Tamiya hilux cab

[PileDriver]

For those of you that have painted these hard plastic bodies in the past I just wanna know how does the paint last on the out side of the body? Should I expect the paint to get scratched up and to show the white plastic through? Thanks.

[58_Willys]

You are right about the white showing through. You could always paint it white, leave it white with black details, or repaint when the scratches are too unbearable.

[krazyglu]

Indeed it is just like a model kit, unless you paint it the color the plastic is molded in then it will show. Your not going to avoid the problem ,but a few things will help prolong it. I would consider priming the cab in a color such as silver that way when it gets minor scraps and scratches it will look as though it is metal underneath, also it will help the base color to adhere or bite better just as primer does. As a final step I would dull coat or clear coat to give it that one extra layer of paint on the outside. A 2 part automotive clear is very durable and will take the abuse better than say a hobby aerosol clear ,but both will help substantially. I love hard bodies ,but they certainly take more work and time to paint correctly.

[PileDriver]

If I want it white why would I even bother to paint the white plastic?

[58_Willys]

You can leave it unpainted. I personally like the look better with paint, even white. Just looks finished, imo.

I've done a couple models without paint, and the plastic just didn't look right. I think it was the translucent feature of some of the thinner area's, that made it look odd.

The Hilux cab would look fine left white because of the consistency of the white plastic throughout. Once you add the details in black, it should look pretty good.

A flat clear coat over the whole thing, would add an extra layer of detail by creating a faded/weathered look. Put some masked "wiper sweeps" on the windshield, and hit that with the flat also, to give it that dusty look. You could go one step further, by using a flat tan, sparingly, along the bottom, rear of the wheel wells, to give it the look of dirt or light mud thrown back during your off road travels.

There are alot of different ways to weather a body for realism.

You can also Google, "scale model weathering".