Why,why,why,why, WHY???

I am getting fed up, after 10 coats of clear.
Why does this happen, I have sprayed clear before this model and everything turned out tip top, but on this one for some reason when it's wet, it looks amazing, 20 min into drying it turns out with bazilion orange peel and looks like crap, i don't get it!!!! :banghead:

Is the surface you are spraying onto smooth? Surface preparation is the first step to a good finish.

that is a TON of clear....As rallyraider asked...was the original surface smoothe? What type of clear are you spraying. If you have an airbrush, try switching to a urethane. It is self leveling

Try polishing

:screwy: 20 coats?! thats super thick... i do 4 coats to get my shine... and only 2 are wet coats

Surface was smooth when i sprayed my testors clear, after first time it didn't turn out well, i sanded everything down and tried again, I also tried polishing with 3 different tamiya compounds and it did a little but still left the orange peel in place. Now I just want to strip the god damn paint, what do I use to strip it again?

Keep sanding and polishing. Compound will not remove orange peel (well, it will eventually, but so will rubbing the paint with your finger for days). You need to be patient and keep trying. If you're going to strip the model anyway, why no use it for practice before that? The sanding/polishing steps are described in the FAQ and tutorial sections, you'll find loads of information there.

What kind of paint are you using? I use Tamiya and rarely even use any clear at all.. just paint about 4-5 coats of can spray and polish/wax. (see link)

http://www.bhop73.com/models/silvia_s15/s15_final/DSC_8308.jpg

i was using testors

I got a feeling its either the paint is the problem or the way u spray... Paint can could be spraying out paint too thick or the paint isnt smooth when discharged from the can. Or u could be spraying not correctly , misting coats too much ... if u keep misting and misting until u get a wet coat then maybe thats why orange peel appears.

I got a feeling its either the paint is the problem or the way u spray... Paint can could be spraying out paint too thick or the paint isnt smooth when discharged from the can. Or u could be spraying not correctly , misting coats too much ... if u keep misting and misting until u get a wet coat then maybe thats why orange peel appears.I spray a nice wet coat, only mist the first coat(s)
Ill try not using clear coat on my next job, see if it works better for me.

it would be nice if you could explain your exact steps of painting, polishing a car.

Check in the tutorials. Primera Man has an excellant tut. on how to paint and polish using tamiya paints and not using clear coat. But you cant use metallics or pearls obviously. You must clear before polishing those. If you use an Italian red for example, you can polish it out with no clear in 7-14 days. Check it out.

-Chris

Without clear .. u dont get that deep shine. its shiny , yes but it doesnt look like car paint

Details man, details!

What exactly are you doing? What are you using? How are you doing it?

What did you paint with? What did you prime with? What are you clearing with (Testors what? Spray laquer? Metalizer sealer? Can, airbrush?) If you want good help, you have to tell us everything you can about what you're doing and what is happening. Vague questions only lead to vague answers.

I have a suspicion (guess!) you're putting laquer clear on too heavy and too fast- but unless you tell us what's going on, all we can do is waste our time and yours with guessing....

Without clear .. u dont get that deep shine. its shiny , yes but it doesnt look like car paint

you DON'T have to spray clear onto colours to get a good "deep" shine.
what you DO need is a perfectly sanded smooth, absolutely no bumps at all on your paint before you finish your polishing.
depending on your finishing product, you can even get an amazing reflective shine on non-perfectly smooth paint but it is the uneveness on paint that shows up the flaws in a paint job.

i'll get some pics of some black bodies i've got to show what i mean when i get the time.

Details man, details!

What exactly are you doing? What are you using? How are you doing it?

What did you paint with? What did you prime with? What are you clearing with (Testors what? Spray laquer? Metalizer sealer? Can, airbrush?) If you want good help, you have to tell us everything you can about what you're doing and what is happening. Vague questions only lead to vague answers.

I have a suspicion (guess!) you're putting laquer clear on too heavy and too fast- but unless you tell us what's going on, all we can do is waste our time and yours with guessing....
Ok, I was using testors spray can primer and spray can paint. I followed p mans steps before and had good results, but this model is cursed. I polished my paint, it was nice and smooth, so then I applied a lights coat of clear, without warming up the can, turned out crappy, and i realised that the can needed to be warm, so i quickly warmed up the can and sprayed one more heavy coat, looked nice when it was wet, but then turned into a bunch of orange peel. thats pretty much it.

as promised, some pics of non-clear coated paint jobs.

http://x8c.xanga.com/5d3d22662413488705865/w61381669.jpg
tamiya black on halfords primer.

one of my most flawless paint jobs were it not for stupid glue errors....
what i now call the coke test.
http://xde.xanga.com/0dad00642723288705870/w61381673.jpg

you should be able to see that the paint is scratch-less and the reflection is line sharp.

