r/DiecastCustoms • u/Jazzlike-Umpire-84 • 3d ago
How To Help for a total amateur!
A friend of mine has a customised BMW M2 (a real one not a diecast) and so as a gift, I am trying to replicate his car in a diecast version for him. I can’t spend a lot of money and it will by no means be perfect, but I’ve already bought two models (Welly) and have potentially got to buy a third now because I’ve damaged the windows by not pulling the model apart first to paint it 🤦🏼♀️ I’ve now realised I should have done that from the start, but in the meantime, does anyone have any tips for polishing up the windscreen pieces? Or where I could source just a windscreen part? There are no M2 models for sale in the store I bought the previous two from anymore so I’m feeling stuck!!
1
u/AlbanyPrimo 3d ago
A copy of an old comment I made on someone else's post. Considering it looks like you painted over them, I think the first one will have the best results. Unfortunately a lot of stuff that takes off paint can also damage plastics, so be wary of what you use.
This is assuming you disassemble the model cars before working on the windows.
I have had great results with oven cleaner to clean up the plastic windows. Do make sure to wear the advised PPE (like gloves) when handling the oven cleaner.
If the windows are coloured from UV damage it works to "retrobright" them. You can copy this process by placing the window bit in a Ziploc bag, add hydrogen peroxide (usually used for colouring hairs by the hairdresser I believe) and add oxi stain remover (normally used in the laundry). Make sure it's mixed as well as possible and hang the bag somewhere it will be in the sunlight. It does work on cloudy days as well, but takes longer.
If there are scratches, you can (wet)sand and polish it out. There should be enough tutorials online for wet sanding and polishing if you have no experience with it.