Scratch x Problem

So i went to wal mart today and picked up some meguiars scratch x. Then i decided to test it on a hood of a crappy model that i don't really care about with horrible orange peel. It was painted with testors spray, horrible stuff, by the way. So i wet sanded it smooth with some tamiya p 1200 and p1500 and then proceed to use scratch x, I applied a little to a soft cloth, using small swirls, medium pressure working my way from the centre of the hood out wards. Eventually i started to feel the smoothness under the cloth, but after repeating with some more scratch x it is a very dull surface. I want to polish a car i painted with tamiya acrylic, and i don;t want to do it with this stuff if it is going to look this dull. There is no shine at all, the surface is very smooth and a reflection can be seen. only the testors spray was used to paint the car. What do I do? I have acrylic clear for my other model should i spray that on first.

Well i dont think its a scratch x problem. Its probably that you used testors paint, which most likey it was enamel judging by your story. Enamels are very hard to polish, actually you probably cant polish them, unless im wrong. Try some lacquer paint with your scratch x, it should look better. You should be good to go with you acrylic paints, butt make sure you have a clear coat to ensure a good shine. It sounds like you had a dull surface because of testors enamel. Wait for other responses before you try mine, because i might be wrong. Through my experience with enamel, ive learned that if you paint a body with enamel paint youll have to deal with that finish, you wont be able to polish and sand like acrylics and lacquers, so it is important to lay the best paint job you can with enamel, as there is not much room to work with.

hope this helps

Some_kid, you're wrong in so many ways. You can polish enamels just like you can polish acrylics and lacquers.
The difference is in the hardness the paints dry to, of lacquers, enamels and acrylics, lacquers dry to the hardest finish, then enamels and lastly acrylics.
Mcguires contains chemicals which can react with model paints and cause them to dull, not only that but just because you used compound it doesn't mean you should instantly get a mirror finish.

Speener, I recommend getting some Tamiya compound, I've used it on their acrylics without any issues, it's your safest bet if you have concerns.

As a final point guys, use the search feature, you'd be astounded at how many times this subject and the one Some_kid just posted a thread about arise.

Scratch X is intended for use on full size cars.I think it is too rough for use with enamel paints.However it will work ok with Tamiya TS sprays and any of the automotive type paints/clearcoats that many people use on here.I have tried it on the Tamiya TS range with good results.I still prefer the Tamiya rubbing compounds though,I think they are a bit more gentle.

Scratch X is intended for use on full size cars.I think it is too rough for use with enamel paints.

It's not so much the particle size as the chemical components which is the harmful part, Scratch X as you mention is for full size cars which are all painted with a 2-part paint which cures harder and is more resistant to chemical interaction.

Alright, so I am going to clear coat my car now that has been sprayed with acrylic tamiya, then let that dry/simmer for a couple weeks then get some coarse, medium and fine compound, i saw these three at the hobby store today. I also say tamiya model wax but it was way to expensive, (17 CAN). So after i use these compounds then it should look satissfactory i hope.

Be careful what you clear coat with, remember lacquers will attack acrylics.

1500 grit sounds too coarse. Try 2000 before polishing.

just clear, wait for it to dry, and go onto polishing it with 3M rubbing compound, or any other brand ones. great results for me everytime.

Sorry if this is a hijack, but didnt want to start a whole new thread just for this...

Ive been using ScratchX and have gotten a great shine, but i can still see the marks left from sanding the car, even with Tamiya P2000 sandpaper... am I doing something wrong or is that too coarse and I need finer sandpaper?

Sorry if this is a hijack, but didnt want to start a whole new thread just for this...

Ive been using ScratchX and have gotten a great shine, but i can still see the marks left from sanding the car, even with Tamiya P2000 sandpaper... am I doing something wrong or is that too coarse and I need finer sandpaper?

You give only basic info.....

The P2000 question has already been answered in this thread. What kind of paint are you using - as mentioned already, the paint type effects the result.

Are you wetsanding or dry? It effects the outcome.

Have you tried polishing more? Just because you have a shine doesn't mean you've finished, if there are still sanding marks, you can polish more and remove them.

It's not so much the particle size as the chemical components which is the harmful part, Scratch X as you mention is for full size cars which are all painted with a 2-part paint which cures harder and is more resistant to chemical interaction.

