it's not the first one on here but it deffinately looks like a good start.
i can't remember off the top of my head who it was but one member made a full on exo-cage for his.
i partially side with floydfan about the paint.
do both.
i wouldn't take a dremel to it but there's no reason that you couldnt give it a decent single or two tone paintjob,find some waterslide decals and proceed to bash it up just like you would with a 1:1.
if you spray a basecoat of silver before whatever color you decide to paint it then when it scratches it will look even more realistic providing that the scratches don't go through to plastic.
if you ask the right people,there's all kinds of waterslides to be had and they'de probably be pretty cheap.