Zil-130 Project
Page 2: Building the Body and Interior
I used the same painting and weathering technique on this body as I did on my King Kong RC CA-10. See that page for more details on the process.
I started by painting in rust color, then salted, then painted in silver
followed by blue. After that I chipped off the salt, revealing
the rust spots. Then I lightly sanded to remove the shine of the
paint, then finally applied black and green washes to give a dirty,
moldy look. I chose the color based on reviewing many photos of
the real trucks which tend to be bright colors. They also often
have white grilles, so I adopted that for some contrast. I did the
interior in tan just because I happened to have that color handy.
Here's the cab attached to the chassis. Note the lovely wipers and
side mirrors. The model is perfectly usable at this point, and
would be a good platform for a customized rear utility attachment.
The doors and the hood open on this model. Doors latch tightly,
and hood is hold down with magnets. There is also a scale radiator
behind the grille.
I did the same process to the rear bed. The tailgate and tool box
open, and the box serves to hide and access the battery. Both have
nice ball detents to hold them in place.
Here I've installed the bed on the chassis along with the cab. It
sure looks good! I have dreams of converting this to a tow truck
some day, but it is also hard to justify changing it.
©2026 Eric Albrecht
