Polishing Metal Parts

[Kane82]

Hi Guys,

I was curious as to if anyone has any tips on polishing metal upgrade parts.  I bought a bunch of stuff from Mecha Skunk, but I'd like them to really shine brightly when finally attached to the kit.  Any suggestions? 

Furthermore, If I would want to paint the inside of a thruster, should I use a clear paint?  I was going to try using clear, but I thought I'd check with the experts first. 

Thanks everybody -

[mvm3897]

Polishing is pretty easy.  You can just use some metal polish like Brasso or some very fine polishing compound. 

As far as painting you do what ever you want.  Just make sure to put down a metal primer first like Mr. Metal Primer.  Just spray a lite coat on the bare metal and let it dry for a little bit otherwise the paint will not stick and chipping is sure to happen.  I personally use clears all the time on my thrusters.  You can see it here:  The insides are sprayed with Alclad clear red first and then I sprayed Alclad clear blue around the edges. The out sides are a combination of Alclad Pale Burnt Metal and Clera red.  I just faded the colors to get a gradient effect.

[Kane82]

Oh man, I love your Blue Destiny 3, I've never noticed that EXAM System decal on the back...awesome.

Thanks for the help.  I think for my current project, I'm going to skip the painting, but for my next few, its good to know what I'll need.  I hope I can find Mr. Metal Primer and the rest.  Metal polish shouldn't be tough to come by.

Thanks again!

[tmajor]

I've used Mothers Mag & Aluminum polish which works really well. I polished up some aluminum tubing for hydraulics and then coated in Future to retain the finish.

[Kane82]

Thanks Major,

Does the FFA stick to the metal okay? Or do I have to do anything special after polishing it?

[tmajor]

In my experience the Future adheres pretty well. You can scrape it off with your finger nail but otherwise its on there.

When I did my tubing I dunked the whole thing in the bottle and then drew of the excess drips by placing the end on some paper towel. After it dries I repeated the process.

I haven't tried this process with detailed parts with multiple pieces or little nooks and crannies.

Hope this helps

[Kane82]

Thanks again for the help Major, I'll experiment around a bit with your techniques and see what I can get to work.

[Cyphus]

I recently got a bunch of mechaskunk parts and have been trying to polish them with brasso like goo for aluminum. I got them relatively shiny but not as shiny as can be. I saw that steel wool/scotchbrite can be used? Can someone tell me what kind and direction for high shine polish?

I also have a white felt attachment for my dremel but it makes the metal even less shiny.

Thanks for any help.

[FichtenFoo]

make a "pin" to put them on a drill then spin them. Gently apply very fine steel wool then some soft cloth and they'll shine up really nice.