Last step when painting

I'm just about finished painting my EG Civic body. I did a few coats of Medium Green and now I've sprayed 4 clear coats on it. The clear coat has kind of a texture to it. Like an orange peel. It's not smooth like I wanted it to be. Will the clear coat "cure" and smooth out? Do I need to sand it? Thanks!

ttt... c'mon guys, I know somebody has some ideas.

Read the FAQ. And please, this is a message board, so be patient and don't expect to get answers right away.

Orange peel is bad~
Have you check in the FAQ, there's a really good step by step detail painting instruction inside.

I would let it dry for a full week and purchase an LMG polishing kit, about $30 ( hopefully they're still in production ), the kit has reusable cleanable sanding cloths ranging from 1500 grit all the way to 12,000 grit paper and also includes a swirl remover and polish. Follow the directions and follow up with a coat of regular turtle wax automotive polish, this is how I used to do it before I figured out my spray can technique, which always seems to come out better than the airbrush (at least for me). the pictures below are after one primer coat, 24 hrs later, two color coats, followed immediatly (and I mean immediatly) by a wet coat of model master high gloss clear top coat. Then 24 hrs under two sixty watt light bulbs, and then a small amount of 3M rubbing compound ( done very lightly) and two coats of turtle wax. I get consistant results, this is a technique I learned after over 10 years of model building. I always use model master/testors/boyd sprays, they tend to work best with this technique. It works well enough for me, and I am always more than satisfied with the results. It's up you to choose which techniques you like, people have many excellent stratagies for getting a good paint job, try them all and figure out wich one is comfortable for you.

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/4782/p/91454_120994408531173605.JPG

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/4782/p/91455_2660402713199550770.JPG

Your paint techiques sound good for using spray cans. If it works for you, that's what matters. My experience w/Testors cans were that they were the crappiest way of applying paint known to mankind! I have had much better luck airbrushing enamel. Tamiya sprays, that's another story. They are perfection in a can. No other type of paint that I've ever used gives such smooth, glossy results...this before using the polishing kit. BTW, LMG is out of business, but Detail Master and Micro Mark both sell essentially the same polishing kits. They are precisely the way to finish off a paint job, before using any polish. I like Novus #2 and Tamiya compound, and 3M light duty rubbing compound if it's a lacquer like Tamiya. I use a food dehydrator to dry my paint.

That Z car looks good, and I want a 1/24th scale model of that RS4 behind it! I've got an idea to take a 1/24 diecast A4 sedan and turn it into an S4 or RS4 wagon, but it'll be quite a project.

This is the link to the company that actually makes the polishing cloths that all these after market companies sell. You can order directly from them.

Micro Surface (http://www.micro-surface.com/)

Originally posted by ZoomZoomMX-5
That Z car looks good, and I want a 1/24th scale model of that RS4 behind it! I've got an idea to take a 1/24 diecast A4 sedan and turn it into an S4 or RS4 wagon, but it'll be quite a project.

Me to, but the only kit of any audi I can find is the tamiya audi quattro and quattro rally, I might have to scratch build! ( :rolleyes: ) Maybe in a few years....