how bad is my orange peel?

hi guys,

So i've done some research on polishing to make it smooth and glossy, and i'm ready to step into it now.

But i've read alot of people using different grit of sandpaper to smooth out the surface prior to polish. Some use 2000 grit, some use 12000, and I have no idea which to use...i've attached two photos, and judging from it, how bad is my orange peel, and what sandpaper/other methods should i use to smooth it out prior to polishing? Thanks in advance!!!

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc156/renelsisc/DSCF1699.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc156/renelsisc/DSCF1697.jpg

Like ever you'll find all the info you need searching, lot of threads and tutorials on the matter.

In your specific case you'll do two things:

-1s and most important learn how achieve a decent coat with less OP that may be just polished with thin mesh or polish. To receive precise infos you may give more information too, about your media and tools. If you're using an airbrush I guess you're using it with hi pressure, or thick paint. The paint seems almost dry when sprayed.

-2nd: you'll try to cut out those OP starting by a 1000 grit (wet, better with a bit of soap) and starting by a 2000 grit then, when you'll be able to achieve less OP. 1000-2000 followed by the whole Micromesh or similar collection, so 3200-3600-4000-6000-12000 (ever wet) , followed by the compound of your choice (after the 12000 you'll just use the Fine Tamy compound and you'll have a great finish)

how bad is my orange peel?

Looking at your first photo I would say it's pretty bad and I don't mean this in a derogatory way.I think that rather than trying to polish that out it would be better to not have as much 'Orange Peel' to start with so making you much less work on the polishing stages.You should be able to significantly reduce the 'Orange Peel' to a point where it is no longer such a problem.Don't worry though because with a little help I'm sure that this problem can be resolved.First off can you give a little more information.What brand of paint have you used? How was the paint applied? Airbrush? Aerosol spray? If you used an airbrush how much thinning did you do to the paint before spraying? What pressure did you spray at? How close did you hold the airbrush or aerosol nozzle to the model surface whilst spraying?
All these things can be contributing factors to a poor finish.If you can provide some more detailed information I'm sure we can help you.
Meanwhile the website I have listed below may well answer all of your questions and more.I have provided the link to the tutorials page which has a section on preparing the body for primer etc and another section on 'Perfect Paint' have a look at it.It may be just what you are looking for.

http://www.italianhorses.net/Tutorials/tutorials.htm

I hope this helps you out but if not or you have any more questions feel free to post again and I'll try to help where I can.

Best regards,

Steve Noble

What paint are you using? To me it looks like some auto touch up but without any clear coat.

Kurz

Yeah, I'd strip and repaint. You should have minimal orange peel in the first place.

Well, it is bad, but it is not lost yet. As far as I can see you sprayed blue metallec, which means you will have to spray several clear coat to finish. You could either wait until you bring the clear then smooth the final surface using as coarse sand paper as it requires. However, I would try to get this surface a bit uniform first before going to use clear. This means only some rough (wet of course) sanding. Do not try an over kill mission because you will cover that paint anyway with clear paint, and will probably have orange peel again. The only critical point in my opinion is sanding the orange peel around small details. This might be a pain in the neck to get properly done. You will wish your fingers were as big as a 3-years old child to reach the dificult areas.

Good luck

It will take less time and be more enjoyable to just strip it off with SuperClean or DOT brake fluid and start over. IMO, it's never going to look right if you try to sand down the roughness, especially since it's a metallic. Plus, it's tedious, lousy, time-consuming work. You have better things to do:

Before you re-apply, get some old plastic toys or something and practice spraying until you can consistently get a smooth, thin, wet coat. Orange peel is not a fact of life; with an airbrush, you can eliminate it entirely; with a spray can, you can greatly reduce it. I'm not a believer in sanding down orange peel with an endless succession of MicroMesh grits. It's far better to get a smooth surface in the first place, and then use a couple of polishes (Tamiya!) to get a great shine. As Steve Noble suggested, check Alec Kustov's work - and methods! - at http://www.italianhorses.net. Check his build reports, too.

As everybody else has said, it's pretty apparent that your paint was too dry and too thick when it landed on the surface of your car. I suspect you used an aerosol spray can and held it too away, so the paint thickened and was partially dry by the time it arrived. Looks like you kept applying more and more, in hopes that the surface would flatten out. Well, gooey, semi-dry paint doesn't flatten, so matters just got worse.

On your next try, hold the can closer and sweep faster. When the paint lands on the model, it should have a definite "wet look." It takes some practice to get that wetness and still not get sags and runs. Nozzles and aerosol pressures can change, so I suggest doing some test sweeps right before painting the model itself.

If you're using an airbrush, do all that, plus lower the pressure and thin the paint.

(Just a note: As Steve Noble has mentioned, when you ask for help, be specific. You'll get more useful solutions. Also - size down your pics to no wider than 650 pixels. These are stretching the html, so we have to constantly scroll left and right.)

Diddy

hi guys,

sorry about not enough info. I'm new with this (as you can tell :( ) so sometimes i'm unaware as to what is necessary info, and what is random blabbering...

Anyhow, i dont have an airbrush, and i just spray out of a can, holding it about a foot away (too far?) and it's an automotive paint. Tamiya's didn't have that colour i wanted.

when painting, it should look wet? but not dripping right? hmm....maybe thats where my problem is :(

i try not to wet metallics cause theyll swirl.spraying 6 inches works for me and light coats in semi fast streaks, this pic is after clear but i should be that smooth once cleared

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c330/Lownslow302/802ae512.jpg

Like everyone else has been saying, you'll be far better off if you start with a better coat of paint. You'll be polishing that for a very, very long time and it'll never look right - and since it's a metallic, you'll have to still spray it with a couple light coats when it's all said and done to restore the proper look to the flake (metallic flake sits under some pigment in metallic paints, and when you sand the paint you expose the flake, giving your car a funny "starry" look).

Tamiya's website has a really good painting tutorial with pictures, and best of all, a short video demonstration. I'd been building for years and had been getting acceptable (to me) paint jobs before I saw the video, and I was still surprised at how close the painter held the can to the car, and more surprised still at how fast he moved the can over the surface of the car!

Find it here: http://www.tamiya.com/english/scale/beginner2/2.htm

The key will be the light coats before the heavy coats, and the "heavy" coats still aren't that heavy.

You expressed concern about the paint needing to look "wet" without any runs in it. Yeah, that's the hard part. But it's really key. The final coats should be very glossy ("wet" looking) as they go on. If not, STOP. Let the paint dry, and lightly sand it before proceeding. I know it's hard, I have a hard time convincing myself to do it, but it's worth it. Piling on paint doesn't work. Someone here once said "Paint hides nothing!" and that's certainly true; paint won't hide bad paintwork beneath it either.

Since you are using a metallic, you'll want to put a clear over it before polishing, as I explained before about the metal flake.

Don't be discouraged, painting is the hardest part for most all modelers, and there's a steep learning curve. Practice and you'll be ok.

First coats are always dull. Glossy appearance is possible only with a some depth in the paint. Beginners tend to make always the same mistake (as I used to do), to apply a heavy paint coat that seems proper in their eyes. As everone have already said, go with several light coats and control the surface between each two coats. The first layer will not, and should not, fully cover the surface. I always concentrate on the critical areas first, like wheel archs, roof pillars, and edges, leaving the 'flat' areas to later coats. If you go slowly and have patience, you will finally reach the desirable shine. It is not that tedious anymore with the modern, fast drying automotive paint. You can apply up to 4 coats in less than a day.

How are you applying the paint?
What is your first coat of paint like?
Are you covering the whole car until even in colour all in one coat?

Describe your painting process completely.