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Hudson

polishing black plastic

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Hi all, does anyone know of a polish/scratch remover that works on the black tamiya plastic - I'm talking about the scratched underside of used cars.  Now I'm not expecting miracles and I realise that deep scratches won't disappear with a bit of polish, but honestly I'm too lazy to get in to fine wet sanding etc and I wondered if anyone had had any joy with plastic polish/scratch remover??  Any tips much appreciated.........

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The results will depend on the type of plastic, pressure applied, depth of scratch, etc. The general rule is the cutting compound / abrasive must be capable of removing enough material to level the surface. Before spending any money, I'd be tempted to try tooth paste!!! 

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Novus plastic polish is great stuff, but it's not going to magically remove deep scratches. It is really a paste finishing abrasive kit. Novus #3 would eventually take out a deep scratch, but it would take you forever. You need to start with coarse abrasives to flat the surface, then work your way up to finer papers and compounds to restore the glossy finish.

I've used Novus as part of a process to remove quite deep scratches from clear and glossy plastics. It does take some time and elbow grease, but surely you have an hour or so spare to do it properly? Certainly faster than just using paste polish alone.

You need to start with 400 grit Tamiya paper to get the deep scratches out, and move up to 1000/1200 wetsand to remove the sanding marks from the coarser paper. Then swap to Novus #3 to reduce the sanding marks further, and finish with Novus #2 to restore the gloss. Cotton T-shirt rags work well. Novus #2 does appear to contain a small amout of wax filler for disguising very fine scratches left behind.

The plastics/resins used in Tamiya kits are very durable, and can actually resist being polished. Polycarbonate is very difficult to polish, and generating excessive heat from polishing will destroy/crackle the polycarbonate very quickly. Note that plastic polishes should only be used on glossy plastics - if you use them on matte plastics, you will turn them glossy.

- Jim

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