One of the best things about being in the RC hobby is all the different types of RC vehicles available. Almost every type of 1:1 vehicle is available as a hobby-grade model. Anything from planes and jets to racecars, semis, trucks, tractors, heavy equipment—and the list goes on. When we take our new RC model out of the box it is clean and shiny… it’s perfect. Everyone likes a brand-new looking RC. But is that how they look in real life based on their actual 1:1 example?
This is an amateur’s guide on how to make your brand-new, or new-to-you, RC model look more scale, just like a real-life vehicle. We refer to the process as weathering. Weathering is a generic term used to describe the real-life appearance that the hobbyist is looking to achieve by manufacturing the wear and tear the vehicle would receive either by exposure to the elements and/or normal abuse throughout an extended, well-used lifespan. Just like a 1:1 vehicle.
In this example we are using a new body for a crawler RC based on a mid-1980s Toyota Hilux pickup truck. Remember, weathering on your own does not have to be expensive. In fact, quite the opposite. If you think about it, we are trying to make
