I'd like to know too...

Vid? I could use this info if anyone knows also

Chris

+1. need a good method.

It's difficult to tell from the photo how deep the scratches are, but they don't look too bad, so I would start with the Novus 3, 2, and 1 solutions (in that order). If that's not enough, then you would need to start with some really fine sand papers (1000 grit or finer) or lapping paper, then on to the Novus.

Edit: You might want to check in on the thread "Acrylic Pinball: Clearly I'm insane". I do a lot of work with acrylic, but not near as much polishing as he's done.

If it's WPC-95 era machine, you can order a new plastic for about the cost of a bottle of Novus:

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=3208

wax, lots of hand rubbing with soft cloth and wax, then repeat with automotive scratch removing wax is how I'd go about doing that one. I dont think the auto scratch removing wax removes scratches as much as fills them but have had really nice results using the stuff anyway.

Novus was made specifically for this. My suggestion would be to do this by hand.

1. Clean the surface with Novus 1 (this is a cleaner only),
2. Buff with Novus 2 (this is the least abbraisive polish but should be effective for removing light scratches). Take your time, this needs lots of elbow grease.
3. Clean again with Novus 1.
4. If results are not satisfactory, then go to Novus 3 (most abbraisive) and focus only on the deep scratch areas with that.
5. Novus 2 over the whole surface.
6. Clean with Novus 1

If this still fails you might get out your drill attachement and start over with Novus 3. 1500 grit sandpaper, followed by Novus 3, 2, 1 may also yield results if you have deeper scratches (graffiti is an example). I've seen people get some crazy stuff out starting with 500 grit, then higher grit sandpaper, then Novus 3, 2, 1.

You may be thinking, why not start with Novus 3, or the sandpaper? In my opinion, you don't want to overkill. You're removing layers of the plastic with the abbrasives so I always do as little as possilbe. It takes more effort but it also prevents additional issues cause by using needless abrasives.

Novus2 will clean that right up.

As funny as this is going to sound to Pinsiders, Novus was actually designed to remove scratches from PLASTICS.

By hand is probably a good idea with plastics.. they melt at a very low temp.

But- if you know what your doing you will get a far quicker completion and can take out deeper scratches with a buffer and a pad- but I personally would really look into what pad to use on plastics... heat is likely a major concern and the material of the pad may be a major major deal with plastics.

I would avoid anything that could heat up the acrylic. When acrylic is heated, it develops internal stresses that can be released in the form of small cracks. I tried using one of those oscillating tools with a soft cloth and novus in place of the sanding pad. The piece cracked as I was polishing it. I recommend doing it by hand. It really shouldn't take that long.

Even funnier that pinsiders think car wax will protect their wooden playfield from A STEEL BALL FLYING AROUND. This hobby is hilarious. d

As other have suggested, start with 1, then 2 using a clean microfiber cloth. If you don't see any improvement, it may be made of polycarbonate, which can't be buffed out. Flame polish only (get a new one).