I've tried Scratch X on all kinds of hobby paints from lacquer to enamel to acrylic and it's practically identical to Tamiya fine compound and has never reacted chemically to the paint in my experience. It's a very mild compound that works via friction and not chemical reaction, much the same as Tamiya, Novus #2, 3M light duty rubbing compound, Kit Scratch Off, etc. No petroleum smell, and it's paintable as there's no silicone in it. I'd say there's a problem w/the polishing cloth, the buffing technique, or the paint itself in this case.

I've tried Scratch X on all kinds of hobby paints from lacquer to enamel to acrylic and it's practically identical to Tamiya fine compound and has never reacted chemically to the paint in my experience. It's a very mild compound that works via friction and not chemical reaction, much the same as Tamiya, Novus #2, 3M light duty rubbing compound, Kit Scratch Off, etc. No petroleum smell, and it's paintable as there's no silicone in it. I'd say there's a problem w/the polishing cloth, the buffing technique, or the paint itself in this case.

I would tend to agree with that.

I love Scratch X and any marks that I have in the polished paint I put down to rubbing too dry with am unsuitable cloth.

NTW Speener, I have had great results with using sscratch W to polish up clear parts also. I finish off with Maguiore's wax.

I have a feeling it is the paint. It was a very old can, i painted it in haste and got aweful results, i will try meguiars again on my acrylic painted car, i got a test piece. And yes i got acrylic clear.

I don't recommend using the Scratch-X on an acrylic.

I don't recommend using the Scratch-X on an acrylic.

Why not? I've used it to clean up an old Porsche I painted w/Gunze acrylic and it looks just fine. Also works great on Testors Acryl.

I wouldn't use it on acrylic that's not fully cured. Haven't shot gloss Tamiya in years, so I don't know how it works on that (but it's fine on old '80's Tamiya gloss).

Everything I've read about it online says it will attach acrylics.

Of course everyone claims they have been polishing fully cured paint which may not be the case.

I have had problems w/a couple older models painted w/Gunze acrylics, but I think it wasn't due to any particular compound but the fact that even water will damage some of the old acrylics (can't comment on new as I don't use gloss acrylics for bodies) if it's allowed to stay on long enough. Just the moisture in the compound was a problem. Even w/Tamiya fine compound.

The first run of Testors Boyd's acrylics was removed from the market and reformulated into the Acryl line. They were like Gunze acrylics; if you let even one drop of water sit on the finished/polished paint, it would attack it. The only thing you can do w/those models is keep them in a very stable (clean and dry) environment so you handle them as little as possible.

Testors Acryl, when dry, is as tough as any paint I've ever experienced. I just wish I could airbrush the gloss colors as consistently as lacquers or enamels. They're very tricky to get the flow just right. But moisture/compounds will not affect them when dry like other acrylics.

I think to be safe i will get some mediium and fine tamiya compounds. but just out of curiosity, i will also clear coat my test piece painted with acrylics and try scratch x on that.

I think to be safe i will get some mediium and fine tamiya compounds. but just out of curiosity, i will also clear coat my test piece painted with acrylics and try scratch x on that.

I have an old tube of Tamiya compound, blue cap, it's the same as what's sold now as "fine". To be really safe you might stick w/fine and finish compounds. They work very, very nicely. I polished out an '06 Mica Silver/clearcoated Corvette ZO6 w/o the need to use any sanding cloths, and it's a mirror shine. Medium compound might be a little coarse, unless you don't have sanding/polishing papers or cloths that when used w/water negate the need for a more aggressive polish on some paints.

cool thanks for the suggestion

I've never had much luck with Scratch-X myself, regardless of what kind of paint / clear I use or how long I let it cure. But, having said that, I'm sure it's me and not the Scratch-X because I have certainly seen many cars (by Zoom, Veyron, Cadguy, etc...) finished with Scratch-X with excellent results. I really believe my mistake was in the choice of cloth I used.

Recently, I've only been using the Tamiya polishes and The Treatment Model Wax. ) I find that if I have a decent paint finish to start with I can use Tamiya Course (which will remove minor orange peel / texture), then Fine, then Finish and have a very nice shine. The Treatment Model Wax and a super soft cloth will remove any super fine swirl marks that remain.

The last thing I do, when the model is finished, I use Tamiya's liquid model wax to remove any remaining finger prints, decal adhesive, clean the windows and dust just before it goes in the display case.

i am using a very soft old t shirt to put this stuff is on is that good?