Chris,
I searched your building blog for any mention of how to polish and buff plastic parts such as the fins and nose cone in the Estes Pro Series II E2X Mammoth. The fins and nose cone are molded plastic. The fins are two-piece molded plastic that you glue together with CA. The nose cone is also injection molded plastic. After gluing the fins together, I had a few CA drips and finger touch points that I sanded off with #0000 steel wool. I also used the steel wool on the mold seam of the nose cone.
Now, to avoid having to paint these black plastic pieces, I'd like to polish and buff them back to their original plastic shine (not high gloss, but an acceptable matte shine). Any suggestions on how best to do that?
Best to you, Dale
My response:
Hi Dale,
A few years back I assembled a Magnum model for the Quest demo launches at a NARAM.
I was surprised how well the black plastic nose cone and adapter polished up without any paint.
I got there by using finer and finer grades of sandpaper.
A bead of medium CA was used to fill any recesses at the molding seam. That was sanded smooth with 220 grit on a block.
From there I went to 400 grit and all the way to 1500 grit.
(You can get the fine grits at auto supply stores)
Then polishing compound and final rubbing with a soft cotton cloth.
It ended up very smooth and with a good gloss black finish.
The picture at the right is my Magnum model from the Quest website.
Good luck and I hope this helps out -
Chris Michielssen
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