4 those who helped

[DDD]

4 those who answered my ?'s, Thanks 4 all the help. Here is the finished car. After getting all the orange peel out with 1500 grit I continued buffing thru the different grits and really don't know how much to buff with each grit but I guess I buffed a little to much because I sanded thru the paint a little. I just left it! and continued on with my 1st attempt of BFM the trim. bottom line the paint job didn't come out the way I hoped but I'll give it a C+. If any body has any comments or tips to improve, please do so. Thanks again to those  who took the time to answer my questions and help me out.

[Snake45]

Doesn't look bad at all in this pic. Glad it all worked out for you, and you gained some valuable experience for next time. Model on! 

[cobraman]

Looks pretty good to me !

[DPNM]

Car looks good in this pic.

I'm fairly certain you recently picked up a Paasche H. As with any airbrush the three most important things are practice, practice, practice. It will take you a bit of time to figure things out. The right thinning percentage, distance from the subject, best air pressure, nozzle adjustment, etc. Once you become more familiar your paint work should keep getting better.

[shoopdog]

It does look pretty darn good!

[Dave G.]

Looking good ! Probably only you know where you sanded through. But the overall representation to me looks great, at least in the photo.

[MrObsessive]

This looks great from where I sit! Like a lot of '60's cars, this one has a fair amount of creases on it which can make polishing a bit difficult. One of the things I do when I have a model that has sharp edges and I need to rub a section out, is cover that edge with either Parafilm or Tamiya masking tape.

Here are a couple pics of a Corvette build I did not long ago showing this................

Hope this helps!

[DDD]

Thanks for all the great comments. It's hard to see the mistakes in the picture but they are there. Bill G. I saw your builds, WOW!!! you really get into detail awesome job. 1 question about buffing the clear coat I used testors wet look lacquer. When you sand out all the orange peel do you stop sanding? or do you continue on thru the different grits? How much do you sand with the different grits? After using the Novus 3 and 2 can you wash the car to get the dried up polish out of the door and trunk lines? What is the trick?

[MrObsessive]

Doug, I generally start with either 3200 or 3600 grit polishing cloth and work all the way up to 12,000 grit (wet sand). It takes time, but I'm a big believer in rubbing out your model just the same as you would a 1:1. A door, then a front fender, then the hood, trunk etc. I then use a chamois cloth and Meguiar's Car Cleaner Wax to polish things out.

It can take me upwards of several days over a series of hours to get the finish I want.

I've not had to wash the car to get the wax out of shut lines-------you can take a stiff, wide paint brush and "sweep" inside those lines to try and get the wax out. Also, depending on how wide the shut lines are, you can take the corners of a 3x5 card and go in between the shut lines to get it out.

BTW, on the model you see above and on one I'm trying to finish up ('68 Corvette Convertible), I also used Testor's clear. So what I described should work in your case if you want to keep using that particular clear. I'm not familiar with Novus..........Iike Meguair's as it's quite mild for paint, especially for hobby clears.

Hope this all helps!

[DDD]

Thanks for the tips Bill. So if you have orange peel like I did. the 1st time I sprayed to heavy and got bubbles so I practiced before I stripped it. I started with 2500 and went thru the different grits and at the end I still had orange peel so my problem is I really don't how much to sand with each grit. 2nd time thru this model I started with 1500 and got all the orange peel out then went thru the different grits but sanded thru in a couple of spots I feel like I sanded most of the clear off because when I used the novus that is when I really went thru the paint. So you stated you start with 3200 do you sand all the orange peel out with that grit then move on? You also stated about doing each section at a time so you go thru all the grits on each section then buff the whole car? but with everyone's help and input I am sure learning a lot. Thanks again.

[MrObsessive]

It's hard to give an answer as to when to stop sanding. It's like an artist or designer has to know when to pick up their pencil.

I can say that it's a good idea if your wet sanding, to wipe off the water every few passes to see where you are before moving on to the next grit. I will say that in most cases, 2500 grit is a bit too harsh for starting a rub out job. Certainly 1500 grit! I'd start with something less abrasive such as 3200 or even 3600 grit. I did get the same type of orange peel you got as the Testors did go on smoothly, but dried to that orange peel finish you described. So yes......before moving on to the higher number grit, make sure the orange peel is gone to your satisfaction.

I used the Testors clear as I didn't want any reaction between a harsher clear and the automotive paint I was using. Some of them may not play nice together and redoing paint jobs is one of of my major pet peeves in this hobby. As I mentioned before, you might want to switch waxes as I think Novus might be a bit too harsh, especially for a hobby clears such as Testors. I've been using Meguiar's Car Cleaner Wax since the '90's and I've never had an issue with it. Even the soft acrylic hobby paints I've rubbed out in the past with it.

