interest.
I tried hydrodipping for the first time.
Saw a bunch of youtube videos and went for it.
I think the results were OK.
It's a better looker from a couple feet away than up close.
Probably going to try again. I think I may have over-activated the film causing tears and spots.

I've been considering trying this. Did you put the graphics on the inside or the outside of the body? I've been curious about this as well as the durability on a lexan body. I had the stock of one of my crossbows professionally hydrodipped a couple years back and it turned out fantastic.

Hello Basher67
The film is on the underside. I don't think it would hold up good on the outside.
The film is a soluble paint and if the underside is "primed" it should adhere very good.
It is also quite thin so flexibility isn't a problem.
Tight inside corners are not your friend. The film wants to stretch to a breaking point in these corners.
Next time I will try a little less activator. (Edit: I actually tried more and it seems to work a little better)
I am by no means an expert, I only have youtube videos and my experience to go on.
That said, TRY IT! Not that expensive and can have rewarding results.
Maybe a film without a defined pattern like mine. Easier to repair and mine has a few repairs.

Chuck

That looks pretty cool! I’d also be interested in seeing the rest of your car with the body off.

I was a little curious about the car myself. Looks like a detonator body on an RC10, but then I noticed the trailing arms and the shocks that look like Kyosho Platinums. Let's see what you got there.

Thanks
I thought I might show and tell on the buggy section but heres a couple.

Chuck

So I am trying again.
No expert here, just trying for an interesting look that I like. All help and suggestions are definately welcome.
Fairly basic assortment of painting stuff. The masking tape is Tamiya 2mm, 6mm and 10mm. The 2mm will make nice curves but needs to be held with 6 or 10mm, particularly in the corners.
I will be using Parma paint. No odors, no fumes.
However the solvent for the film "hydrovator" is nasty stuff so definately put a mask when you spray it.
Trying blue to go along with Associated theme.
Here goes...

Black has dried overnight.
I then masked for the next color, blue.
The blue is the border around the windows and follows the body lines next to the front and rear black.
I backed it with Faschrome.
Next I "primed" the inside with a light coat of transluscent pearl white and tiny bit of blue mixed in.
The prime coat is recommended when dipping for adhesion.
I've not had any real problems mixing water based with the solvent based dipping.
The last image is my attempt to "flatten" the body so the hydrographic film doesn't have to stretch as much as it did on my first attempt, the yellow and red body shown above.

The next items I used were the film. The film was purchased from a vendor on ebay.
The activator. Hydrovator from the same ebay vendor.
A container of 90 degree rainwater from my rainwater collection system, tap water is fine, but all I've got is rainwater.

The film has two sides. One side has a solvent soluable print on it, the other side a water soluable binder that the design
is printed on.
The water soluable side goes down on the surface of the water,
Let the film hydrate for 60 seconds and spray the solvent (Hydrovator in my case) on the printed side.
The solvent needs to activate for about 10 to 15 seconds.
I entered the water at about 45 degrees moving slowly forward through the film.
After the "dip" the entire body needs to be rinsed clean for about 5 minutes with a gentle sprayer using luke warm water to remove all the water soluable binder

The difference between my two attempts were "flattening" the body and I used more activator on this attempt.
I originally thought less would be better but I watched a video showing how little activator is sprayed from a can vs a professional spraying with a gun.
A film like this one has more ink than some so it probably requires more activator.
My results were better than my first attempt but perfection may yet be a ways off.
I think I would have been better off using Faschrome instead of the blue.
Window tint would be next but I can't decide smoke or blue or ?

Looks great! I'm going to give this a try on the next body I do. It will be for my b6, so I will be able to see the durability of this process.

Basher
It could be a little easier with a B6 type body.
It appears as though it may have fewer nooks and crannies.
The roof section is where mine was pulled the thinnest.
Can't wait to see your try at it!

Chuck

I took a portion of the wicker bill from the first dip and bent, folded,spindled and tried to mutilate it.
Not much luck tearing it up. The film and Parma Fascolor stuck tenaciously.
The sequence of paint was: Film, 3 coats of yellow Parma Fascolor and a light coat of black Parma Fascolor.
Digging and firmly dragging a fingernail in the paint did tend to cause damage to the paint. The paint doesn't dry to a hard finish like enamel. I still believe it's pretty tough.

Chuck

Mostly trimmed body. Painted the windows black.

Chuck

Wow! Im really digging that blue. That looks really cool!

A quick update for any that might try to "dip".

I recently purchased new film that I thought I might try. The images on ebay looked like something I might try.
After I got the film ready to dip I noticed the side that would show through the lexan was actually a silver ( sometimes it is white) background used when the pattern is normally applied on the outside of an item.
The thought is that this eliminates the necessity to prime or undercoat an item.
The Ebayer is willing to work it out, so I'm going to message before buying and he will confirm the films usability for "reverse" application.
I had mistakenly thought all films were basically similar, moral is ask first buy later.

Chuck