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Making Metal Parts Shine

White metal is a material that will polish up to a devilish shine! We took some step-by-step photos to show how much polishing results in how much shine.

We used some white metal parts from Model Factory Hiro’s fine kit of theĀ 1984 Honda NSR500 for our demonstration.

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Here’s how it starts out: rough and dirty, without a trace of shine.

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First, scrub the part in various directions with a wire brush.

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Even with just the wire brushing completed, it’s already pretty shiny!

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Then wet-sand the part, gradually moving from 600- to 1500-grit sandpaper.

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We then recommend Hasegawa’s Ceramic Compound and Coating Polymer. First, polish with the Ceramic Compound, taking care to wipe off any polishing residue immediately with a fine cloth.

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Then finish the part with the Coating Polymer, which results in a near mirror-like surface!

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Here’s a shot of the finished part on top of the kit’s decal sheet, to give you an idea of the reflectivity of the mirror-like surface. Check out that reflection!

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We also polished the NSR500’s fuel tank, this time going for a well-used “vintage” look.

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1 Comment

  1. The effect of this is stunning! Sometimes even just the brushed steel effect is enough, but a mirror surface on a small scale really catches the eye.

    Emerje

    Reply

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