StevenGuthmiller Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 I decided to polish the bare plastic on this Johan '61 Plymouth Fury just because it was so darn nice. No magic here. Just polished with Micro-Mesh pads & Novus polish. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moparfarmer Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 I've never polished plastic since the 60s when I rarely painted the bodies..One good thing about polishing plastic is you don't go through the clear and high spots.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 6 hours ago, moparfarmer said: One good thing about polishing plastic is you don't go through the clear and high spots.. Yup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 Just a word of warning. Before you attempt to polish bare plastic on a particular kit, check it over well to be sure that there are no "swirls" in the color that can very often occur during the molding process. These will not come out no matter how much you polish. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 19 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said: Just a word of warning. Before you attempt to polish bare plastic on a particular kit, check it over well to be sure that there are no "swirls" in the color that can very often occur during the molding process. These will not come out no matter how much you polish. Steve True. I'm currently polishing a 2016 Camaro molded in a nice pearly red plastic with plenty of swirls. But I've decided to just live with them in this case and drive on. I can always paint it later on, if the mood strikes me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 9 hours ago, Snake45 said: True. I'm currently polishing a 2016 Camaro molded in a nice pearly red plastic with plenty of swirls. But I've decided to just live with them in this case and drive on. I can always paint it later on, if the mood strikes me. This was one of the reasons that I decided to just polish the '61 Plymouth. Not a single swirl anywhere! Although it is a solid color. Seems as if metallic plastic is usually much worse. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 2 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said: This was one of the reasons that I decided to just polish the '61 Plymouth. Not a single swirl anywhere! Although it is a solid color. Seems as if metallic plastic is usually much worse. Steve Metallic plastic is just about the only place I ever see swirls. I can't recall ever seeing them on any solid plastic I've polished. At least nothing that bothered me at all, much less kept me from doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 1 hour ago, Snake45 said: Metallic plastic is just about the only place I ever see swirls. I can't recall ever seeing them on any solid plastic I've polished. At least nothing that bothered me at all, much less kept me from doing it. I see it all of the time. It usually will manifest it's self as a line running across a large panel area like a hood or roof. Just as an example, this Revell '64 T-Bolt has several of them Molded in non-metallic maroon, there is a large "Y" shaped one running through the center of the roof, another diagonally through the drivers side c-pillar, & one running the entire width of the trailing edge of the trunk lid. There's also a small one running through the rear of the drivers side door. Some of these might polish out, but I wouldn't bet on it. This is the first kit that I checked for this anomaly. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1972coronet Posted February 18, 2018 Author Share Posted February 18, 2018 The '67 Chevelle that I'm polishing has a few swirls and such in its moulding , but I'm not going to let that deter me --- I just want to try something different (and , besides , it's a pain to spray paint anything when one lives in an apartment !) . The 1969 Z-28 that I bought is moulded in the same metallic blue ; it has an equal amount of swirls . My plans for that one are : as-moulded blue interior swapped-into the L72 / ZL1 COPO kit , whose white body will be polished . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 6 hours ago, 1972coronet said: The 1969 Z-28 that I bought is moulded in the same metallic blue ; it has an equal amount of swirls . My plans for that one are : as-moulded blue interior swapped-into the L72 / ZL1 COPO kit , whose white body will be polished . Very interesting! I'm pretty sure I still have one of those first-issue Z/28s molded in blue in the stash. You're making me want to dig it out and polish it. I recently got one of the Snapper Zs molded in yellow. Gonna polish that up, too. I'm interested to see that white body polished. I've never polished a white one, although I'm hoping to do one soon--Revell '67 Corvette coupe. I want to do three "naked" Sting Rays--white Revell '67, black MPC '67, and silver AMT '63, and then add the naked polished Revell '63 I've already done and do a comparo writeup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1972coronet Posted February 18, 2018 Author Share Posted February 18, 2018 2 hours ago, Snake45 said: Very interesting! I'm pretty sure I still have one of those first-issue Z/28s molded in blue in the stash. You're making me want to dig it out and polish it. I recently got one of the Snapper Zs molded in yellow. Gonna polish that up, too. I'm interested to see that white body polished. I've never polished a white one, although I'm hoping to do one soon--Revell '67 Corvette coupe. I want to do three "naked" Sting Rays--white Revell '67, black MPC '67, and silver AMT '63, and then add the naked polished Revell '63 I've already done and do a comparo writeup. It'll probably be some time before I get to that planned build , though I may at least polish its body soon ... I want to convert the L72 / ZL1 to an automatic , possibly even column-shift , but may go with a Hurst Dual Gate . Your polishing jobs are always so nice ! Should be interesting to see how that MPC , moulded-in-black 'Ray turns out ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, 1972coronet said: It'll probably be some time before I get to that planned build , though I may at least polish its body soon ... I want to convert the L72 / ZL1 to an automatic , possibly even column-shift , but may go with a Hurst Dual Gate . Your polishing jobs are always so nice ! Should be interesting to see how that MPC , moulded-in-black 'Ray turns out ! I don't believe any white ZL-1s were built, but I'd have to doublecheck the list. As to 9561/L72s, just about anything goes. But I'm not sure column shift would have been available with the heavy-duty TH in Camaro. Hurst Dual gate of course wouldn't be "factory." I think every TH '69 Camaro I've ever seen has had the U-handle in a console. I'd have to do some more research on that. The trick with polishing the black MPC Vette will be seeing if I can fix the body's flaws without filler or putty. I guess I can always fall back on my black embossing powder trick. ETA: Well, that didn't take long. Second pic is a white 9561, black interior, column shift, and judging from the brake pedal, it's an automatic. So, drive on! http://www.69pace.com/interior711.htm Edited February 18, 2018 by Snake45 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Hamilton Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Years ago, I bought a Monogram 57 Chevy snapper moulded in black. I polished it out, Bare Metaled it, and detail painted it. It looked great. People asked me if I painted it, and I told them what I did. I sold it for some crazy money that someone offered me for it. I told them what I did before they offered me the money, and they did not care. I bought another one to do the same thing to as a slump buster. The Polar Lights prepainted Pontiac GTO's I have came out great too. I did a black convertible, and a turquoise hardtop. I have a saddle tan hardtop to do. I love that 61 Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russosborne Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Is it best to polish in a back and forth pattern, or circular? And before or after applying decals/BMF? Thanks, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 5 hours ago, russosborne said: Is it best to polish in a back and forth pattern, or circular? And before or after applying decals/BMF? Thanks, Russ I've polished both ways, whatever works. But the polishing is ALWAYS BEFORE decals, BMF, or any trim/paint detailing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russosborne Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 Thanks. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunajammer Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 (edited) On this the body was polished with The Treatment wax. Like others have said, the color here was just too pretty to cover with paint. Edited March 20, 2018 by Lunajammer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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