Car Emblems

[Mike999]

 

Future isn't wax, it's just clear acrylic. And it's not meant to shine boots... of course it cracked when the boots flexed and moved! But model car bodies don't bend and fold.

When I was a Drill Instructor at MCRD San Diego about 150 years ago, we used Future on just the toes of the boots, to make them really shine. And we only did that for special occasions, like the Drill Competition at the end of First Phase (the third week of Boot Camp). 

Along with another DI, I learned the hard way that putting Future on boots was technically a violation of Marine Corps uniform regs.  I found that out when we were merrily Futur-ing boot toes and the Officer of the Day walked thru our squadbay. He was a Second Lieutenant (naturally!). 

He didn't say a word to us directly. But went back to the office and made an entry in his log book about the Future.  A few days later, our Company Commander (a Captain) called us in and said he had to put some kind of response in the record, since our crime was officially recorded in the logbook.  So he gave us an "unofficial reprimand."  Meaning he just told us not to do it again, or at least not to get caught doing it again.  But he was nearly LOL'ing the whole time he reprimanded us.  And let us know that he thought it was a really nit-picking thing for the Lt. to do.

[crazyjim]

Back in the "Old Corps" we spit shined our boots.

[Mike999]

Back in the "Old Corps" we spit shined our boots.

We did that too, with almost as many Secret Formulas as using Future on model cars.  That was a long time ago, but I remember melting the solid boot polish and applying it with a soft rag and water.  The Future was just a finishing touch to give the toes a real mirror shine.  I sometimes laugh at still using Future for my hobby, all these years later. I also remember experimenting with Brass-o to polish plastic model cars back then.  Which worked pretty well, as long as you cleaned out the residual "grit" from the stuff.

On edit: I should have said "Brass-o to polish UNPAINTED plastic model cars."  It's about as abrasive as sandpaper, and seriously stinks as well.  I was remembering when I was still in the Corps and won a ribbon at a local contest, with the MONOGRAM '30 Packard Boat-tail.  The coral/brown colors of the bare plastic looked really sharp, and polishing them with the Brass-o worked well. Though as I remember, it took a lot of polishing. 

Edited September 22, 2016 by Mike999
error

[Snake45]

We did that too, with almost as many Secret Formulas as using Future on model cars.  That was a long time ago, but I remember melting the solid boot polish and applying it with a soft rag and water.  The Future was just a finishing touch to give the toes a real mirror shine.  I sometimes laugh at still using Future for my hobby, all these years later. I also remember experimenting with Brass-o to polish plastic model cars back then.  Which worked pretty well, as long as you cleaned out the residual "grit" from the stuff.

On edit: I should have said "Brass-o to polish UNPAINTED plastic model cars."  It's about as abrasive as sandpaper, and seriously stinks as well.  I was remembering when I was still in the Corps and won a ribbon at a local contest, with the MONOGRAM '30 Packard Boat-tail.  The coral/brown colors of the bare plastic looked really sharp, and polishing them with the Brass-o worked well. Though as I remember, it took a lot of polishing. 

Back in the '70s I used Brasso for quite a while to polish both paint and bare plastic, including clear airplane canopies. Then one day I used it on a rare old Aurora T-6 canopy, and the stuff gave it about a thousand internal stress-cracks, essentially ruining it. I've never used it again. I found out a couple years later that naphtha (lighter fluid) would do the same thing, so I keep that away from bare plastic these days, too, although I will on occasion use it to thin paint for airbrushing.