Sanding/Buffing

[orangecuse]

Does anyone here sand or buff with a dremel?(probably have to with a variable speed dremel huh?) Just curious how that worked out for them..

[Zcaithaca]

ive tried both and messed up a couple models that way.... defenitly dont sand.... and if you buf do it very very very very very very very very carefully

[pflau]

got a dremel.. not useful for sanding buffing.. you have much more control and get better result using sanding clothes.

but for drilling very tiny holes its great.

[pugdog13]

Dont use a Dremel to polish paint. It is too fast on its slowest setting and the pads are too small and will leave marks. (If not burn the paint off)

I painted real cars for a living when I was in college. I read all of the posts regarding painting and polishing. Some steps people are missing are:

1. Preparation of the work area and body are 90% of the job.
If you properly wash, sand, and dry the body, 90% of your problems would be gone. If your work area is too dusty, dirty, sunny, hot, cold, windy, or not properly ventilated, you will get a bad paint job. Remember, the oil from your fingers can prevent the paint from sticking properly to the body. (Ventilation also keeps the overspray fromlanding on the body and making the paint look too dry or orange peely as well as helps your lungs!)

2. Clean your spray gun to like new condition after EVERY use.
If your gun burps during the last coat of clear and some old crusty paint lands on the hood of your new model, its over!

3. Proper mixing of the solvent to the paint is very important for a glass like shine.
The solvent or reducer allows the paint to "flow" over the body and flatten out so less sanding and polishing is necessary. If you put too little solvent/reducer in with the paint the paint with cure and look like sand or the peel of an orange. If you put too little, the paint will not dry properly or not cover the body with color.

4. Sanding and polishing should take you days.
After a real car is baked in a spray booth, it is sanded and polished. All dust and non-matching orange peel is sanded to match the rest of the car. Then it is polished with varying compounds and polishes using an electric polisher. I personally would start with 2000 grit wet paper and move through each sequential grit until I reached 12000. Then I would start polishing, and polishing. I would seal it with wax so the water and dust comes off easily while cleaning. I highly reccommend Zymol wax. You can use this to remove the polish from the body lines while lightly polishing and sealing the finish. Use a compressed air can to blow the dust off the body while polishing, even the dried polish dust can scratch a new finish.

Good luck. Ill try to write a step by step of how a real car body is prepared and painted for a show. It isnt much different than what you guys are doing for your models.

Pugdog13