Clear coat polishing is going wrong...

[Captain Mark]

Howdy all,

I've topcoated a bunch of parts on a current F1 build, decalled them, and have shot clear over the lot. It's been left for nearly a week to dry and harden (it's lacquer).

Now I've polished two of the 8 or so parts, using a combination of MicroMesh polishing cloths and Tamiya compound - my usual methods. But I'm finding that the polishing is taking the lustrous blue colour from the parts.

I'm not at all polishing through to the blue however, and the reflection on the polished parts is much better than the unpolished parts... BUT, it's like the blue on the polished parts is much, MUCH duller. Parts have been washed and cleaned after polishing.

I've never come across is before and it's really confusing me. I'm worried about doing the rest of the parts now, and they really need a bit of polishing due to slight orange peel in the clear. I'm basically at a point where I either accept some orange peel and have a really deep striking blue, or remove the orange peel and have a duller blue. Dammit, I want my cake and I wanna eat the whole friggen' thing!

Can anyone tell me what on earth is going on??? Or how to avoid dulling the blue down?

Any advice much appreciated!
Cheers,
M

[klutz_100]

If you are not seeing blue color on your sanding media then I guess that in fact it is the clear coat that is clouding up and not the base coat.

Have you tried polishing back out some of the clouded area?
Maybe your grade of paper is too low/coarse?
Maybe the clear hasn't hardened yet?

[Captain Mark]

Hey klutz, I've been doing some more investigating, and I think I'm only just breaking through to the colour coat, but only just. I think...

I'll keep working on it...

[klutz_100]

more clear coat needed then I guess

[MPWR]

What Ski is saying sounds spot on. If you're not seeing blue dust as you're sanding, you're likely only attacking the clear (as obviously you want to be). So if you're getting hazing, it means that it's all in the clearcoat. Likely your sanding/polishing process is leaving scratching.

Just to nail down all the variables (as you always should)-

What paint are you using?
What clearcoat are you using?
How did you apply them?
What are the specifics of your sanding/polishing process?

[Captain Mark]

I think I figured out the problem guys. I was using more compound than I usually do, and had only just rubbed through to the paint - which I guess is what dulled it down. I did check the compound for colour but I guess it was buried in all the mush.

Live and learn... the hard way sometimes...