Frustrated with paint job!

[racer93]

Thanks for your real-time help, Ray. You've been a big help!

Daniel

[stevenoble]

Looking at your photos I think that is normal.You need to polish the finish to bring out the best and get that mirror shine.It doesn't matter how accomplished a painter you are I think you will always need to polish a little to get that mirror shine.It is very hard to lay down a glass smooth paint finish straight from the rattle can or airbrush.Even the best painters have to polish.The Tamiya compounds are very good and Finishers compounds work great as well.Work through the grades and you will soon develop a nice shine on that surface because it's already good to start with.I can't see that there is anything wrong with your painting technique.I have had some worse finishes than what you have here and have polished them to perfection.I wouldn't even think that you need to use the rougher grades of compound,start with the medium,then the finer grades and you should be able to get a very nice finish.The 3 rules I always stick to when polishing are 1: Use the finest grade of polish/compound that you need to get the job done,don't start too heavy you can always go rougher but if you start with the rough stuff you may put hundreds of fine scratches in the surface unnecessarily and they can be very hard to remove.2: Always make sure the painted surface/clear coat is properly dry.If you polish soft paint again you will put scratches into the surface.3: Always use a very fine and soft cloth and turn it often,sometimes I also moisten it a little with some water.If you get any dirt particles in the cloth throw it away and use a new one because if you don't you rub the dirt into your finish and again create those scratches.I use high quality microfibre cloths intended for use on real cars and find them very good.

[racer93]

Thanks, Steve! Those are some good tips.

However, I started polishing a little and got good results, except that I have the tiny scratches in the paint. (The paint looks like glass from an angle but straight on, the fine scratches are apparent.) To get rid of these, would you simply try and polish them out using your technique (start fine and go more coarse if need be)?

[freakray]

Racer, once you have finished polishing with the finest compound/cloth, you will need to apply a coat of wax to make those tiny scratches completely disappear. Tamiya model wax or finishers "the last detail" are both excellent choices.

[stevenoble]

Originally Posted by freakray

Racer, once you have finished polishing with the finest compound/cloth, you will need to apply a coat of wax to make those tiny scratches completely disappear. Tamiya model wax or finishers "the last detail" are both excellent choices.

This is good advice you do need to wax as well at the end and this will help to eradicate those very fine scratches that you describe.I often use the Tamiya Finish compound as well before the final wax as Ray mentions above.This is really good for giving the paint that glass like smoothness.This is the stuff at Hiroboy.

http://www.hiroboy.com/catalog/produ...roducts_id=380

If you haven't got some of this already it is a worthwhile purchase and will last a long time because you only use a small amount.You can also polish clear glass parts with it as well so it has other uses.

[stevenoble]

Originally Posted by racer93

Thanks, Steve! Those are some good tips.

However, I started polishing a little and got good results, except that I have the tiny scratches in the paint. (The paint looks like glass from an angle but straight on, the fine scratches are apparent.) To get rid of these, would you simply try and polish them out using your technique (start fine and go more coarse if need be)?

You can run through the polishing stages again.If possible don't go too hard or use too coarse a compound at first.Sometimes the coarser compounds inflict more damage and more scratches.I would only use them as a last resort.The compounds are like very fine sandpapers if you like.The coarser grades are rougher and they get finer as you go down the grades,just like a sandpaper does.So if you use a very coarse grade it puts in lots of scratches and then they are hard to remove.But I find that you must work down through the grades and don't miss one out because each finer grade removes the scratches from the previous rougher grade if this makes sense.

My usual procedure is this:

1: After painting and a thorough drying of the paint I will inspect the finish to asses how it needs polishing.If I have done a good job of the painting it rarely needs much work.If the paint job is really poor I will often strip it and start again.
2: Almost always I will have a few surface imperfections/slight 'orange peel' texture although never too bad.So I usually start with Micromesh 6000 grade polishing cloth used wet and remove the surface imperfections.This will leave a smooth but slightly 'matt' surface.
3: Next I move onto Micromesh 8000 cloth and again wet I will smooth it some more and restore some of the gloss and clarity to the surface.
4: Now I will use Micromesh 12000 cloth again wet and this restores the surface ready for polishing/compounding.
5: Usually at this stage if all is well I will use Finishers medium compound and a damp microfibre cloth to further enhance the finish.
6: Next Finishers Fine compound and damp microfibre.
7: I then use Micromesh Polishing swabs on any hard to reach areas like around light clusters in creases etc.(link for these below)
8: Next I use Tamiya Finish compound and the damp microfibre.
9: Finally a check to make sure the finish is satisfactory and a final wax with Tamiya model wax.

It seems like a lengthy process but it is quite easy.With practice it becomes second nature.

Link to Micro Mesh Polishing swabs: http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares...oduct&ID=83244