Waxing Models?

[Nick Winter]

I've heard of people doing it but I have never tried, I found some turtle wax paste and was wondering how or if this can be done with the wax, or should I change brands?

Nick

[Railfreak78]

Hey Nick. I use Turtle wax rubbing compound on the freshly dried paint to rid of orange peel and such. Then I use a Turtle Wax liquid wax after that. Makes it great to do window trim with paint and such cause you can actually use a toothpick for clean up and shines pretty good. If I can figure out Future without bubbles I'll only use Future though as it REALLY shined up my Caprice with no swirl marks.

[Nick Winter]

Hey Nick. I use Turtle wax rubbing compound on the freshly dried paint to rid of orange peel and such. Then I use a Turtle Wax liquid wax after that. Makes it great to do window trim with paint and such cause you can actually use a toothpick for clean up and shines pretty good. If I can figure out Future without bubbles I'll only use Future though as it REALLY shined up my Caprice with no swirl marks.

Ok Thank you for the Advice Brian I appreciate it.

[Howard Cohen]

I have been using Treatment Model wax and Meguiar's Professional Products for over 30 years and I have sold both in the past as a factory rep. Treatment Model Wax is specially formulated for plastic model cars and will not harm cured paint. The important word is 'cured', not dry. If you use a car wax, it may have silicone in it as well as other chemicals that may be harmful to a plastic model. The real test is time. I have models that are decades old with no fading, peeling or deterioration of any kind. Treatment Model Wax can be found at most hobby stores and is easy to use. It also prevents glue fogging on clear parts. Meguiar's can be found at any good car parts store or auto body supply. You can check their website for product info and hints. Always use the Pro series in the tan numbered bottles as they are all silicone free and will not harm your model. WWW.MEGUIARS.COM

When you wax, make sure the paint is fully cured! Very important! Otherwise you may remove the paint Use very little wax and rub very lightly with a clean soft cloth, like a cloth baby diaper, unused Simoniz has packages of soft polishing cloths available in some stores...get the smooth ones, not the textured. Remember, patience and soft rubbing.

[Nick Winter]

I have been using Treatment Model wax and Meguiar's Professional Products for over 30 years and I have sold both in the past as a factory rep. Treatment Model Wax is specially formulated for plastic model cars and will not harm cured paint. The important word is 'cured', not dry. If you use a car wax, it may have silicone in it as well as other chemicals that may be harmful to a plastic model. The real test is time. I have models that are decades old with no fading, peeling or deterioration of any kind. Treatment Model Wax can be found at most hobby stores and is easy to use. It also prevents glue fogging on clear parts. Meguiar's can be found at any good car parts store or auto body supply. You can check their website for product info and hints. Always use the Pro series in the tan numbered bottles as they are all silicone free and will not harm your model. WWW.MEGUIARS.COM

When you wax, make sure the paint is fully cured! Very important! Otherwise you may remove the paint Use very little wax and rub very lightly with a clean soft cloth, like a cloth baby diaper, unused Simoniz has packages of soft polishing cloths available in some stores...get the smooth ones, not the textured. Remember, patience and soft rubbing.

The car i'd like to wax was painted and built the end of december. But I'll look for some of those clothes.

[JamesW]

I used Turtle Wax paste on a Polar Lights GTO (prepainted) a few years ago and never had a problem with it.

[Nick Winter]

I used Turtle Wax paste on a Polar Lights GTO (prepainted) a few years ago and never had a problem with it.

Ok thanks for the heads up, I mostly use automotive paints anyway.

[crazyjim]

Model Car Wax - The Treatment is the only way to go. I usually start out with Novus #2 before the BMF. Then use Novus #1. When the build is complete, I do a coat of Model Car Wax.

[Nick Winter]

Model Car Wax - The Treatment is the only way to go. I usually start out with Novus #2 before the BMF. Then use Novus #1. When the build is complete, I do a coat of Model Car Wax.

ok thanks fella's I tried a bit on KITT and it came up super shinny after I cleaned it off.

[Nick Winter]

i had a bad reaction when i used "the Treatment" model car wax on a build that had Keith Marks decals on it. for the most part the wax dissolved the decals. i think Keith Marks decals are done with an ALPS printer. i will not use any waxes or clears with those decals.

i also use Mother's California Gold cleaner wax and Armor All's Diamond Hard Shine spray-on car polish. i don't know if either of those have silicon in them or not. i've been using both for quite a few years and the Armor All product has never harmed any decals in my experience.

some like to use Future as a clear coat on models and have had excellent results with it. i "waxed" a '71 GTX with Future back in the mid-90's and today that car is covered in cracks. not big gaping cracks, but there are fine cracks all over that car where the Future was applied.

Dave

ok thank you Dave funny enough I was talking to keith earlier today about a set of decals I ordered, and yes they are printed with an alps.

[Nick Winter]

let me elaborate a little on the Keith Marks decals/wax situation. when i built my '71 Roadrunner i used Keiths excellent decals. the car had been painted and cleared with Testors lacquers, the shine was pretty nice. i applied the decals and then later decided to apply "the Treatment" to help blend the decals into the paint and bring everything to a nice polished appearance. everything went well and they car looked very nice. a short time later i picked the car up and when my finger rubbed across the decal it came apart in chunks. this wasn't just the printed part of the decal, it was the carrier film that dissolved. the decals were sticky and upon close inspection were cracking and coming apart. i used some decal solvent, removed them and after contacting Keith he replaced them even though it was my fault. i went back and repolished the car with the Armor All polish i have to clean it up and when the replacement decals arrived applied them to the model without any further issues. currently there is no wax or polish applied OVER the Keith Marks decals and i think that's where the problem came from.

Dave

Dave I tried this waxing method on my Bandit trans am it has Keith's decals on it (and a lot of them at that) I think it might have been the clear I had no problems with my decals.

[Nick Winter]

the clear i used wasn't the problem, it was the Treatment wax. applied over the decals it attacked and destroyed them.

Dave

Weird were the decals over or under the clear.

[935k3]

some like to use Future as a clear coat on models and have had excellent results with it. i "waxed" a '71 GTX with Future back in the mid-90's and today that car is covered in cracks. not big gaping cracks, but there are fine cracks all over that car where the Future was applied.

Dave

Dave the Future can be removed with ammonia. This will get rid of the cracks. The only cracking I have ever had was over Tamiya's Acrylics, then the paint cracks too. I had a few over testor's enamels once but I wiped it off with ammonia and re-applied it and had no more problems. It does not like Dehydrators either.