Paint Polishing Question

[Administrator]

I'm gonna toss this question out here for everyone to kick around.
When you paint a body, do you wetsand the color coat or polish it before applying the gloss coat or do you wait and polish the clear only?
A modeling buddy and I were discussing this a couple nights ago and I polish or wetsand both the color coats and the clear coats but he only wetsands and polishes the clearcoats only. I have found that there can be quite a bit of orange peel in the color coats that are only magnified once the clear is applied so I wetsand the color coats before applying the clear. After clearing i use a polishing kit and polish the clear coats until I get the shine I'm looking for.
I'm just surious what y'all do with your bodies...

[mistertwister]

There could be a thousand different answers to this Brian because lots of it is based on the type of paints used and how smooth the paint and clear lays down to begin with. I generally use paints formulated for models like Model Master and they have always provided great results for me. I have experimented with variuos clears (automotive included) and one with very disasterous results on my Pro Mod Beretta build last year (Krylon clear) which ate the paint job. I use primarily MM enamel clears and I am happy 100% with the results. Some builders don't like enamel clears because they will yellow (they'll do that right out of the can or airbrush) if they're put on too thick or heavy but I have some builds that are 7-8 years old that look just as good now as they did when they were sprayed. I polish only the clear coat and I mostly start with 3200 grit polishing pad and move through the various grits to the 12000 grit pad and then rub out the finish with Kit Scratch Out for the final luster. You have to be careful when sanding metallic paint also because you can remove the metallic and end up with a damaged paint job. I will only wet sand the color or clear if I have orange peel and I generally am lucky that I don't. These are the methods and products that work for me and I'd like to hear what others do also to achieve their "final finish".

[Administrator]

Thanks Darryl. I'm curently toying with a Coronet Pro Street kit and have painted the color coat. I used the new MM Laquer System and am planning on using the High Gloss Clear enamal clearcoat. The color coat looks ok, but I'm debating on trying to smooth it out a bit before applying the clearcoats. The colco is not metallic so ruining the metallic paint isn't really a concern.
One thing I do hate though is trying to polish the paint and burning through spots and having to touch up or repaint the whole body again. I try not to apply alot of paint to keep from hiding the decals, but that doesn't work very well it seems. It gives me fits when i take extra care not to burn through the paint and then sand through it anyways trying to smooth it out before clearing it all.

[1320wayne]

I think like Daryl stated that it all depends on the type of paint and how well your paint job comes out.
I usually wait until I have applied the clear coat to rub out the finish. If the paint job has tons of orange peel then you would definately need to wet sand your color coats before adding clear coats.
I know that Daryl, and myself, have done some graphic paint jobs where parts of the graphics were applied with a brush and left obvious brush strokes. After adding about eight coats of clear and rubbing those out you could never tell that the paint was added with a brush.
It's all trial and error.

[mistertwister]

As Wayne stated, we've both used brush painted graphics where some brush strokes may be visible. A few good coats of clear will hide the brush strokes and many other types of imperfections as well. I won't get discouraged with a tiny amount of orange peel but from my own personal experience orange peel comes from spraying the paint layers on too heavy to begin with rather than layering on thin coats and building up the finish. Anyway though, the clear coat and its application is one of the main keys to a show finish. And again as Wayne says.....It is all "trial and error".

[duane]

Brian,
i worked in a 1.1 restoration shop.
Roger (my buddy and boss) would
spray the color coat and lightly sand
the orange peel. he'd then spray the
clear and lightly sand it. he did this
until he had the number of coat he
wanted, (after the last coat also)
then he'd wax his paint with Meguiar's
#7...his paint would come out perfectly !!!!

[tubbs]

thanks for this thread guys. usually, this is a major reason why i have so many projects going, my paint turns out like crap. i have tried all kinds of ways and i have finally come to the conclusion that its the......

- conditions i paint in (room temp, i paint in the basement)
- i store my paints in the basement so they are cold,
- improper prep of the body and
- just too much in a hurry to get the paint on and the kit finished.

i know this is a little off target of what the thread is based on, i just wanted to bring it up that if these things are not correct, the polishing and sanding will not mean a hill of beans.

for my build-off model, i am planning on usiing a paint stick. anyone ever use one of these? any special brand work the best?

i am planning on using MM paints, laying the paint on thru an air brush (havent used one of these in a long time) and sanding and polishing the clear only. we will see how it turns out.

thanks for bringing this up Bri and your replies guys, and i hope we get more replies on this.