I Have A Body Molded In White, Can This Be Polished Out...

[bobss396]

.. instead of painting? Since the body is going to be left white, has anyone polished one out and left it as is? My main concern is yellowing. It is a stock car and will be decaled up. Would a good clear coat keep the white body from turning yellow?

Thanks, Bob

[CAL]

I guess it depends. I knew a guy that built a bunch of Tamiya kits and just polished the plastic. They all looked pretty good.

[Zoom Zoom]

I've polished out a couple Fujimi kits that were molded in white, they look decent. I can't say whether the plastic is UV stable enough not to ever yellow, and it's impossible to determine on fresh plastic. Depends on how "important" your build is; is it just a fun kit to build quickly, or are you interested in the best appearance? Tamiya Pure White sprayed over unprimed plastic gives a fantastic finish w/a minimum of effort. There's no guarantee that a clearcoat will not turn yellow, or prevent plastic from yellowing.

[RJWood]

After polishing, Try airbrushing on some Future floor polish.

it can also be applied with a brush.

and if you dont like the results, its easy to remove.

It also could help with your yellowing concerns.

Ron

[jbwelda]

yeah ive polished out a number of white cars and it always looks very nice. but i wouldnt suggest a clear coat; ive yet to notice the plastic turning yellow, but clear looking yellow is pretty common in my experience. future (the miracle in a bottle) might work though.

if you are using a polishing kit, you will start to notice it looking really nice at about the 8000 step. and the best part is you dont have to worry about burning through the paint! that means you can really lay into the 12000 and get a rock hard look. one i did actually looks like it was carved from solid quartz.

i polished out one of those copperheads that was molded in the copper metallic and it turned out nice too. i just did a quick 8k - 12k polish and then some novus #1 i think it was, the non abrasive final finish polish.

[935k3]

If you do not paint the body it will always look like a plastic model and not a real car. I like to prime and paint all cars so they look solid and realistic. Also decals do not stick well to bare plastic and can peel and fall of later.

[jbwelda]

> If you do not paint the body it will always look like a plastic model and not a real car.

well thats not really true. like i said i have gotten very good *finishes* by polishing the plastic.

not even counting that many of the cars i did that too are themselves mostly plastic and therefore looking plastic would be correct.

but a tangent point would be that paint right out of the can (less so but still true with an airbrush) doesnt look like a "real car" either, it looks like paint right out of the gun. a "real car" has a "finish" which is why i emphasized that word above. you get the finish from polishing, among other processes, so i would contend thats why a polished plastic looks like a "real car" as much as polished paint does and more than "fresh" paint.

finally, even if polished plastic didnt look right, it seems to me a coat of gloss clear over the bare plastic would provide a layer to "finish" and then would look right.

about the decals: youre right about them having a hard time adhering to polished plastic but ive had the same problem with polished paint. mostly ive found it was a problem with my application technique or that they didnt respond to solvents properly. then there is always future floor polish to the rescue!

i keep looking for the "cheers" emoticon but we dont have one here!

[935k3]

I have never seen a contest winning model that was not painted. The tranlucent qualities really show up when near a bright light. Plastic looks like plastic . Most car bodies are painted metal,fiberglass or carbon fiber none of which are translucent. I think some people will not paint because they are afraid to learn how to do it right. It is more work but the results are worth it.

[CAL]

> If you do not paint the body it will always look like a plastic model and not a real car.

well thats not really true. like i said i have gotten very good *finishes* by polishing the plastic.

not even counting that many of the cars i did that too are themselves mostly plastic and therefore looking plastic would be correct.

but a tangent point would be that paint right out of the can (less so but still true with an airbrush) doesnt look like a "real car" either, it looks like paint right out of the gun. a "real car" has a "finish" which is why i emphasized that word above. you get the finish from polishing, among other processes, so i would contend thats why a polished plastic looks like a "real car" as much as polished paint does and more than "fresh" paint.

finally, even if polished plastic didnt look right, it seems to me a coat of gloss clear over the bare plastic would provide a layer to "finish" and then would look right.

about the decals: youre right about them having a hard time adhering to polished plastic but ive had the same problem with polished paint. mostly ive found it was a problem with my application technique or that they didnt respond to solvents properly. then there is always future floor polish to the rescue!

i keep looking for the "cheers" emoticon but we dont have one here!

I agree, I have seen some kits that were just polished plastic and most would have guessed paint.

PS I am not sure where you're looking but there is all kinds of emoticons.

[Olle F]

The tranlucent qualities really show up when near a bright light. Plastic looks like plastic . Most car bodies are painted metal,fiberglass or carbon fiber none of which are translucent.

I have polished the bare plastic on a couple of models with good results. I simply picked a matching color and brush painted the inside, and it gave the finish a much more "solid" look. I do that on light colored models even if I paint them, just to avoid this problem.

I have some old kits that have yellowed in the box, while some others are as white as the day they were molded. Some others (mostly in colored styrene) have swirls and other inconsistencies in the material. I guess yellowing and other color issues are simply a matter of the quality of the styrene, so you never know.

[bobss396]

Thanks all for the great advice. I have to look the body over good to see if any body work is required, this will be the deciding factor for me. I'm leaning towards the Tamiya bright white if I do paint it, this has always been a user-friendly paint for me.

Eventually I have to try out Future, so many people say so many good things about it.

Bob