Painting the SCX24 Lexus GX hard body

[OnwardGuinevere]

I just got this SCX24 Lexus GX body to replace my red Bronco body. I've never liked the Bronco hardbody and especially don't like red (sorry Bronco lovers).

My original thought was to keep it white and just assemble it, but it looks too boring to me. So, I'm looking to paint it a Gun Metal or Olive drab (my personal favorite). I've painted a fair amount plastic model cars, so I plan to use the same methods (wash body in soap, primer, sanding, painting, then clear coat), unless someone has other tips/tricks for painting hard bodies here? I don't plan to use my airbrush this time, as I'm still working out issues using acrylic paint with it. My paint seems to keep drying just as it leaves the nozzle.

Once assembled, I'm hoping I can use the lighting from the Bronco for this rig

 

[Doom!]

Now my Bronco is in the corner pouting. I think you hurt his feelings.
That Lexus Gx body does look good, I would have to give it the Jurassic Park paintjob. Look forward to seeing it painted

 

[OnwardGuinevere]

@Doom! I knew it would be a polarizing comment. I do like the addition of the stripe on yours. I may just need to do more mods to mine. Maybe I can paint over the red... I'll have to noodle that idea.

 

[Doom!]

@OnwardGuinevere Don't sweat it, ya gotta go with what makes you happy. I have been thinking about getting rid of the body on my Traxxas4M Bronco and doing something else with it. Not sure yet.

 

[OnwardGuinevere]

@Doom! I need to figure out a better method for parts assembly on the Lexus once I have it painted. The few pieces I started putting together have been a pain.

 

[OnwardGuinevere]

Got her prepped and primed yesterday. Finished a little wet sanding. Next is paint!

 

[Chubaka]

Welcome to the site. Too small for me. Good luck with your journey

 

[OnwardGuinevere]

@Chubaka I agree. This one has been great for my 3yr old to learn on .
I much prefer driving my 1/18 and 1/10 around.

 

[WickedFog]

One thing you can try is Rit dye to dye the body first. Some hard bodies will take dye rather well, while others, you may need to use the nylon Rit dye. That way if it gets scratched, you don't have that bright white glalring at you. Or just dye it the color you want and clear coat it. Some bodies don't accept dye at all though, but it might be worth a shot.

But yeah, your process is exactly how I paint my hardbody vehicles. Sand with 600 grit, apply a couple light coats of sandable automotive primer, wet sand with 1000 grit, paint.

Do you have an airbrush?

This is Faskolor airbrush paint, but I also like Createx paints.

 

[OnwardGuinevere]

@WickedFog I saw that paint job in another thread, it looks great! I already started the painting process using Tamiya acrylic paint for hard bodies. For a rattle can it's actually going fairly smoothly (so far). I've got about 3 coats on it. I plan to just let this cure for a while and see how it looks. Depending on the outcome, I may wet sanding again before a 4th coat, then clear coat.

Update, seems to be drying well. Just a very slight orange peel up close. Hopefully I can mitigate that.

 

[Chubaka]

@WickedFog I saw that paint job in another thread, it looks great! I already started the painting process using Tamiya acrylic paint for hard bodies. For a rattle can it's actually going fairly smoothly (so far). I've got about 3 coats on it. I plan to just let this cure for a while and see how it looks. Depending on the outcome, I may wet sanding again before a 4th coat, then clear coat.

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Grass!! paint looks good too.

 

[WickedFog]

@WickedFog I saw that paint job in another thread, it looks great! I already started the painting process using Tamiya acrylic paint for hard bodies. For a rattle can it's actually going fairly smoothly (so far). I've got about 3 coats on it. I plan to just let this cure for a while and see how it looks. Depending on the outcome, I may wet sanding again before a 4th coat, then clear coat.

View attachment 215294

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Before you wetsand it, Id let it dry a day or three. It takes the paint a while to cure to not just get gummy under the paper, even with wet sanding. When I do a hardbody, I wait at minimum a couple days before hitting it with sandpaper. Keeping it warm under a lamp for a few hours speeds that up. And thanks for the compliment

 

[WickedFog]

Oh, and that Lexus turned out great as well. Love that color.

Don't forget to hit the inside

 

[OnwardGuinevere]

@WickedFog yea. I'm not trying to rush this one. It's in a good spot now to dry for a few days. Once the paint fumes diminish, I'll bring it into the warm house.
I've had a sweet spot for olive green for the past year or so, so color choice was easy. Much improved already over that stock white!

Now it's time to prep the hot wheels for primer while the Lexus cures.

 

[WickedFog]

@WickedFog yea. I'm not trying to rush this one. It's in a good spot now to dry for a few days. Once the paint fumes diminish, I'll bring it into the warm house.
I've had a sweet spot for olive green for the past year or so, so color choice was easy. Much improved already over that stock white!

Now it's time to prep the hot wheels for primer while the Lexus cures.

We have a few 64th scale guys here. You see the diorama posted in a thread here? If not I'll see if I can dig it up.

 

[OnwardGuinevere]

@WickedFog there is? How cool! I'll have to poke around the threads. I'm a really newbie when it comes to restoring hot wheels, but it's been tons of fun.

 

[WickedFog]

Check out this guy. Crazy, crazy stuff
https://www.rctalk.com/forum/members/fjc_guy.58083/

 

[WickedFog]

Post in thread 'Hot Wheels Sized Garage Progect'

Jan 23, 2023

This is incredible!!!

That kid is amazing. We bought 2 of his calendars this year and gave one as a gift. I recommend him to car people all the time. He has somewhere over 3500 cars in his collection and people send him new ones all the time. He did a shoot with The Hooptie from the Sir Mix-A-Lot song and it was so perfect.



I came home and needed to unwind a bit so I went a little further with the garage project. Added a dirty window to "the showroom" and temp installed some lights under the awning.

Then pictures, because that was the point in the first place. This...

• FJC_GUY

• 

 

[OnwardGuinevere]

@WickedFog wow! He does some amazing work! That was so fun to read through

 

[WickedFog]

@WickedFog wow! He does some amazing work! That was so fun to read through

I love dioramas, and anything that involves minature modeling, and yeah, he has some cool stuff.

There are a number of folks on YT doing some crazy photography of 64th scale scenes, and its sometimes hard to tell they are Hotwheels.

Then there are the crazy guys that turn them into RC's.