Eddie Amsel
Student
So I usually put everything related to Vewlix in the Appreciation Owners thread but I thought this could deserve it's own thread for better visibility.
I think a lot of us are not quite sure how to refurbish scratched control panels, myself included.
I found all kinds of suggestions and guesses but no clear tutorial on it so I decided to open this thread.
I am not sure what the material on the original Taito Panels is (neither do I know what's on the Repos) that's used for the layer over the Artwork.
It does surely look like some kind of Vinyl/ Plexi so I thought to give it a try to just treat it like that.
I had an original Taito Vewlix C 1L7B Panel which I already removed some rust from and thought to give it a go to refurbish it.
After trying Novus 3 and 2 without satisfying result and thought I'd risk it and sand it down.
Unfortunately the pictures do only hardly represent the actual condition of the panels.
It's really hard to take accurate pictures with the right light and reflections but I am sure y'all know that...
Here is how the Panel looked:
I ordered some Sandpaper from my local hobby shop:
#600 (needs to be wet sandable)
#1000 (needs to be wet sandable)
#2000 (needs to be wet sandable)
#4000 (look e.g. for Tamiya)
#6000 (look e.g. for Tamiya)
#8000 (look e.g. for Tamiya)
I also added in Novus which I had laying around:
I started with the #600 Sandpaper and a Spraybottle of water to keep the Panel wet.
I sanded the Panel in the direction of the print and then 90° against it and again in direction of the print.
So three times in total per Sandpaper. just make sure not to use Circular Motion.
Here a picture during the #600 Grit sanding right at the start:
It might also be possible to go even with like #400 Paper for deep scratched but I didn't want to try.
For really deep scratches it should be better to sand it more often or just leave them in.
I decided that I did not want to take away too much of the Vinyl and could live with some scratches.
You can see the Panel immediately becoming dull when sanding:
Make sure to fully wash the panel with some water and soap between changing grits.
After #2000 I gave the Panel a rub with Novus 3 and then 2.
I cannot really say if that did a whole lot but it surely did not do any harm.
When Starting with #4000 Grit paper the sanding is more becoming a polishing and the panel starts to win back some
shine and reflections.
I still went both directions but made sure to finish with the direction of the print since this looked way better.
#6000 is where you really could see fine scratches go away and also being added if you're not careful.
Make sure you have enough light, ideally in 90° to a window with daylight to be able to see all the fine scratches when doing this.
After finishing with #8000 (this polishing paper is not really necessary)
I thought I'd give my Tamiya Polishing Paste a try. Besides Arcade my other hobby is Scale model Building so I had these laying around.
This paste is usually used on Plastic after using a glossy clear coat.
You can also use it directly on scratched Clear Plastic Parts.
I used those with Cotton Balls in a circular Motion finishing with strokes parallel to the print.
The result was really satisfying.
There are a few (2-3) DEEP Scratches left. All of the light scratches are gone and the Overlay is mirror smooth.
I think it gained back all it's shine and reflection.
I am sure I could have been able to also remove those deep scratches if I would have been more patient with the #600 Sandpaper
and would have just added multiple rounds to it.
Here is the result, however you can really see the difference better in real life:
Conclusion:
You can wetsand your CP and bring back it's shine with Polishing Paste and Paper.
The total process took me around 2-3 hours. I did everything by hand. You might be able to use machines for sanding and polishing but I would be extremely careful
and use only low RPM and make sure to wetsand so that your plastic doesn't melt.
If you're patient I think its better to go by hand. My biggest concern was not being able to bring back the shine without a Gloss Coat but it's definitely possible with extreme fine Polishing Paste or Sandpaper.
I have another Spare 1L7B and I might give it a go sometime
I think a lot of us are not quite sure how to refurbish scratched control panels, myself included.
I found all kinds of suggestions and guesses but no clear tutorial on it so I decided to open this thread.
I am not sure what the material on the original Taito Panels is (neither do I know what's on the Repos) that's used for the layer over the Artwork.
It does surely look like some kind of Vinyl/ Plexi so I thought to give it a try to just treat it like that.
I had an original Taito Vewlix C 1L7B Panel which I already removed some rust from and thought to give it a go to refurbish it.
After trying Novus 3 and 2 without satisfying result and thought I'd risk it and sand it down.
Unfortunately the pictures do only hardly represent the actual condition of the panels.
It's really hard to take accurate pictures with the right light and reflections but I am sure y'all know that...
Here is how the Panel looked:
I ordered some Sandpaper from my local hobby shop:
#600 (needs to be wet sandable)
#1000 (needs to be wet sandable)
#2000 (needs to be wet sandable)
#4000 (look e.g. for Tamiya)
#6000 (look e.g. for Tamiya)
#8000 (look e.g. for Tamiya)
I also added in Novus which I had laying around:
I started with the #600 Sandpaper and a Spraybottle of water to keep the Panel wet.
I sanded the Panel in the direction of the print and then 90° against it and again in direction of the print.
So three times in total per Sandpaper. just make sure not to use Circular Motion.
Here a picture during the #600 Grit sanding right at the start:
It might also be possible to go even with like #400 Paper for deep scratched but I didn't want to try.
For really deep scratches it should be better to sand it more often or just leave them in.
I decided that I did not want to take away too much of the Vinyl and could live with some scratches.
You can see the Panel immediately becoming dull when sanding:
Make sure to fully wash the panel with some water and soap between changing grits.
After #2000 I gave the Panel a rub with Novus 3 and then 2.
I cannot really say if that did a whole lot but it surely did not do any harm.
When Starting with #4000 Grit paper the sanding is more becoming a polishing and the panel starts to win back some
shine and reflections.
I still went both directions but made sure to finish with the direction of the print since this looked way better.
#6000 is where you really could see fine scratches go away and also being added if you're not careful.
Make sure you have enough light, ideally in 90° to a window with daylight to be able to see all the fine scratches when doing this.
After finishing with #8000 (this polishing paper is not really necessary)
I thought I'd give my Tamiya Polishing Paste a try. Besides Arcade my other hobby is Scale model Building so I had these laying around.
This paste is usually used on Plastic after using a glossy clear coat.
You can also use it directly on scratched Clear Plastic Parts.
I used those with Cotton Balls in a circular Motion finishing with strokes parallel to the print.
The result was really satisfying.
There are a few (2-3) DEEP Scratches left. All of the light scratches are gone and the Overlay is mirror smooth.
I think it gained back all it's shine and reflection.
I am sure I could have been able to also remove those deep scratches if I would have been more patient with the #600 Sandpaper
and would have just added multiple rounds to it.
Here is the result, however you can really see the difference better in real life:
Conclusion:
You can wetsand your CP and bring back it's shine with Polishing Paste and Paper.
The total process took me around 2-3 hours. I did everything by hand. You might be able to use machines for sanding and polishing but I would be extremely careful
and use only low RPM and make sure to wetsand so that your plastic doesn't melt.
If you're patient I think its better to go by hand. My biggest concern was not being able to bring back the shine without a Gloss Coat but it's definitely possible with extreme fine Polishing Paste or Sandpaper.
I have another Spare 1L7B and I might give it a go sometime
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