Sanding ABS to Polish?

[batninja]

I've reached a crossroads with my KS helmet build. I'm trying to decide whether or not to simply accept the minor imperfections in the plastic and polish the ABS plastic to a shine, or go full out and putty/sand/paint to the glossy finish I want.

 

I already have a small 2" square area that I need to sand down to polish, as a result of a gluing mistake. I've sanded with 220-grit to prep the area. So my question is: what grits of sandpaper do I use to get the plastic down to a point where I can use Novus 1/2/3 plastic polish to obtain the glossy look? 400? 600? Do they make anything finer?

 

And please understand, although I appreciate speculative information ("I bet this would work!"), I'm looking for advice from those who have done this process ("This is how to do it!").

 

Thanks!

[Crikk]

Just my opinion, but this is your bucket, the most visible part of the costume and you want it to look good. I would sand out the imperfections, fill any dimples with spot putty and get the surface as good as you can and give it a coat of gray primer (wet sandable). I've heard of guys talking to a body shop where they can match the white of your armor and do a professional paint job. Might cost you a few extra bucks, but well worth it.

[Guest hel0wrench]

You can get real fine paper that goes up to 4000 grit. If you're going to use a plastic polish kit on it I'd start with the 220 like you did and move up to 400 and then maybe a 1000 wet before hitting the polish pads.