Polishing Metal Parts
White metal is a material that will polish up to a devilish shine! We took gradual 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 the 1984 Honda NSR500 for our demonstration.
Here's how it starts out: rough and dirty, without a trace of shine.
First, we scrubbed the part in various directions with a wire brush.
Even with just the wire brushing completed, it's pretty shiny.
We then wet-sanded the part, moving from 600- to 1500-grit sandpaper.
We then used Hasegawa's Ceramic Compound and Coating Polymer. We first polished with the Ceramic Compound, taking care to wipe off any polishing residue immediately with a fine cloth.
We finished the part with the Coating Polymer, which results in a near mirror-like surface.
We placed 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!
We also polished the NSR500's fuel tank, this time going for a well-used "vintage" look.
Model Factory Hiro's kits feature a lot of metal parts, so an interesting option would be to finish them in the natural bare metal, polished to a high sheen, like brass models.
See our Model Factory Hiro Product Listings!
