how much time to do you before polishing?

i just sprayed the last coat of clear on some of my builds and i wanted to know how much time do you wait before you sand it and polish it?

i was using automotive paint before and i was waiting 2 weeks but for those, it's all tamiya sprays. primer, paint and clear.

i sprayed 3 coats of clear btw

thanks guys! :wink:

i just sprayed the last coat of clear on some of my builds and i wanted to know how much time do you wait before you sand it and polish it?

i was using automotive paint before and i was waiting 2 weeks but for those, it's all tamiya sprays. primer, paint and clear.

i sprayed 3 coats of clear btw

thanks guys! :wink:

The way to know if the paint is totally "dry" is when you can't smell the paint anymore. Or, generally with Tamiya rattle cans, a couple of days is plenty.

If you're a "serious" builder, look at a food dehydrator. They can be found for $40 and speed up the drying time incredibly. :naughty:

Daniel

I never sand the body after applying the final layer of clear. After the final clear application, I give it a week before polishing.

If in doubt, give it a sniff.
If you can still smell the solvents then give it another day.
If it smells the same the next day, you're probably good to go with the polishing.
This is of course, assuming you didn't lay on a single thick heavy coat.

I never sand the body after applying the final layer of clear. After the final clear application, I give it a week before polishing.

+1. I am new to this but shouldnt you be sanding before painting (definitely before clearcoating). Please correct me if I am wrong.

I wait two or three days before polishing.

If Tamiya Clear (TS13) is sprayed right, it should not require sanding. A "perfect" spray job needs no polishing, or just some Tamiya Fine compound where there's visible paint texture. If there's quite a bit of orange peel because it was sprayed too thick or dry, start with Tamiya Coarse and then Tamiya Fine. For a show-car gloss, finish up with Tamiya Finish.

Ddms