Painting a 1/18

I bought a Hot Wheels Enzo 1/18 off of ebay and was wondering if I could paint it silver (it's red right now). Just a couple questions:

1) How do I get the body off?
2) What kind of paint (spray paint or brushes?) I remember doing a model once and they had this little can of testors spray paint that was easy and gave it a nice finish...
3) How hard is it?

Will the red show through the silver or not? Thanks!

 

you should just be able to unscrew the body from underneath and if you are worried about red goinging throught spray it white first so it doesnt and it woujld make the silver look better

 

I have no experience painting models, but for the red coming through silver there is a product that may work. When painting my brothers apartment there was a big cartoon mural in the childs room. We bought a can of paint, and some spray paint. Both were called "sealers". The protect the top layer from showing the bottom layer.

 

Instead of white paint before the silver, use white PRIMER... that will cover and seal the red and make the silver adhere better.

 

Here's a thread about how to disassemble one... and the job I did on mine going from metallic burgundy to rossa corsa.

www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50543

 

use paint thinner and remove all the red paint, then put a coat of primer, then 3 layers of silver paint and then lastly a clear coat to finnish it off, The color willl shine like no other.

 

Thanks for all the tips. I'm practicing on a 550 right now. I'll post pictures to show how it turns out.

 

Anybody ever attempted this on an AutoArt? How difficult is re-assembly?

 

Thinking of doing this myself---please post pics

 

You shouldn't have too much of a problem with taking the Enzo apart. You will need a Dremel with a small drill bit. The head lights & "trunk" section are riveted in. The carbon fiber panels in the engine bay are crazy glued in & are a PITA to take off(depending on how much crazy glue they decided to use that day) .

For metal parts , I use an aerosal paint stripper from Walmart ($5 a can) . Get all the plastic parts off the car & spray it down (you may need to spray it down more then once) , 15 minutes later the paint will come right off. I use Duplicolor Automotive spray paint. Two coats of primer, 2-3 of base & 2-3 of clear, using all the same brand of paint. I then wetsand with 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper , follow up with some clear coat compound to get rid of the sanding marks & a final coat of regular car wax. I repainted one Enzo silver & more then enough police conversions.

For painting plastic parts, I usually just scuff them down with a scotch brite pad or sandpaper.
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Scott,

Did you paint these two Enzo's?

Repainting and taking models apart is the fun part. Lately, I've been extremely busy and dont have time to mess with my 1:18's, I wish I do... Just wonderin, do you have more Grigio Titanio Enzo or other custom painted 1:18 Ferraris? For Sale? Let me know...

Thanks for the info!

 

So I finished the 550 and in the process learned several VERY important lessons:

1) Do one light coat of spray paint at time.

2) Building on lesson 1, don't put on too much spray paint.

3) Wait for the spray paint to dry before touching the model.

4) Be very very very patient.

I'll post pics once I get a chance. Not so sure I want to try it on the enzo next, I might get another cheap diecst to keep practicing on.

 

Most of the police cars I do go directly on Ebay - http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewListedItems&since=30&userid=sassyinky&include=0&rows=50&sort=3&completed=1 . Most of the police conversions are just black cars, I just paint the white parts & add the decals & lightbar. The silver Enzo I did for someone. Ferrari wise, I've done police conversions to a 512 BB, Enzos, F355s, F50s & a 550 . I repainted a couple of Ferraris in silver ( 512M , 333SP , Enzo) . My websites (they're Geocities, so if they're down, try back in an hour)-

Custom 1/18 - http://www.geocities.com/scott597/custom118.html
1/18 police - http://www.geocities.com/chpcustoms/index.html
1/18 police - http://community.webshots.com/album/341754460wXlqGS

If you want prices for anything, send me a PM . It usually takes 3 weeks to complete a car.

 

Oh yeah, I saw these on Enzo Police cars on Ebay... Thats awesome! Glad to know that you are an F-Chatter... I definitely want a TDF and Grigio Enzo
I'll send you a PM soon... Thanks again Scott!

 

first you must take original paint of, you can do that with brakes oil.
just put the body in and wait for 4 days, and old paint will go of easily. than clean the body, wash it with soap, and spray on tamiya praimer.
than use some sand paper 1500 and pill of some spots that are not good-some pices of paint...
than use tamiya silver spray and slowly spray the body in 3/4/5 laiers of paint.

the paint job will be perfect 4 sure!
bye