Workbench question on Duplicolor paint

[Kmb0319]

I’m struggling with a paint job and thought I’d throw a question out to those far more advanced than I.

 I’m building a 70 Monte Carlo, and decided to go black on black, as it is the muscle car limo.  I used my Duplicolor black, which has always given me solid results.  I am getting near the bottom of my can, and had a very different experience this time.  First of all, I usually get a very dull finish, which I can polish to somewhat shiny before I clear.  This time, it came out like this:

A little dark, but you can see the reflections in the roof and rear fender.

However, it also had a lot of orange peel... looked great from a distance, but not so good up close.  With the sharp corners at the tops of the fenders, I was worried about wet sanding, so I tried compound first.  I used Tamiya coarse, fine and finish compounds, and it didn’t do much.  So I got out the Testors polishing pads and did a full wet sanding... then hit it with all 3 Tamiya compounds again, using each compound twice and pressing harder than I should.  I was actually worried about cracking the body.

This morning, I grabbed the Meguiar’s Scratch-X and went over the whole body again, digging in as I polished.  The paint feels smooth, and it looks amazing from a couple feet away.  But this is my roof close up:

You can see how much orange peel is still there.  This has 2 coats of paint on it.  Any thoughts on smoothing this out more?  Do I keep polishing, add more paint or move on to clear?  Or do I throw it in brake fluid and start over?

This is a common issue for me... I polish over and over, and nothing seems to cut through Duplicolor finishes.  Thanks and happy new year everyone!!

[Ace-Garageguy]

"Polishing" WILL NOT REMOVE ORANGE PEEL.

It has to be sanded flat FIRST, and THEN polished. Sand up to 12,000 grit, wet, then polish.

In the course of doing this, you naturally run the risk of sanding through the paint, and if you do, all you need to do is spray more paint, then re-sand and polish as necessary.

Incidentally...Duplicolor straight rattlecan black should not need clear to develop a really fine gloss, but it may take 5 coats of paint to have enough to sand and polish if you get much peel.

[Belugawrx]

What he said...

 

[DiscoRover007]

I’d sand the clear with polishing pads. Wash it with dish soap and water to remove wax residue and then give a few more coats of clear. Then hopefully you’ll have a finer finish and easier time polishing.

[Kmb0319]

Thanks guys...Disco, there’s no clear on this... just 2 coats of black paint.  Sounds like I need more paint, but I’ll have to buy some more Duplicolor black, as I think some of the orange peel is the can is almost gone and losing pressure.

But, I’ve had a lot of trouble cutting through Duplicolor paint, even with wet sanding.  

[Ace-Garageguy]

41 minutes ago, Kmb0319 said:

But, I’ve had a lot of trouble cutting through Duplicolor paint, even with wet sanding.  

Lacquer has a hard surface, which is one reason it produces such a "deep" gloss when polished correctly.

A hard surface makes it tougher to sand, but the results are worth it.