polishing with scratch x

[Renelsisc]

hi guys,

After reading the tutorials on scratch x, seems like i should use this...i've posted a few pics of my models before, and the concensus seems to be that i have a bit of orange peel and will need to sand the body before polishing to make it smooth and shiny.

i have 2000 grit sandpaper like the tutorial suggested, but i noticed that once i sand the car, the paint, say blue for example....turns really dull and greyish...and i still have the "snowflake effect" on the body, although it does seem a lot smoother...is this normal? will the colour come back after i polish it? i'm just spraying it out of a can, as i dont have a airbrush

thanks!

[wouter1981]

Yes, it's normal that if you sand a colour, it becomes dull and greyish... if you use finer and finer grits (to 12000) and finish off with some compound and wax, the colour will come back and it will gloss. It's one way of doing it, but i don't like polishing and I'm sick of rubbing trough paintjobs while polishing, so I do things different:
I pay LOTS of attention to my primer. I spray verry thin coats, sand it with 1200 grit, spray again verry thin coats, sand it,spray, sand it,.... until it's verry smooth
Then I spray the colour in thin coats (I don't care if it's rough or matt instead of glossy), sand it, spray again, sand it,...until I haven't got any "slowflake" effect anymore. Then I spray a some verry diluted (this is where a airbrush is really good at) coats, but if you're using a spraycan, some verry light coats.
Then i use some tamiya rubbing compound (medium and fine) to get a good shinny finish.

The advantage of this methode is that I rearly have any orange peel. The disadvantage is the big nummer of coats needed.

Remeber to heat up you're cans (don't boil them or you'll have you're kitchen repainted) use thin coats, and let the paint fully cure before you start polishing it.

[Joe Blyth]

I agree with wouter1981. I try to eliminate as much orange peel when I'm painting than trying to sand it out later. I usually sand between each coat too, but I start with Tamiya coarse compound if I still have lots of texture after that, then move on to fine and finish, followed by wax.

[Sixx]

I agree, I really prefer Tamiya and Hasegawa compounds. I get the best shine from them!

[Didymus]

I don't think the number of coats has anything to do with orange peel. Only the last coat matters. You won't have orange peel if you get it right, i.e., thin enough and wet enough. Scale matters; I don't think paint on car models should be any thicker than what is needed to cover what's underneath - after you're done polishing, of course.

I agree that it's hard to beat the Tamiya polishes for efficiency and great gloss.

Diddy