Scracthes on Epoxy Resin Lake

[MikuMatt81]

Hi everyone,

 

Ive used Woodland Scenics Deep Pour water, which I belive to be Epoxy resin on my lake Diorama section of a Layout.

 

When I was working on my lineside fence this afternoon, I got regular old sweaty finger marks on a small area of the lake surface, and to my horror I found I couldnt easily get them off. Honestly I couldnt belive the resin was so fragile!!

 

I tried to polish them out with a bit of IPA, but it left the area looking cloudy compared to the rest of the glossy finish.

 

Now my question is there anyway I can return the glossy look to the effected area without resorting to sanding and / another pour which I have no room for.

 

Any advice or tips deeply appreciated!

[Kylestrome]

It's possible to buy acrylic polish, but failing that you could try polishing with a little toothpaste.

 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2023 by Kylestrome

[Paul H Vigor]

2 hours ago, MikuMatt81 said:

Hi everyone,

 

Ive used Woodland Scenics Deep Pour water, which I belive to be Epoxy resin on my lake Diorama section of a Layout.

 

When I was working on my lineside fence this afternoon, I got regular old sweaty finger marks on a small area of the lake surface, and to my horror I found I couldnt easily get them off. Honestly I couldnt belive the resin was so fragile!!

 

I tried to polish them out with a bit of IPA, but it left the area looking cloudy compared to the rest of the glossy finish.

 

Now my question is there anyway I can return the glossy look to the effected area without resorting to sanding and / another pour which I have no room for.

 

Any advice or tips deeply appreciated!

I believe with E-Z Water, surface scatches can be removed with a heat gun? 

[Paul H Vigor]

Just now, Kylestrome said:

It's possible to buy acrylic polish, but failing the you could try polishing with a little toothpaste.

Would polishing with even a very mild abrasive compound like toothpaste further 'fog' the surface?

[Kylestrome]

3 minutes ago, Paul H Vigor said:

Would polishing with even a very mild abrasive compound like toothpaste further 'fog' the surface?

 

I doubt it would make it any worse.

[Paul H Vigor]

1 minute ago, Kylestrome said:

 

I doubt it would make it any worse.

I guess you'll report back with regard to your practical experiences?

[robert17649]

Duraglit wadding carefully used can restore canopies on model aicraft as indeed can toothppaste. might give Brasso a try as that is the constituent of duraglit. Other metal polishes are available

[Philou]

I understand that Silvo (if it still exists) is less abrasive than Brasso.

[robert17649]

9 hours ago, Philou said:

I understand that Silvo (if it still exists) is less abrasive than Brasso.

Ithink it is. The other thing to try is one of those impregnated jewellery wipes. they are gentler

[MikuMatt81]

19 hours ago, Paul H Vigor said:

I believe with E-Z Water, surface scatches can be removed with a heat gun? 

 

Hi Paul, thanks for your message. On this occasion I used WS Deep-Pour (Epoxy resin based I belive), which is quite different to the re-heatable EZ-pour product.

 

Id prefer not to polish this small area with any of the products mentioned by members above, as Im 90% sure they will all further cloud the area, and I dont want to worsen things as its really not that noticble from regular viewing angles.

 

I actually tried a special plastic polish on a previous pour, and that too clouded up the resin - it doesnt seem a very robust product at all.

 

What I was really wondering is if there is an Oil based product I could just pour over to restore the sheen - maybe even something like baby oil?

 

Im also considering doing a thin pour of Deluxe Materials "Aqua Magic", used like a kind of surface water... Im currently just trying to work out if it would be safe to use over the WS Deep pour product.

Edited April 8, 2023 by MikuMatt81

[sjp23480]

You could try a coat of Johnsons Klear.  I hasten to add I have never tried it on resin but it does seem to cover clouding on things like clear perspex.

 

Good luck

[Paul H Vigor]

3 hours ago, MikuMatt81 said:

 

Hi Paul, thanks for your message. On this occasion I used WS Deep-Pour (Epoxy resin based I belive), which is quite different to the re-heatable EZ-pour product.

 

Id prefer not to polish this small area with any of the products mentioned by members above, as Im 90% sure they will all further cloud the area, and I dont want to worsen things as its really not that noticble from regular viewing angles.

 

I actually tried a special plastic polish on a previous pour, and that too clouded up the resin - it doesnt seem a very robust product at all.

 

What I was really wondering is if there is an Oil based product I could just pour over to restore the sheen - maybe even something like baby oil?

 

Im also considering doing a thin pour of Deluxe Materials "Aqua Magic", used like a kind of surface water... Im currently just trying to work out if it would be safe to use over the WS Deep pour product.

Indeed, any abrasive product is highly likely to further scratch the surface. Another fall-back option might be to consider dressing the surface to look like floating weed?

[Siberian Snooper]

If you have some of the deep water left, could you knock up a test area off of the layout and try various ideas, before committing to doing it on the layout.

 

I was going to suggest a thin coat of varnish, but again an off layout test, before doing it on the layout.

 

 

[Wheatley]

19 hours ago, sjp23480 said:

You could try a coat of Johnsons Klear.  I hasten to add I have never tried it on resin but it does seem to cover clouding on things like clear perspex.

 

Good luck

Agreed. Brush it on a small area first, it's almost impossible to leave brush marks in it, and see what it does. It certainly gets scratches out of styrene cockpit canopies and it's thin enough to self level. It's an acrylic floor polish so should be reasonably inert compared to solvent based metal polishes. 

[DGO]

Try a very thin layer of gloss mod podge and use an airbrush or a straw to blow small ripples on the surface no lake or pond is usually totally flat and certainly not with swans on it .

 

Resin often takes a very long time to fully cure to a really hard surface and until it does its easy to mark and impossible to polish out all you can do is hide the marks as best you can

 

[stewartingram]

Just a thought - what about the repair kits for windscreen chips? I've never used one, but seen good reports from fellow car owner's club memnbers.