Clear Model Body Question

[MikeyB08]

Okay guys. Needing some help on this one. I bought a Polar Lights Mr. Norm's Ghost Charger off of Ebay. When I was looking at my parts, I noticed some serious mold lines and injection circles on the underside of the clear body. What would be the best way to remove the eyesores without scratching the heck out of the plastic? I was considering 1000 grit and then work with 2000 grit. But figured it would be best to ask first.

[kalbert]

I'd think you could clean them up with sandpaper and dip the whole thing in Future to give it a durable shine.

[MikeyB08]

I'd think you could clean them up with sandpaper and dip the whole thing in Future to give it a durable shine.

Would I need to put on the decals before dipping the car in future?

[hooknladderno1]

I would use a polishing kit after removing the mold lines and sink marks. You could apply the Future before or after the decals, depending on what your preference is. Following the 12000 grit, the body should be smooth. Check out the posts that are pinned about Future and you decide.

David

[kalbert]

Heck, I'd think the Future could go on before and after! Some guys even use Future as a decal setting solution. The biggest benefit though is that it's fairly scratch resistant, and somehow makes clear plastic look just about invisible.

[Blown03SVT]

You have a long road ahead of you to smooth and polish those out. Hopefully they are not too deep. If you see it through the results will be spectacular.

[Casey]

You have a long road ahead of you to smooth and polish those out. Hopefully they are not too deep. If you see it through the results will be spectacular.

Agreed. If the ejector pin marks are positive and stand proud of the surrounding surface, you can do it. If they are recessed, don't waste your time, as you'd need to remove the surrounding material so that everything is the same thickness/depth...on the entire body, or at least where the ejector pin marks and mold lines are located. YOU WILL SEE EVERY FLAW in a transparent body, so it has to be perfect.

[Art Anderson]

What you have is what Tom Lowe (then owner of Polar Lights--along with Johnny Lightning) called a "chase kit". Chase kits were a take-off on a very popular Johnny Lightning tradition at Playing Mantis: Approximately 10% of JL diecast models were finished with certain features in white (that would not otherwise have been white). That got JL afficanados hounding stores for newly released assortments, and digging through the pegs to find any "White Lightning" cars that might have been in a store's shipment (White Lightning cars were mixed at random on the packaging line at the factory--thus packed in the cartons randomly).

Polar Lights used the clear body thing in hopes of generating a little bit of that Johnny Lightning type frenzy.

Art

[MikeyB08]

Cool info... Thanks for that Art. I haven't started on the body yet, I'm still racking my brain to find the best way to remove injection lines and such.

[Pete J.]

Proud or recessed you can remove them but you are in for a lot of work and you need to be careful. First, the be careful part. Clear plastic is generally more brittle that other kinds, so it is much more likely to break. Keep the sanding pressure light to medium. By the time you figure out you have used too much it is too late. Also if you press too hard, clear plastic will give you stress fractures and there is no way to fix that except a coat of paint. Stress fractures are little lines that show up in the plastic not on the surface. So be careful how you hold the body and how you press on it to sand.

Now, sanding. If the marks stand above the surface, that is good. Use a sanding stick with a medium grit and sand them flush. From there treat it like you were polishing out paint. Wet sand the surface with progressively finer grits of sand paper until you get down to a 12000 grit. Then get some Novis #2 polish and polish it until the plastic comes to a high gloss.

If the marks are recessed you have to sand evenly in a larger area to make the plastic thin out progressively to the bottom of the mark. For a standard ejector pin mark I would say about 1/2" around the mark. Then follow the same sanding regime as above.

I have never been a fan of future but it will do no harm to coat it. I can hide some of the fine surface scratches, but to me it is difficult to get it even without runs or edge build up. Some modelers swear by it. I seem to just swear at it.

Good luck!