Tutorial: How to Repair Scratched Clear Parts



Intro: 

A lot of Gundam kits come with clear parts, and if you happen to scratch one they can look terrible.  Fortunately there is a quick and easy way to repair them! In this tutorial I'm going to show you how.



Tools: 

Sandpaper 600-800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit  
Water
Pledge Floor Care
Tweezers 
Brush


When I snipped this piece from the runner I scratched up the edge.


 To repair this damage we need to sand down the scratches. Start with a 600-800 grit sand paper and lightly sand the scratched area. 


Move up to a higher grade sand paper. Use your 1000 grit paper and lightly sand the part again.


 Continue lightly sanding with 1500 grit.


Finish sanding with 2000 grit.


Rinse the part in water to remove and dust leftover from sanding


After a quick bath the part looks pretty good, but you can further minimize the scratches with a quick coat of future floor.


Buy a bottle of this stuff. It has a lot of uses.


You can paint the future floor on. Or using a pair of tweezers give the entire part a quick dunk. 


Allow the part rest on a paper towel for a few hours. The towel will wick away an excess future floor. 


If you followed these step correctly then your part should look as good as new! 

Comments

  1. Nice post. Lot of people aren't aware of this. Works even better if you go up to 4000 grit and then break out some polishing pads.

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    Replies
    1. I'm not sure at what point you hit 'diminishing returns' with the sand paper grit. Even at 2500 once the future dries I doubt if I could point out which areas were sanded.

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    2. Polishing takes way too long if you have to do all the nub marks on a clear kit. I would only do it if I needed one or two parts done.

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    3. It's actually a pretty fast process. I polished every nub mark on the clear Banshee in a few hours, and you can hardly see a single scratch or nub.

      http://goodguydangunpla.blogspot.com/2013/04/commission-complete-hg-banshee-special.html

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  2. I was wondering if you have any suggestions to other products that you can be used as a substitute to pledge floor care if we don't have access to it?

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    Replies
    1. Good question. Pledge future floor is actually pretty ubiquitous and can be found in a number of different regions under different names. If you can't find a region equivilant listed here: http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html then you will need to thin down a acrylic based clear paint (like Tamiya) instead.

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  3. Ok. If I do find any alternatives I'll be sure to post them up. I will say that my experience with thinned acrylic clear paints have been mixed and I somewhat wouldn't recommend it. Sometimes it work absolutely brilliant but at other times it will be a complete mess. In order to minimize the noticeable "texture differences" I would recommend using an airbrush for an even coat. Again not my preferred method but it does work well occasionally.

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  4. I just have a couple of questions regarding this method. Is there any other coats need after the future floor is applied and dried? are the parts suppose to remain sticky after the use of future floor or will problem be resolved through the eventual drying of the product?

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    Replies
    1. Good questions.

      You can still use a topcoat over the future floor if you want. But it should be an acrylic based topcoat.


      Once the future floor has dried completely it will be smooth and hard, it should not be sticky. I'll typically let it dry overnight.

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    2. If for instance you don't get your first coat as great or as consistent as you want it to be would it be better to apply another coat or use some chemical to remove the first coat and start again? Or would you say this is one of those instances where its "get it right on the first shot"?

      I'm asking because I'm having mixed results about this method and although this is probably due to my inexperience I'm just making sure theres nothing i'm missing out of the equation. Sorry for asking so many questions.

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    3. I'm pretty sure that windex will strip the future floor right off of it.

      Don't worry about asking questions, that's how we learn.

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    4. Will anytype of windex do?

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    5. I can't say for certain. But I do know the basic brand name work

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