Clear coat and polishing

kcrist84

After the finishing paint on a body do you polish that or put clear on or vise versa? If there is a bit of dust particles do you get those out before a clear coat? As usual I'm confused. Thanks

I had the exact same questions! It sure can be confusing, can't it? I'm kind of being mentored by one of the guys on the forum and I asked him almost word for word the same thing you have asked. Below is a quote I received from him. Hope it helps you. Beyond this, I’m not the guy to ask. I’m still practicing on plastic spoons, knives, and a couple of bodies from kits I ended up with that I know I’ll never build. Keep in mind this is specifically for lacquer paint. If you’re nor using lacquer, I know there is a slightly different procedure, but I think it pretty much follows this guideline.

“Polish the clear coats. Almost all of the lacquer paints require a clear coat, otherwise the color coats will dry dull. Most automotive paints are 2 part paints, as are hobby lacquers, which means that they need to be clear coated. You don't need to polish any of your color coats, & as a matter of fact, it can be detrimental to do so, especially with metallic paints. You can wet sand between coats of primer and color, but your final color coat should be left alone & clear coated before any sanding or polishing. The metallic particles will "smear" if you try to sand or polish the final color coat.”

 

 

 

What i do , if i use primer knock it done a bit with 2000 wet paper. Then after 1st coat of paint same thing. 2nd coat of paint i may use 2000 or higher, if that coat looks ok i will use a compound and buff it out. If not i do a 3rd coat. Then 1st clear. Then buff out with compund. Second coat of clear same thing. Then finish with auto wax. Doing 3rd coat of wax on hudson hood. Will post a pic next break. Get your sunglasses out.

Here is the hood from my hornet.

Wow, very nice. Thanks for the tips guys.

And that's exactly why it's important to get the opinions of some of the older guys on here. Some of them have been continuously building for 50 or more years. I'm just now getting back into the hobby after about 50 years. I can tell you that there are almost as many ways to achieve the finished paint job as there are guys on the forum. You'd do well to read a few different ideas, then use, or adapt, the one(s) that suit your style and provide you with the best results. It's obvious what quality of work TnT is capable of. Just look at that hood!

smhardesty

And that's exactly why it's important to get the opinions of some of the older guys on here. Some of them have been continuously building for 50 or more years. I'm just now getting back into the hobby after about 50 years. I can tell you that there are almost as many ways to achieve the finished paint job as there are guys on the forum. You'd do well to read a few different ideas, then use, or adapt, the one(s) that suit your style and provide you with the best results. It's obvious what quality of work TnT is capable of. Just look at that hood!

 

Like you said. Opinions. We all know what that means. But seriously what works for me may not work for others. And depends on the paint. I think laquer pigments stand up so sanding will smooth it VS enamel pigments laydown and sanding actual looks worse because you remove the already smooth finish. The idea is in the end filling in the pores. The more the pores are filled in the more sheen you get. Just like polishing jump boots. 

TnT

 Just like polishing jump boots. 

Ouch. That brought back some memories. But you're right. Same idea. That's exactly what we're doing when polishing paint - filling in the voids and knocking the high points down. The better we are at doing that, the better the paint job looks.

Yup what they said also the climate your in can have different effects to but I too a sand wet sand compound if needed I use a lot of automotive paints nail polishes. Lawyers high solids clear and different reducers depending on weather n climate . don't get me wrong still use enameled and rattlecan too. Again it's personal preferences as to what works best for you and your application . happy modeling