Reducing Automotive paint orange peel?

Just sprayed my Nissan 300ZX (well I did Saturday) and it has had four days of warm drying time. Stuck the body in a plastic box in the window. It was warm in the box, as the temp was pretty high at times due to the sun.. Nicely baked the clear coat. But, orange peel or what. I used automotive paints, and automotive clear coat. Never seen as much orange peel as what this had..

I started with 3200 micro mesh, not a chance... Went as low as 2400 to start with and sanded the entire body. Took ages, only for me to then go through on a corner, right on the front wing on the edge.. But I continued, and this was the only place I have gone through on, and now the body has a superb reflective shine. Apart from the front wing.

I wasn't about to spray the entire body again.. Seems automotive paints take a good beating.. The clear coat was tough.. Very tough as it took some elbow to sand and polish. So, masked of the affected area and just repainted it. Just waiting for it to dry, then I'll flat and body should be done..

Apart from the orange peel, automotive paints are great for model car bodies..!! But does everyone have bad orange peel with automotive paints? Searching seems it's a bit hit and miss with the orange peel.. I did my best but it was hard to avoid.

Sounds like you need more reducer while spraying the clear.
Automotive paints are formulated to gloss up without orange peel at a certain thickness, which more often than not, is a bit thick for models.
If you spray them thinned down more than the recommended amount for real cars, you can "fool" the paint into glossing up in a thinner coat.
You may also want to lower your air pressure when you thin the paint more... - Mark

thanks, but what about when I'm using a can? I don't airbrush my model car bodies. I don't have a compressor, and so use cans to save on air.

are you following the mist coat as laid out in many painting instructions on here? if so, dont. you might want to use it on the primer. as spraying too heavy too soon can craze the plastic. when it comes to the clear though. i would spray wet coats. this stuff "holds" quite well, and will not run. This is the method i use when spraying duplicolor and have not experienced a run ever.

In that case all I can offer is to heat the can in some very warm water for a few minutes prior to spraying, that will help thin it out some and it should flow better. - Mark

One of the nail polish cars I did came out very orange peeled; I wetsanded the clear (Duplicolor) with 2000, then polished with Turtle Wax cheap polish stuff and it's like glass. Nail polish tends to be pretty rough textured...still working with my technique on that.

kat, I had the same problem on my first nail polish job. I used the same method, of sanding and polishing the clear

Sounds like you need more reducer while spraying the clear.
Automotive paints are formulated to gloss up without orange peel at a certain thickness, which more often than not, is a bit thick for models.
If you spray them thinned down more than the recommended amount for real cars, you can "fool" the paint into glossing up in a thinner coat.
You may also want to lower your air pressure when you thin the paint more... - Mark

BINGO!

...but in your case I'd suggest buying a quality airbrush and an air source (compressor, air tank, whatever you can afford) and then doing the above.

My last coat of 2-part auto clear (Nason/PPG) is always shot "reduced" (usually with Testor's enamel thinner no less) and if I keep my technique correct, wetsanding isn't necessary...of course, who keeps their technique correct all the time?...;-)>

hth,
Bill

When it comes to clearcoat I lay VERY light mist coats (about 5) before laying the wet. Really time-consuming butworth it. The heat in the clear is too high for pain I find. Spray it too wet too soon will eat into the paint and create the famous dimple of oranges.

When it comes to clearcoat I lay VERY light mist coats (about 5) before laying the wet. Really time-consuming butworth it. The heat in the clear is too high for pain I find. Spray it too wet too soon will eat into the paint and create the famous dimple of oranges.

Yeah, that's what I did.. I applied 3 nist coats first. Still got orange peel. Took me bloody ages to sand out, and then polish up again.

Great range of colours with automotive spray cans, not so easy to apply as TS sprays.. Thankfully they are harder, and take a good beating with the sanding and polishing..

Yeah, that's what I did.. I applied 3 nist coats first. Still got orange peel. Took me bloody ages to sand out, and then polish up again.

Great range of colours with automotive spray cans, not so easy to apply as TS sprays.. Thankfully they are harder, and take a good beating with the sanding and polishing..

Do you have orange peel or crazing? They are two different things and each has a different solution.
Crazing is a reaction between the underlying paint or substrate to the material. This is what most builders get.
Orange peel is caused by not getting enough wet paint on the surface which does not allow the paint to flow out.
Most builders think they have orange peel and try to solve their problem with mist coats but this is the solution to crazing and actually causes orange peel which has to be polished out later. This is treating the symptom not the problem and only makes more work later on down the road.
Paint material selection is the cure. Only use paints made for hobby use such as Tamiya sprays and this includes the primers. If you wish to use lacquers you need to use quality lacquers packaged for airbrush use and thinned with mild thinners.
In short you are not doing anything wrong other than using materials that are not compatable with your model.

Do you have orange peel or crazing? They are two different things and each has a different solution.
Crazing is a reaction between the underlying paint or substrate to the material. This is what most builders get.
Orange peel is caused by not getting enough wet paint on the surface which does not allow the paint to flow out.
Most builders think they have orange peel and try to solve their problem with mist coats but this is the solution to crazing and actually causes orange peel which has to be polished out later. This is treating the symptom not the problem and only makes more work later on down the road.
Paint material selection is the cure. Only use paints made for hobby use such as Tamiya sprays and this includes the primers. If you wish to use lacquers you need to use quality lacquers packaged for airbrush use and thinned with mild thinners.
In short you are not doing anything wrong other than using materials that are not compatable with your model.

The surface had small dimples, like the suface of an orange, plus if I looked down the side, the paint was not totally level looking, reducing the reflective surface.. It wasn't bad bad, but enough to warrant sanding with 2400 grit.. Something I've never done with TS sprays..

As for not using automotive paints. I've used Automotive primer from day 1. All my builds have been primed using automotive plastic primer.. In the UK it's next to impossible to get hobby primers.

The surface had small dimples, like the suface of an orange, plus if I looked down the side, the paint was not totally level looking, reducing the reflective surface.. It wasn't bad bad, but enough to warrant sanding with 2400 grit.. Something I've never done with TS sprays..

As for not using automotive paints. I've used Automotive primer from day 1. All my builds have been primed using automotive plastic primer.. In the UK it's next to impossible to get hobby primers.

If the clear was smooth when you sprayed it and later looked like orange peel then it is crazing. Orange peel looks like orange peel even when wet. Knowing the difference can save you a lot of headache in the future.
David
:smile: