HOW TO.....Use Rubbing Compound And Polishing A Body

Thought i'd share this with you all as it seems to get talked about alot on the forums
Now everybody probably has there own ways of doing this, but this is what I do all the time and it works best for me.

Stuff need
Rubbing compound
Wax
Very soft polishing cloth
Cotton wool bud
Toothpick
Very soft brush
Toothbrush
......and plenty of time !!!

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/678809DSCF0861.JPG

Now, as long as the paint is pretty good, you can start giving the body a rub.
The rubbing compound will not take out bad orange peel. If you do have orange peel you will need to sand the body first before carring on.
First thing to do is add a small amount of rubbing compound to the cloth. This much is about all you will need to do the front of the car shown

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/153969DSCF0864.JPG

Use small cicular rubs, slowly getting bigger and bigger so that you have the whole area covered
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/312738DSCF0867.JPG

It's very important to keep changing the cloth so you dont get a big built up of paint. This can cause scratches as you are trying to pull around old paint from the cloth.
Change to a new part of the cloth as soon as there is about this much paint in the cloth. You should only need a very light pressure when rubbing

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/112399DSCF0871.JPG

Keep adding compound if its starting to get to dry. Its important to keep the compound "wet looking"
When you have covered the whole car, wipe it off with a clean cloth and i repeat it all over again.
In hard to reach places, i use the cotton wool bud

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/223519DSCF0874.JPG

After you have done it twice, do it once more for good luck....i always say...3rd time lucky !!
Leave it for 3-4 minutes. This will allow any compound to dry. Then, if any is left in panel lines etc, use the toothpick to very carefully remove it. (It should just flake off like a powder). You can use the toothbrush also for harder bits. If you look hard in the last pick you will see all the powder sitting on the top of the guard

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/290209DSCF0877.JPG

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/427662DSCF0880.JPG

Lastly, give the car a final light brush over to remove all the compound dust.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/325391DSCF0882.JPG

Next...put some wax onto the cloth, (not to much as) and wax the whole area and wipe clean.
Repeat this again to make sure its all done well.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/309973DSCF0884.JPG

Hopefully...all going well it should end up like this.
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/145211Dscf0888.jpg

This took me around 30-40 minutes....so allow plenty of time

Hopefully this well help all those question about polishing.:cool: :cool:
Any comments are welcome

PMan

thanks a lot!!! that helps


i think its FAQ material

Pman got a quick question, I use automotive compound to buff my car and it looks great. Only question I have is do you notice a difference in tamiya model wax and automotive car wax.

Originally posted by God|Zilla168
Pman got a quick question, I use automotive compound to buff my car and it looks great. Only question I have is do you notice a difference in tamiya model wax and automotive car wax.

I used it once and it scratched the hell out of the paint on my model and was a real pain in the arse to get off :mad:

It will be added to the FAQ :D

Wow, very generous of you to keep sharing your techniques. Well done!

-Chuck

Much appriciated How To :)

hey pman if u spray the car with tamiya paint do u have use tamiya compound and wax? or do u have to use the same kind of brand that u sprayed the car with? thanks

Great 'How-To' Warren!

I expect to see perfect paint finishes from everyone now on!:D:D:D

Your model is so SHINY!!! :eek:

great How-to. it's been added to my favorites. thank you pman. :D

thank you. :)

Great stuff Warren, thanks a lot! :D

Originally posted by HYpERShoT009
hey pman if u spray the car with tamiya paint do u have use tamiya compound and wax? or do u have to use the same kind of brand that u sprayed the car with? thanks
Tamiya compound/wax can be used on any paints

Hi,
thanks Primera man for your good way.....
It's always a pleasure to see and read your "helping"........
Laurent

Thanks alot P-man! :)

I don't thinik you mentioned this, does the car have clear over it?

Originally posted by integra818
Thanks alot P-man! :)

I don't thinik you mentioned this, does the car have clear over it?

No...i never use the stuff.

Awesome write up.
One Question: I heard you can also wet the cloth/compound to produce a shinier finish... is that true ?

Thanks

another great HOW-TO by the great P-man
haha i still remeber the one about Panel lines;)
now i need to go out and get some compound myself
btw! do u spray ure kit with a clear coat?

Originally posted by endlesskev86
another great HOW-TO by the great P-man
haha i still remeber the one about Panel lines;)
now i need to go out and get some compound myself
btw! do u spray ure kit with a clear coat?


Umm, Look 3 replies up.

Originally posted by Mainomega
Awesome write up.
One Question: I heard you can also wet the cloth/compound to produce a shinier finish... is that true ?

Thanks

i don't know if it is true, but how much shinnier can it get? :confused:

Nice explanation Warren!

Great explanation. Mow I'm gonna try it on my body (Hope it will works):D

ty! u the man!

Another great how-to, thank you very much man :ylsuper:ylsuper:ylsuper:ylsuper

Thanks for the write up, definately going to help a lot,
and also saves people from asking the questions again and again.

Hey P-Man thx for the great FAQ but i have one question : You used tamiya acryl color right ??? I use revell enamel airbrush color !! Can I get the same result ????? or anyone else can help me ??? ;)

cYa TheSaint

Originally posted by Thesaint111
Hey P-Man thx for the great FAQ but i have one question : You used tamiya acryl color right ??? I use revell enamel airbrush color !! Can I get the same result ????? or anyone else can help me ??? ;)

cYa TheSaint

You can use it on any paint

I just tried to polish my Opel Astra and it didn't turn out that great.

The method I used was a series of sand papers. 3200, then 3600, then 12000. Then I polished three times with tamiya compound.

Look at the swirls I got.

http://users.smartfella.com/nick2/polished.jpg

I am going to end up re-spraying. look what i did to the bump near the rear. I think I will just use the compund instead of the sanding cloths. It looked a lot better before I started.

could be that you need to wait for the paint to dry even more. Or that you did not have enough coats to cover the body clear. I use my turtle wax compund and it turn out perfectly i will show some pic tomorrow. Look for Tamiya R32 completed. And another tip that I find works great is to get the scratch remover that you see on tv info mercial. i bought some and it really makes the car shine and get all the super fine scratches that the compound may leave.

actually I let it dry for about two weeks.

primera man thanks for the great information on doing this i will have to try this real soon :coolguy:








:apoke:

jedi from what I can see I think you don't have enough paint coats on your model, if you look at the top part of that pic that little cicle part the color is fading away.

Here is the pic with the car and the mirror finish. The two compound I use.

http://members.rogers.com/eyip1/model/r32.jpg

Turtle Wax on the first stage. This compound will do the trick like the tamiya compound. Also the paint I use on the r32 is tamiya and it did not leave a scratch on the car.

http://members.rogers.com/eyip1/model/compound.jpg

The second compund I use is to really hide all the unnotice scratch left by the turtle wax since this is a liquid form you could almost say it is equal to wet sanding with 4000 grit paper and the turtle wax is like the 2000 grit paper. What I like is that this compound will also use the paint on the car to blend fill all the micro scratches. The result is seeing my own reflection on the car.

http://members.rogers.com/eyip1/model/compoundb.jpg

Now, is the deorodant also part of the polishing process ? Like put it on so your arm doesn't sweat ? Interesting idea ;)

heheheh well you do work up a sweat buffing the car so you might as well smell good too hehehe:D

Hey, I just picked up some of that turtle wax rubbing compound today. It made my Datsun 240Z super shiny.

I retook the first pic so now yo ucould see how shinny it is. Stupid me set my camera wrong all this time now the pics are super more detail.

does it also work if you have sprayed clear coats on it?

thanks Pman!!! btw how about metallic colors, do you put clear first or you don't:confused:

I just tried to polish my Opel Astra and it didn't turn out that great.

I use those polishing clothes as well, I am sure your swirls came from the fact that you used the 3200 and 3600 grits. I never use these on the final coat basically only for primer. When I get to the final coat start with the 6000 and work slowly. You can even follow up with Primeras mehtod after using the clothes for that ultra shine.

Primera great how to I do basically the same thing but different products.
I have used a few and all work well
Mequires cleaner wax is great for heavy orange peel
Meguires or Novus Plastic cleaners and polishes are awesome also
and as a final top coat I have used Meguires carnuba wax and Finish 2000

omeone mentioned using car rubbing compound, sounds like you used a number 7 or something like it that was too abrasive, if you use one that does not cut as much it will work and then you can follow up with a finish glaze

Hei Pman, I have one little question: do you do the window trim before or after you polish the body? I have my F40 all ready now, just waiting for the paint to cure right, but I haven't done the trim. What do you say? Should I polish now and do the trim later or vice-versa?

Originally posted by pettercardoso
Hei Pman, I have one little question: do you do the window trim before or after you polish the body? I have my F40 all ready now, just waiting for the paint to cure right, but I haven't done the trim. What do you say? Should I polish now and do the trim later or vice-versa?

I polish the body before adding the trim etc so you can give it a good polish.
If you do all the trim etc first you can end up rubbing some of it off in places.

What really is the purpose of rubbing with tamiya compound?
It feels very similar to light-sand the surface. When you rub a glossy surface with rubbing compound, is that normal that the surface will go dull and the paint sticks on the rubbing cloth?

Which one will perform best:
- sanding, rubbing then clear-coat
or
- sanding, rubbing then wax?

or maybe:
- sanding, rubbing, clear-coat and wax? :iceslolan

Is it essential to sand the

Is it essential to sand the body before polishing?

Is it essential to sand the body before polishing?

No not exactly. Its reccomended. But sometimes you will end up cutting through the paint with the sanding and then rubbing compound. I have achieved a mirror finish with just rubbing compound.

sanding, clearcoat, rubbing, wax!

I paint, clear, sand, compound and wax. For me it's easier to have a steady hand at sanding than clearcoating perfectly and having to sand again.

I know a lot of people paint, then clearcoat, then polish.

Question about that... if your paint coat has moderate orange peel, and then you clearcoat and polish, will the orange peel still be visible through what's left of the clearcoat?

If you sand after u paint and before you polish, won't dat scratch up the paint pretty bad, even with ultra high grit sandpaper? just somethin gi thought about.

If you sand after u paint and before you polish, won't dat scratch up the paint pretty bad, even with ultra high grit sandpaper? just somethin gi thought about.

Somewhat.

On real cars after I paint the basecoat and right before the clear coat, I wetsand the whole car with 2000grit. If you wetsand to much in one spot you'll go through to the primer, same with sanding to hard. After the tedious task is complete the whole car will look like a matte paint. Then the clear coat brings back an incredible shine, and polish.

Models are very similar to real cars.

i dont get it wen you do it does it make the body cleaner

i dont get it wen you do it does it make the body cleaner

When you do what?

Question: Can you polish over decal?

why drag this old thread back up?! DO a search! This topic has been discussed SEVERAL TIMES!

lloking sweet nice tutoria, too bad i skip this step but will keep it in mind when i dont

Hey primera thanks for the tip, its very helpfull.

I have a question for you or anyone who has tried the Tamiya rubbing compound products.
I just got back from a local hobby shop and found three different types of Tamiya rubbing compound. "fine" rubbing compound (blue/white box $4.00), "coarse" rubbing compound (red/white box $4.00), and "finish" rubbing compound (black/white box $8.00). I noticed this is the product you used, but which of the three rubbing compound did you use? Whats the difference between these three? The guys at the hobby shop couldnt answer that question. Is the "finish" rubbing compound pretty much the same as wax, is that why its called "finish"? Hope someone on here can help out.
A free plug in: www.houseofhobbies.com, in burbank, ca.

I'm new here. This is my first post. :smile: so pardon if my question may seem redundant, but i didnt see anyone ask about the differences in this product.

This tutorial was written at the time when tamiya only had one compound - it corresponds to the fine compound they have in their lineup now.

The difference between them is pretty much like you have with sandpaper grit - coarse to finer to the finest. In theory you'll need all 3 after you've sanded the paint to achieve the best result as the coarse one will remove scratches left by the sandpaper quicker but will not give quite the shine as it's, well, too coarse. The fine compound will remove the scratches left by the coarse compound and the finish compound will remove the scratches left by the fine compound.

Wax is a totally different thing; it's non-abrasive while all compounds are abrasive and is used to seal the shine you've achieved by the rubbing compound.