Q: Sanding & Polishing - Beyond Novus?

[LadyInWhite[TK]]

In an effort to make my TK even shinier, I have been hand-polishing with Novus 2. And my arms are falling off. And it's still not as shiny as I'd like.

 

Has anyone used and can recommend (or recommend against) polishing using particular tools? My husband suggested a hand buffer - the kind used to polish cars. I think it's the kind that spins. Seems overkill. Is there a tool for my dremmel?

 

Also, I have a lot of micro scratches. The Novus 1 does not seem to work. I am afraid to sand it and then not be able to polish it. Anywhere I tried to wet or dry sand (mostly edges, ultra fine modeling sandpaper) it's dull and I can't seem to fix it with any amount of buffing.

 

Lastly, when I fell on the PIR set, I apparently scraped the heck out of my left shin. (I can only imagine what my flesh would have looked like without the armor!) These are much deeper scratches - horizontal, from ankle to sniper plate. These, however, will require sanding. So what is the best way to sand out such dings, or is it even possible?

 

I'm just really bad at this polishing thing!

 

On the plus side, my arm muscles are getting big...

[TKCaleb]

I went to a local hobby shop and picked up a pack of micro abrasive pads, they worked really well on my rotj helmet. I worked up starting from a 2000 grit pad, all the way to a 12000 grit. super shiny and smooth.

 

Caleb

[matt black]

I would not use a car buffer. They heat up super fast and if you don't have a really good feel for it will melt your plastic in no time. I used Novus for a while but also found that it didn't give me the shine that I wanted. I switched to T-cut and found it needs less effort and gives a deeper shine. On the shin issue, Start sanding with something like an 800 wet and dry paper working your way up to around 2000 grade. Use it with water and add a bit of washing up lquid as this aids the sanding motion. Then finish off with your pefered polish to a high shine.

This is how I do car and bike paintwork and found for me it works great on the white stuff

[anphrax[TK]]

I've heard from more than one trooper that Zippo lighter fluid is good for cleaning ABS and is also healthy for the plastic. Maybe someone more experienced can tell you more about it...

[MisterFubar[TK]]

I've heard from more than one trooper that Zippo lighter fluid is good for cleaning ABS and is also healthy for the plastic. Maybe someone more experienced can tell you more about it...

Naphtha(which is about 99% of the ingredients in Zippo Fluid) should work just fine for cleaning ABS.

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

well there's always spare parts to get a new shin made?

 

sorry to hear about your fall.

 

I had a fall and my friends just stood by and laughed at me...

 

(having non star wars friends can produce damaged armor)

[LadyInWhite[TK]]

So it IS possible to fine+wet sand and somehow get the shine back?

Is Naptha/Zippo polish or just cleaner?

Good point about the car buffer heating up. (I'm lazy)

Will give T-cut a try...

[matt black]

How deep are the scatches would you say? Are they scratches or more proper, deep gouges?

[Sonnenschein]

When I made the first hand guards out of styrene (matt) I used some car wax to fill scratches and give them a shine. With some light polishing with a cotton cloth, I could see myself in the reflection

 

Edit: it was some cheap war wax/polish from Aldi (the european equivalent of Wal-Mart) for 4 bucks

Edited April 13, 2012 by Sonnenschein

[SolderMaster]

I use this:

 

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Nothing more...Spray on paper towel, wipe on...let dry...buff out with dry papertowel....DONE!

Edited December 21, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working removed

[Darth Aloha[Admin]]

I just purchased some small bottles of novus 1, 2 and 3. I am hoping that 3 will take out big scratches, 2 will buff out small scratches, and 1 will polish and clean it up. Anyone have experience with using all the novus numbers in sequence?

 

I don't trust myself even with very very high grit wet kine sandpaper.

 

You can get various buffing wheels for your dremel most of them are pretty small and don't cover much area. I once used a soft felt buffing wheel chucked in a drill to polish large expanses of ABS that worked pretty well. The drill I have is capable of limiting and locking in the speed which should be slow and constant. I bought mine at an auto supply store and it was maybe 3-4" in diameter? Be careful you don't get any sand or grit in the buffer or you'll scratch the crap out of your armor.

 

Aloha,

 

-Eric

[matt black]

Things like Novus are fine for light scratches and scuffs but if a scratch is fairly deep the only way to really go about it is fill it or sand and polish it. You can't really use filler in this instance because it is not being painted afterwards.

[LadyInWhite[TK]]

On 4/13/2012 at 8:52 AM, matt black said:

How deep are the scatches would you say? Are they scratches or more proper, deep gouges?

 

Deep enough to make a trooper cry... but I suppose I would call them scratches not gouges. They are just quite numerous. I am trying to get a photo to upload but it won't go.

 

Looks like I have a lot of options to try, though!

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Edited December 21, 2021 by gmrhodes13
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[anphrax[TK]]

Maybe it looks worse in-person but it doesnt look too bad in the picture, Ingrid!

[Darth Aloha[Admin]]

It's a sign from the maker... Please report to http://forum.mepd.net for your ration of tan colored earth to smear all over your armor

 

I have a few of those... I'll let you know how novus #1 goes.

 

Aloha,

 

-Eric

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Tried tested and proven on 5 of my builds.

 

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Edited December 21, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working removed

[LadyInWhite[TK]]

It's a sign from the maker... Please report to http://forum.mepd.net for your ration of tan colored earth to smear all over your armor

 

HAHA My husband won't STOP going on about making a Sandy and a HWT. I've decided he's going to be the Sandy and I'll build it for him!!! And he can wear that obnoxious backpack!

 

But as for this, I want to conclude the thread by saying that "Matt Black" Rob walked me through the entire process of repairing this terrible damage, and I am happy to say that my shin is not only like new, it's better and shiner than new!!!

 

Here's what I did:

1. Wet-sand with 600 grit and soapy water until all the scratches were out. I would have given up on a few deeper ones that persisted but Rob kept me going and they did actually come out. This part was the most work, of course.
   
   • Up and down, not circular, long even strokes, let the paper do the work, etc.
     

[*]Wet-sand with 800 grit, then 1000, then 2000. (Next time I might use 1500 in between.) This was actually pretty quick. I got the sandpaper at an automotive store (Pep Boys).

[*]Polish (by hand) with Maguiar's Ultimate Compound. This worked 3x faster than Novus 2 and boy is my arm/shoulder grateful.

I have now touched up almost all my pieces of the suit with the Maguiar's and it is fantastic, and smells much nicer than the Novus too. Even the dome of my bucket, which I couldn't seem to get to a full shine to save my life, is super shiny! I can't wait to apply this to my car... but for that I need a tool, no way I'm doing my car by hand. (Wax on, wax off...)

 

Thanks, everyone!

 

Signing off,

LadyInShinyWhite

the Shiniest TK in the galaxy

[SuperTrooper]

Meguiars is the best stuff out there, and I like their mirror glaze line the best.