another black pain job
http://x6a.xanga.com/11ad36702723488705873/w61381676.jpg
halfords black over halfords primer
here, on the bonnet, you can see that the paint isn't perfectly flat, hence the "wobble" on the reflected light/line.
the coke test:
http://x8b.xanga.com/ca1d27702723788705878/w61381681.jpg
looking here, you can see that while the paint is nice and reflective, it isn't flat which results in a distorted reflection.
on the roof however, it is perfectly flat and scratch free (no nasty bumps to get in the way of sanding/polishing) which gives you this:
http://xc9.xanga.com/e79d24663403788705876/w61381679.jpg

so once again, you don't need to clear for a good shine or depth of shine.
what you need is a perfectly smooth primer coat, perfectly smooth paint coat and then careful removal of scratches.
scratch free+ smooth/flat paint = deep shine.
the depth is about the perfection/clarity of the reflection
i.e looking into a flawless mirror.

so you know:
primer: two coats, then sanded down as flat as possible.
touch up if needed.
paint: i only ever do three-four coats of paint (colour dependent of course).
the first is usually to get into the odd areas that are hard to cover or that paint tends to "draw-up" from if you paint it all in one go (i.e edges+pockets)
the second coat is to then fill in the rest.
the third is to coat completely.
then I sand down for smooth surface and if if needed, a fourth coat.
Generally and most recently, I've found that a fourth/final coat over a sanded paint base gives me the best surface to begin "proper" sanding/polishing.

Sanding: once over with halfords 1200, then once again, with 1500.
compound: tamiya usually fine then finish but lately, i've been getting away with just using finish.
I've also started to use autoglym resin polish (real car polishing). This stuff seems to be more aggressive than the compound but it doesn't seem to be abrasive, if that makes any sense. It get's to work pretty easily and while it does seem to be eager to eat through paint sometimes, it doesn't scratch.

The real problem is you're using testors spray cans,
go get some tamiya spray cans, you'll be happy
with the results.

Sounds like the clear resin wasn't thoroughly mixed with its solution inside the can, which may cause irregular results. Sometimes paint splits into pigment (no pigment in this case), binder and solution, and if you don't shake the can well every time you use it, the paint thickness changes over the life of the can. Also, it tends to lose the pressure as it reaches the end of its life, so you have to adjust how you spray, as if you're using an airbrush. While you control the thickness and pressure on you own with an airbrush, you're forced to do that with a spray can.

If you have built enough thickness of clear, you can sand and smooth to get rid of the orange peel.

Sand the entire body with 2000 grit (or equivalent) Tamiya sand paper. You'll find that some dimples are too deep for 2000 grit, so partially use 1500 instead. If that doesn't smooth the surface, use 1200, but with extreme care, as you might sand all the way to the body color.

Once the entire body is sanded and smoothed, use the relatively coarse "paint scratch remover" or Tamiya compound "coarse," then "medium" or auto wax.

If any of the clear layers wasn't hazed up by humidity or some other external factors, you'll still get a rich, deep and wet shine of a real car.
Good luck.

The real problem is you're using testors spray cans,
go get some tamiya spray cans, you'll be happy
with the results.


I'm gonna have to agree. Testors was so difficult to use. It just wouldn't come out glossy at all for me. Testers gloss spray is pure crap in my opinion. Worthless.. I used Tamiya and straight from the can it was perfect.

Without clear .. u dont get that deep shine. its shiny, yes but it doesnt look like car paint

That's completely untrue. Do you think my models below don't look like car paint? Neither has a clear coat.. Just straight Tamiya from the can.

http://www.bhop73.com/main/images/models/popups/auto/350z/350z06.jpg
http://www.bhop73.com/models/silvia_s15/s15_final/DSC_8316.jpg

I am getting fed up, after 10 coats of clear.
Why does this happen, I have sprayed clear before this model and everything turned out tip top, but on this one for some reason when it's wet, it looks amazing, 20 min into drying it turns out with bazilion orange peel and looks like crap, i don't get it!!!! :banghead:

Sometimes if you spray the Clear to thick, it will look milky, But you said something about pealing. that sounds like a chemical reaction to me. Also, how are you mixing your clear? and is the clear different form the paint your using? not that it matters on most, but rarely you'l get a chemical reaction,.

Also you need to wait atleast a week before reclearing just incase, on that car anways. The more the clear the less the shine, "milky" if thats the case id recomend repainting the surface to eleminate the milk.

I still think it's likely a chemical reaction from having been put on too heavy and too fast. When a good looking surface turns bad minutes, hours, or days later this is usually the cause. Either the clear is reacting with whatever is under it, or it was just too thick and the clear can't outgas. Orange peal happens as the paint is applied- often because the paint is too thick/pre-dries in the spray stream. If the clearcoat looks good as it's applied, orange peal is not your problem.

First off, it would probably be a good idea to switch to something other than the Testors- I've never found anyone with anything positive to say about it.

Laquer clearcoats also need to be applied slowly and patiently. It's not something that should be done in one day, unless you can devote the whole day to doing it. If I have a free good weather day and a body to clearcoat, it usually takes me 6-8 hours (never less!! :shakehead) from the first mist coat to the last wet coat. Nearly all this time is waiting between coats. Often it's better to give it a whole weekend, or a week of evenings (weather permitting).