Wax or Polish

[jphillips1970]

First question: How long should one wait before putting on wax or polish on a kit that is painted with Testor's Ultra Gloss Clearcoat ? - Second question: Which works better to bring out the color in the kit - wax or polish ? Thanks - Joe

[MikeMc]

Hey Joe...I do remember that song....

The first thing you need to know that "polishing" is the process "wax" is a finish protector.

If you have laid that perfect lacquer finish followed by your clearcoat you can begin the process of getting that shine.

I use micro mesh pads from 2400 to 12000. Before I use these I let the body totally cure..dehydrator for 24 hours or air 1 week.

Then I use 1200 grit 3M paper soaked in water with a drop of dawn in it I gently float the paper over the entire car 1 panel at a time

finishing with the roof and trunk. Now I blow dry it off and if it is all dull then I use the pads from 2400 to 12000. after this the body

should be verrry smooth. I now use Novus #2 followed by Meguires scratch X both applied on a damp cloth and then buffed

If you want to wax now you can..I have heard "the treatment" is the way to go.. good luck and let us see the result!

[Steven Zimmerman]

I always wet sand my primer with 1000 grit wet-or-dry before painting. After letting the paint cure for at least a week,I go right to the 4000 sanding pad and wet sand till the whole model is smooth and all orange peel is gone. I then go to the Novus # 2 polish, and then Meguiars Mirror Glaze 'Show Car Glaze' ; then to Meguiars Gold Class clear coat liquid car wax.......works for me! I used to run through the polishing pads from 3200 ,3600 grit,and doing the entire model progressing through the grits all the way to 12000(as recommended by the mfg) but it was time consuming , easy to polish through the paint,and generally a pain in the butt. I think you'll find there's about as many differant ways to polish a paint job as there are modellers!.............theZman

[jphillips1970]

Thanks everyone for the info and advise - I'll see what I can do - If it works I'll try to post a pic of the car - Thanks again - Joe

[weasel]

if you polish it good enough, you don't have to wax it!!!