RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

I just finished polishing my rc10 pan...

Maybe someone who also did this could help me out...

Does the aluminum tarnish over time or does it stay fresh and shiny ?

Would a clear coat help?

Thanks

It will fade if it is not kept up or you could have it clear annodized.

Polished aluminum requires upkeep. There are a crapload of different products out there for the auto industry and everyone has their favorite. So my suggestion is to pick one or check out auto forums for a general consensus.

But do you if a clear coat would last ?

Or is it just a waste of time...

clear ano would last a lot longer.

As someone who used to hand polish all the aluminum trim on a vehicle including a diamond plate toolbox. my recommendation is gonna be mothers mag and aluminum polish. I works for most soft metals. I would not use it on anything ano. It says it can remove it but ive had no luck at it doing that. There are many other polishes that work too but mothers has been my go to for a while now. the only downfall to it is it can get messy. It creates a black residue on the towels you use to polish it with. It will come off of your hands with dish soap and off of towels in the wash. I would wash them seperately from anything else. over time they will stain the towels :/

As to how often you'd have to polish. Usually id say a few months between polishing but since it might be shelfed, it should last a lot longer. I'm close to 2 months since I polished off some parts a few months back and they are still in a good state.

edit: i recently got a polished up pan/nose plate/motor plate too. I plan on using mothers to slightly polish it back up before it goes into a build.