can I polish this paint?

[lovesmith05]

I cant remember what the number is, but the color is Tamiya Light Gunmetal. Is this considered a metallic paint? will it hurt anything if I use rubbing compound on it, or should I clearcoat first?

[primera man]

Rubbing compound doesnt work very well on this color. Most use a clear coat on it

[Sticky Fingers]

Originally Posted by primera man

Rubbing compound doesnt work very well on this color. Most use a clear coat on it

Aye, if there's flakes in it don't even think of polishing it. Why are you polishing it anyway? Gunmetal looks far better with a coat of flat, well, in my opinion anyway!

[lovesmith05]

With a coat of flat? Really? Maybe I will test that on something else and see what I think. The paint actually looks very nice just the way it laid down. I will see what I think of the flat. Clearcoat is the way to go it seems though, whether its flat or gloss.

[Sticky Fingers]

The reason I said to use 'flat' was a personal preference I suppose. Some things in a car are really shiny but I don't like all of my metals 'too shiny' as I feel it looks unnatural.

[mickbench]

Please though, if using TS-13 be VERY careful. Light coats, 15 mins apart for the first couple of coats, then a not as light, but not overly wet coat for the final two, or else it will burn the edges, or do all sorts of bad things to the coat underneath.. I know, I had to strip a car due to not being careful with clear..!! Well, TS-13 at least.

[lovesmith05]

I will probably wait at least a month to put on clear. My decals are on order anyways so I will wait for them. Allthough today I created some serious delays for myself. The paint job looked great. After a couple of days I inspected it closer and found two tiny pieces of dust. I sanded those down and resprayed today. Well, now I have a little orange peel, and a much bigger piece of dust right on the roof. I guess I will just sand the whole thing down and respray in a few more days.