Polishing clear plastic parts

[RaisingArizona]

Have seen many references, here and elsewhere, of using Future floor polish to get a nice clear canopy.  But that product is no longer available.  

 

So ... putting together my old Airfix Mosquito kit (about 35 years old) and the clear canopy for the model is bit dull.  One thing that came to mind was to polish the plastic using a plastic polish.  I have need to polish acrylic plastic from time to time and although the clear canopy in the kit is not acrylic plastic (I believe it is styrene).  But, decided to give it try to apply some polish.  I use a product called Novus Fine Scratch remover.  Novus makes three stages for polishing plastic.  

 

 

This product works really well.  The #2 polish applied with the Q-Tip and gently polishing inside and outside the canopy removed fine scratches.  I rinsed with water and then applied the #1 with my finger tips and dried the canopy with a micro fibre cloth.  Came out looking pretty nice.

 

Steve

[bootneck]

Sounds good Steve.  Anyone know if there is an equivalent here in UK?

 

cheers,
Mike

[Ray_W]

Good suggestion. I gave up on dipping canopies a number of years ago. Much happier with polishing. I have been using the Tamiya products, pricey but does the job. Thanks for the alternative. 

 

Ray

[RaisingArizona]

2 hours ago, bootneck said:

Sounds good Steve.  Anyone know if there is an equivalent here in UK?

 

cheers,
Mike

Hi Mike

 

i don’t know of any other multi stage product like the Novus products.  The key is that you want a polish specifically formulated for plastic. Meguiar's make a product called PlastX formulated to polish acrylics that may do the job.  Motorcyclists use it all the time to polish out scratches in their windshields.   I have used it and find it is excellent on acrylic plastics. Test it out and rub gently.  

[PatG]

I use Novus 1 to add a shine to my canopies, inside and out, and it gives a very good finish.

 

Didn't know they also did scratch removing products as well so will now invest in them as I'm not sure what the Tamiya products are that are also referred to.

 

Stopped using Klear a while ago, so still have a bottle of the original stuff 80% full, as it marks very easily and you then end up having to use household ammonia to remove it and start again!

[RaisingArizona]

23 minutes ago, PatG said:

I use Novus 1 to add a shine to my canopies, inside and out, and it gives a very good finish.

 

Didn't know they also did scratch removing products as well so will now invest in them as I'm not sure what the Tamiya products are that are also referred to.

 

Stopped using Klear a while ago, so still have a bottle of the original stuff 80% full, as it marks very easily and you then end up having to use household ammonia to remove it and start again!

I cannot swear to it, but I think the three stage Novus polishing system finishes with the #1 which at first blush one might think is just a clear liquid, but I believe it has microscopic abrasive in it to give the plastic a final luster.