Maintaining a film finish.

We have had some good stuff on this site concerning MonoKote (and others sorts of covering film, all of which I deem as inferior to MonoKote), most recently John Miller's article on laying the stuff on a model.

But what about keeping it all spiffy? Or presenting a film-covered model to those persnickety judges, some of whom come off as the sort of person who might glue a mirror to his shoe, the better to look up women's skirts?

I'll go first.

I used to simply clean the model well with whatever spray-type cleaner was handy, or cheap, or both, and wipe down with clean towel.

Then I began using "Tuff Stuff" spray cleaner, readily available in auto-arts stores. The night before an event I would spray Armor-All on the clean model, let it sit for a few minutes, wipe it off, buff with motel room towel.

From there I went to cleaning with "Tuff Stuff," wiping it down with those blue paper "shop towels" from Scott, polishing model with Meguiar's (sic?) Glazing Compound.

(Both "Tuff Stuff" and Scott paper towels were a good tip from Don McClave.)

Today, and while there is some slack time in the shop, I will still use Glazing Compound on my models.

But as we are constantly junking up our models with effluent, most of my preparation is done immediately prior to appearance judging.

And that is a complete cleaning with "Tuff Stuff," wiped down with the Scott towels. Then a few squirts of Meguiar's "Final Inspection" on a clean, soft towel, wiping all over and until the stuff evaporates.

Works for me. What works for you? And is it better?

NOTE: Use only the towels from "high class" motels. Cheaper motels do not have nice soft towels.

DAN WROTE....Both "Tuff Stuff" and Scott paper towels were a good tip from Don McClave.)

AAHH DAN HELLO 99cent store remember "Tuff Stuff".

Scott(all I want is to be noticed)Riese:'(

I use Monokote Polish, from Sheldon's in San Jose, CA. I buff it with some of the diapers we still have when Amy was a baby. Hey! Amy's 15, think I need some new diapers? This is a small town, I can just hear the talk now: "Mr. Lauerman's buying diapers, at HIS AGE!!!"
I don't dare...

Scott,

My friend, what are you talking about? The very first time I heard of "Tuff Stuff" and those blue paper towels, Don McClave was putting both to good use and suggested them to me. Maybe you told Dave Royer, he told Don, who then told me. But my statement is still accurate.

Oooops! Forgot to remember the name and/or handle, but that polish from Top Flite, for use on MonoKote, looks suspiciously like Armor-All to me. Both products work in an identical manner, although I have yet to try squirting the former into a fresh gallon of fuel.

So far this thread kinda sucks. I really was hoping to hear of new techniques and materials for maintaining--or even adding some sparkle to--film finishes.

Example: Once in awhile I see products specifically designed to polish clear plastic. Well, the top layer of MonoKote is a clear plastic film. Do any of these products work, or is one left with a serious mess?

Has anyone tried spray bomb "Pledge" furniture polish as a finishing touch? Seems as I remember my buddy flying the 1:1 scale Piper used this stuff on the windshield as a clean and scratch filler. May work the same on "Koat". Not sure of the fuel-v- Pledge interaction here but it is a wax material. Maybe it would work.

Don McClave can sometimes be caught using "Pledge" in a final prep of his MonoKote/LustreKote finishes. No streaks.

But that "Final Inspection" stuff is even better. I just haven't told Don about it yet!

I've used turtle wax car polish before to make it shine, I thought it might help around the seams too, but I don't have any proof of that. I don't know if that is any better/worse than what you are using, I may try your technique.

For getting the goop off, I use a mix of 50/50 409 and rubbing alchohol, it seems to cut the fuel and oil pretty good.

I don't do anything that requires judging, so for the most part I just wipe it down with the aformentioned goop getter, but after-a-while, it does begin to lose its luster.