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How best to apply polish?

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  • Member since
    November 2005
How best to apply polish?
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, June 5, 2003 3:18 PM
I'm working on two cars as gifts; one is a '67 Chevelle for my dad and a 2002 (really a '99) Celica for my brother.

I'm planning on polishing these when I'm done -- I'm planning to use a automotive polish, but the question probably applies to using most any liquid polish. What is the best way to apply and remove these on a model? How do you get it out of tiny crevices? On the real thing I'd use a toothbrush, but that may be too harsh for model paint.

The Chevelle is getting a custom-mixed blue pearl paint job*, because I think the pearl paint is a better scale match at 1/25th to the Marina Blue Metallic on the real thing. The Celica will be Guards Red, most likely. I was planning on coating each with Future, but if polishing the Future is a problem I can use something else, but it has to be available locally as one of these is for Fathers Day and I don't want to order something at this point. From my local hobby shop I can get Testors Model Master (both enamel and Acryl), Tamiya, and Polly Scale paint.

I'd hate to get swirl marks on either of these, or on my own cars in the future.

*Mixed from approximately five parts True Blue Pearl, three parts Ice Blue Pearl and two parts Bright Green Pearl.

Qapla'

SSB

  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Washington State
Posted by leemitcheltree on Thursday, June 5, 2003 7:52 PM
SSB,
I wouldn't try to polish the Future, there should be no need as the stuff settles down (most of the time) to a perfect gloss, although I've acheived excellent results polishing Future using Brasso paste (believe it or not) applied with bits of an old flannel shirt.
There are quite a few other products I use to get perfect results - after a careful rub with 2000 wet or dry (wet) I use Meguiars car polishes and waxes - they're expensive, but a bottle will last half of forever because you only need tiny amounts. Sometimes it's best to wait a few days after sanding to allow the paint to harden again, cuz with sanding, you break a sealed surface to allow additional undissolved thinners to evaporate out of the interior surface of the paint.
Again, I use flannel material, rubbing carefully to avoid edges and high spots (don't want to cut through the paint to the primer) and just keep rubbing till I get a mirror finish, then a wax coat to get rid of the few swirl marks.
To get polish out of door panel lines, suck on a toothpick for a few seconds to soften the wood, and use it to carefully scrape the polish from the panel line. You shouldn't end up scraping the paint using this method.
I've heard many on this forum swear by the various polishing kits like LMG and the like. I understand they're extremely effective, but I've never used them. I've also seen articles on their use in FSM, and the results are as good as anything I can get using polish all by itself.
Cheers,
LeeTree

Cheers, LeeTree
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