I am looking for a good way to buff or polish hasbro plastic. I do have a dremel if anyone can recommend a solution for an attachment. The main question is if "paint guides" that are incorporated in to a mold can be buffed out. These "paint guides" remain even after all the paint is removed. These paint guides are present on both the torso and right lower leg of RTS Wreck-gar. Torso This just needs some buffing to take off the flames. Right lower leg/fuel tank This needs buffing for the flames and some accidental scuffing during paint removal
i use a finger nail polishing emery board. it has three parts, #one for micro sanding, #two for smoothing, and #three for polishing. You can find them at walgreens.
Seconded, this is the way I smooth out plastic. Wet sanding with a really fine grit sandpaper also works. If your really wanna make it shine, then get some of that polishing paste for automotive headlights and other plastics and use it after the wet sanding.
Not so much about buffing but paint removal. 91% isopropyl alcohol and 25% stronger magic erasers. It will remove those paint guides and save you from scratching up the surface in the first place. Requires some elbow grease though. 91% does cause hazing, but a quick rinse off with regular soap/water and sponge is great. As far as buffing goes, a cotton wheel will work as long as you don't scratch the surface or are trying to remove scratches. The trick to it though is to dab a tiny bit of vegetable oil on the plastic being polished. (WARNING) 91% will destroy clear plastic and can cause gold/brown plastic syndrome = Crumbles in your hand.
i personally like to use a plastic polish called "novus3"fine scratch remover. it's essentially designed for eyeglasses,acrylic,etc,but it does work wonders on bots too.depending on the colors too,it sometimes helps restore discoloration in the plastics too. hope that helps
This ^ The ones I usually buy have four sides. #1 is even out (most course), #2 is smooth (less course), #3 is buff (somewhat fine grit) and #4 is shine (finest grit). Most of the time I will ignore the #1 side as #2 is plenty course enough for most sanding of plastic. #3 is where you want to spend most of your time, as it will get rid of the course scratches left over from #1 and #2. #4 will start to give the plastic some nice shine. After you're done with the 4-way nail buffer, take some plain old toothpaste (yes, toothpaste) and a very soft cloth (like the kind used for cleaning eyeglasses) and rub some toothpaste around on it for a while. If it's still not shiny enough, wash all the toothpaste off and get some good ole Turtle Wax car polish (or whatever brand you prefer, really) and take the same cloth and go to town on it. Careful with the car polish, though... if you overdo it, you can actually make the plastic TOO shiny and it won't match with the other plastic on the figure. Hope this helps.
The 1,2,3,4 nail tool worked great. You guys have really worked your way through a lot of customizing tactics. I do have one more similar request. Every Junkheap torso has a really stubborn yellow paint on the "diamond" shape on the chest. This stuff remains even after days in 91% Alcohol and some strong testors thinner. I try scrapping it delicately with a sculpting knife but it is a bitch. I should also mention that the multifaceted surface of the diamond shape on the chest makes this really hard to sand or file off all of the yellow paint. Any idea on what would strip this off without all the hassle?
Rubbing alcohol and toothbrush? Alternatively, Tamiya do some dense, pointed cotton swabs... Craft Cotton Swab (Triangular, Medium & 50pcs) - Tools - Tamiya: Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games I found this post useful for the Novus plastic polish recommendation.
I've always used alcohol and toothpicks for things like that. Plus a lot of elbow grease Ah, that's nice! Tell us more about that stuff, please!
Thanks. I just polished it for a couple minutes using No.2 on a Novus paper cloth then buffed it with a clean part. When I eventually get round to it, I'm hoping I can take out the scratches in United Jazz's windscreen and blend the sprue marks in MP-22 Ultra Magnus' forearms.
When you get to it, please feel free to post photos of your process. It sounds like something that would make for a great tutorial.
Novus 2 is also brilliant for polishing household items e.g. reviving the plastic on old spectacles. Here are the arms before and after... I recently done the clear plastic windscreens on United Jazz, eHobby Kup and Titans Return Topspin.
It looks like they have different number formulas of this polish. What do you prefer for transformers.?
