I've had a mixed bag of results with this method (more success than failures), so I'm looking to see what others are doing.

For my blown plastic nose conses from my Estes kits, I first sand with 220 grit in a circular pattern to get rid of the seam lines. Then completely sand the entire nosecone until all the gloss/semigloss of the virgin plastic is gone. Next I sand again using 320 grit to eliminate the deep scratches that 220 leaves behind. Then it's onto 400 grit (wet or dry). I last use 600 grit (wet or dry) to really make things really smooth.

I'm next using toothpaste to give it one last abrasion before washing it with soap and water. I dry it, then (presuming that it's not the same color as the body tube) paint it with the final color. If it is the same color as the body tube, I'll spray a coat of primer before doing the top color.

3 of my last 4 nose cones turned out looking pretty sharp (all of them were a contrasting color to the the body tube) The last one however had odd dimples in the paint that I think may have been caused by a small amount of water (or droplets from a sneeze) that I need to get out.

To paint, I'm using some poster putty to secure the nose cone to a dowel, and painting it in its entirety (rather than masking off the shoulder). I leave the nosecone on the dowel (parallel to the ground) for as much as a day to allow the paint to dry; especially if it's a gloss color.

__________________
.
.

Dreaming of making the rockets I dreamed of as a kid (and then some).

"The Guide says there is an art to flying", said Ford, "or rather a knack."
"The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."

Launching is Optional... Landing? That Depends on Trees.