vintage SRB - to polish or not. Discuss :)

[jonboy1]

So, I've acquired a vintage Rough Rider which I'm going to begin to restore soon. It has several "mk1" parts and I'm struggling to decide whether or not to polish all the metal parts or not.

I know some purists will consider it sacrilege to even contemplate it, but it's not as if it isn't reversible. Plus, it looks cooler than dull grey metal.

Will I get decapitated bodies of Rob Mitchel sent to me in the post if I do? 

[Peter_B]

Just throw some black paint over all those bits

Think of it like when they spray resin on old recovered ship wrecks to preserve them.

[jonboy1]

you have a worrying penchant for throwing black paint over things 

[Peter_B]

If you have a talent you should use it

[jonboy1]

I can do a really good impression of Kenneth Williams, but I never get to do it

[Peter_B]

Ooh Matron!

Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!

[jonboy1]

Great - steal my thunder why don't you 

[Peter_B]

Now, for a sensible answer.

Having had people telling me I'm mad just for wanting to run my RC10, I'm very much of the opinion that you can do what you like, they're your parts. If you want them shiny, make them shiny.

I've never seen a fresh out of the box Rough Rider but I'd imagine that, from the factory, those parts would have been a bit shiny.

So if you polish them then all you're doing is returning to "as new" condition.

Just don't run it whatever you do or the sky will fall in!

 

[max69vk]

I've got a couple of MK1,s being restored at the moment, one of which I've gone for more of a standard finish, while the other has started to be polished (even removing the cast flashing marks). While polishing the front is relatively easy the gearbox can be a royal PITA due to all of the small crevices, however it does look pretty smart when done.

A few things to consider though;

1. It's your SRB, no one else's opinion really matters 😊

2. These cars were built with a budget in mind, if Tamiya could have made them polished at no extra manufacturing cost they would have done (their penchant for releasing 'Chrome edition' models over the last decade or so shows their love of bling)!

3. Unless you already own the blasting equipment, can borrow it, or are planning on restoring on a semi-industrial scale, the cost for the equipment & media is about the same or more than an un-restored SRB. Is it worth it for a 'factory finish'?

4. How many factory finish restored SRB's are out there vs (tastefully) customised?

with regards to my comments or thoughts... see point 1! 

[Dirt-540]

I totally agree with the 2 previous comments.

If you do polish it though, it may be worth gloss laquering too as from my experience it will always go dull again back to how it was. Laquering it will prevent this. As for how to laquer and what products to use, i've never done it so can't comment.

[Country Mike]

laquer the patina in. I did that with a rusty Tonka Bronco. Rough as a bears ******* but laquer makes it shiny. Gas Monkey Garage do it to old hot rods.

[Percymon]

The problem with polishing is that once you start its almost a point of no return, you have to do the lot - there are some great examples in the showrooms of members with very highly polished metal parts - don;t under estimate the time it takes. And also bear in mind the castings arent the smoothest or the best quality metal so achieving a consistent look front to back takes patience, time and a bit of luck.

 

This is quite a good article on cleaning SRB parts  https://tamiyabase.com/articles/53-how-to/188-srb-metal-cleaning-restoration

 

 

[Shodog]

You’ll be forever polishing it as the parts will oxidize over time. I like the look of parts that have been either tumbled with the some media or soda blasted

[iluvmud]

2 hours ago, Shodog said:

You’ll be forever polishing it as the parts will oxidize over time. I like the look of parts that have been either tumbled with the some media or soda blasted

+1

[jonboy1]

A lot of very well made points and some excellent comments - thanks guys, you've given me a lot to think about!

I know all too well about the time and sore fingers involved in polishing them, having done a re-re and a scabby old abused vintage one, and I swore to myself I wouldn't do it again. However, having got them on the bench and all cleaned up, I'm looking at them and thinking that on a Rough Rider where they are a lot more on show than on a Sand Scorcher or a Ranger they really should look as good as possible, and Sand Rails are generally quite "showy" vehicles.

I'm not sure if I live in very non-oxygenated environment (would explain a few things, I'm sure people would agree) but I seem to have been generally ok with the oxidising. I gave the parts a quick rub over with some car wax when I'd finished and that certainly seems to have slowed it down. Having said that, gloss coating them is an excellent idea, so I will look into that. 

Nobody addressed the issue of what to do if I get decapitated bodies of Rob Mitchels in the post 

[Percymon]

Dependent upon the final metal polish used you can keep the oxidation at bay for many years if its not run, or only run in dry conditions. I dragged a SRB chassis from the house attic last week; this one was half heartedly polished about 5 years ago (intention was to do more polishing but other projects got in the way , and family life ! ).  Probably less than an hours work on the arms, knuckles, uprights and tubes - the uprights clearly need more work , and other parts could be better but at the time i was keen to mock the chassis up as inspiration to progress further..

Its not exactly been exposed to the elements but there's very little change in the shine over the storage period.

 

This one will be stripped down again, the ball diff and brushless motor moved to another build, parts polished a little more and rebuilt pretty stock spec.

[SRB Bloke]

Looking forward to seeing this one.....    I found the polishing so so time consuming, but I also liked polishing some and painting others (definitely the gearbox)

I can't load pics anymore, take a peak at these.. https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=99125&id=32228

As for those Rob Mitchell bodies, I wouldn't worry there's enough of us on here who've played around with various ideas on a SRB shell.  The haters soon stop  

 

[No Slack]

In The Netherlands there is a company that gives you the opportunity to hire a sandbalsting cabin for 15 minutes (or hours). 15 Minutes is euro 7.50. They advise you on the medium to use for blasting delicate parts. Your polished finish can be achieved in minutes. www.zelfzandstralen.nl

Maybe there is a company like that in the UK.