How can I make these tires look better

[PatW]

20 hours ago, Claude Thibodeau said:

Hi Patrick!

Ah, the challenges of international branding. Remember the Chevrolet Nova? In some contries, it meant the car "did not go". Talk about a blunder!

To your point about toothpaste for polish: it makes sense, since it IS an abrasive after all. Kind of a "micro-compound".  It will also work to dull the shine of some vynil tires. I know that for a fact!

Speaking of compounds, my go-to for polishing paint jobs is FARECLA, a formidable british product. It's a small world...

CT 

Yes Claude, although I had never heard of that product I have found it for sale and the manufacturer in the UK, yes it is a small world!

[stitchdup]

6 minutes ago, PatW said:

Yes Claude, although I had never heard of that product I have found it for sale and the manufacturer in the UK, yes it is a small world!

if you have a freindly body shop nearby you can probably buy a small amount from them. its not really sold to anybody else unless their in the trade. its pretty good and comes in 3 different grades for use with machine polishers on fresh paint

[Claude Thibodeau]

2 hours ago, stitchdup said:

if you have a freindly body shop nearby you can probably buy a small amount from them. its not really sold to anybody else unless their in the trade. its pretty good and comes in 3 different grades for use with machine polishers on fresh paint

Hi Les!

You are right. Out of lazyness, I guess, I use the "Rapid cut" grade, but for polishing by hand on my models. It works well, and I've never went trough the clear or paint so far. Followed by Meguiar's Scratch X for glaze, and voilà!

CT 

[stitchdup]

49 minutes ago, Claude Thibodeau said:

Hi Les!

You are right. Out of lazyness, I guess, I use the "Rapid cut" grade, but for polishing by hand on my models. It works well, and I've never went trough the clear or paint so far. Followed by Meguiar's Scratch X for glaze, and voilà!

CT 

I'm gonna guess thats the g3 one, but this stuff i liked cos you can miss out the g5 and go straight to g7. I'm near certain the tamiya polishing compounds are the same stuff cos they smell very similar and the results are just as good. I've never thought to use it on my models though, it'll be much cheaper for me to get locally as I used to work in a body shop. We called the boss/painter running bare and he thought it was cos he liked cowboy and indians movies but really it was cos he always missed out doing the backs of panels and always managed to get runs on door edges. faraclear was the only reason his paint was passable but then it was mostly run of the mill work on econoboxes, someone else did the old stuff

[Spooky 52]

On 10/8/2021 at 6:47 AM, Beans said:

 

Do the same, except the slime part, just because I never heard that before.  Gonna try that tonight.  If it works I may just bottle it HA

Where do you get that ???           ?

[deuces wild]

As stated before.... The quick and easy method is to twist the tires back and forth (while pressing down) on a piece of scotchbrite... At least try it on a spare tire and then compare the results next to one that hasn't been touched... Your gonna love it!.?

Then do the emeryboard thing with with the tire treads...??

[afx]

These tires are molded in vinyl and had glossy sidewalls.  I scrubbed them with an abrasive powered like Comet and made them look more like rubber. I also sanded the tread.

 

This is what they looked like before.

[deuces wild]

I also worked on a pair of slicks from the Revell '41 Willys gasser kit... Here I used a combo foam  sponge/scotchbrite pad I got from dollar tree... these were 5 for a buck... I worked on one slick for about a minute and is is how it turned out....

Notice the difference????

Edited January 23, 2022 by deuces wild

[deuces wild]

One more pic with the mags installed.....

[Straightliner59]

On 1/23/2022 at 9:42 AM, deuces wild said:

One more pic with the mags installed.....

 

I agree, Guido--ScotchBrite pads are excellent, for this!

[deuces wild]

Thanks!.....??