Yes, before polishing out the whole works, I want the entire body rubbed out with the cloths. This may be time consuming to some, but it's worked for me for many years and the paint guys in the 1:1 world can tell you that's pretty much how it's done.

[Dave G.]

If the orange peel was in the base coats no amount of sanding will leave the clear coat in tact. You have to sand to the bottom of the orange peel to level the finish which leaves basically no clear coat and gets you mighty close to plastic and all the easier to wear through. You need to work on your thinning, thinner type, air pressures and get your coats of paint to self level.

Edited July 21, 2019 by Dave G.

[MrObsessive]

Very true David! Your final result is only as good as your previous coats.

For whatever reason though the Testors clears are prone to orange peel when they're fully dry. I suspect it has a lot to do with the shrinkage factor of that particular formula as I've not noticed that in their regular Model Master paints. Mine went on nice and smooth, but after letting it sit for a week to fully cure, it had noticeable orange peel. I was able to rub it out with no issue however as the undercoats were smooth.

Here was the '74 'Vette before and after the clear coats.........Not super severe orange peel but clearly needing rubbed out for my tastes.

The color before the clear coat.................

And after............

And here it is after I fully rubbed and polished it out.

Edited July 21, 2019 by MrObsessive

[DDD]

Thanks guys for the tips. Dave is probably right because I had to sand a lot with 1500 before I got all the orange peel out, I thought I did a pretty good job with spraying the clear coat the 2nd time around. I sprayed 3 or 4 light coats then 2 a little heavier wet coats. In the 1st couple of coats it looked little frosty as I was building the coats up but it didn't look like orange peel. It's get frustrating because I don't really know what it's suppose to look like thru each stage. My sand paper goes 1500,2000,2500,3000,5000,7000,12000. Don't really have a lot of money to spend on those Micro-Mesh cloths. I'm going to ditch the Novus stuff because it does seem a little harsh. So Bill after you polish with the different grits do you just wax it or do you use Meguiar's rubbing compound 1st. Thanks again for all the helpful tips.

[MrObsessive]

7 hours ago, DDD said:

 So Bill after you polish with the different grits do you just wax it or do you use Meguiar's rubbing compound 1st. Thanks again for all the helpful tips.

Doug, I don't use the rubbing compound at all. Remember, a lot of this stuff can be very harsh on hobby enamels.....particularly if you're using hobby clears such as Testors. Here's what I use for all of my polishing........

It's all I've used since perhaps the late '90's for polishing. Very mild as I've rubbed out Tamiya's acrylics for instance. I exclusively use a chamois cloth for polishing as that's the closest you'll get for using basically 'skin'.

You can pick up chamois cloths mostly at any auto parts place. It usually comes in a great big sheet. I'll take it and split it up into three sections for example so it's not so cumbersome for handling the model. BTW, I'll use the cloth when handling the model for the final detail stuff. Keeps all the fingerprints and whatnot off of things as you're finishing up.

[MrObsessive]

I want to add that it might be worth it to invest in the polishing cloths. While there's sandpaper out there that may say it's a certain grit, a lot of times it's too much for paints as it can wear things away faster than it should. Not to mention the creases and gouging one can get if they're not handled correctly. Polishing cloths can be folded up to gently get into tight areas where regular sandpaper can leave gouges and marks.

The cloths should last you quite a long time if you use them wet, and keep them cleaned up after each use and put them away after your done.

I can bet that I've had my same cloths for probably 5-10 years and they're still as good as when I first got 'em.

Edited July 22, 2019 by MrObsessive

[DDD]

Thanks Bill. What polishing cloths would you recommend? 

[MrObsessive]

1 hour ago, DDD said:

Thanks Bill. What polishing cloths would you recommend? 

The entire pack which Model Master has in their set. These can include 2400 through 12,000 grit. I'm not sure what they cost now as it's been years since I had to buy them. They're all over the 'Bay though.

[moparfarmer]

19 hours ago, MrObsessive said:

It's hard to give an answer as to when to stop sanding. It's like an artist or designer has to know when to pick up their pencil.

I can say that it's a good idea if your wet sanding, to wipe off the water every few passes to see where you are before moving on to the next grit. I will say that in most cases, 2500 grit is a bit too harsh for starting a rub out job. Certainly 1500 grit! I'd start with something less abrasive such as 3200 or even 3600 grit. I did get the same type of orange peel you got as the Testors did go on smoothly, but dried to that orange peel finish you described. So yes......before moving on to the higher number grit, make sure the orange peel is gone to your satisfaction.

I used the Testors clear as I didn't want any reaction between a harsher clear and the automotive paint I was using. Some of them may not play nice together and redoing paint jobs is one of of my major pet peeves in this hobby. As I mentioned before, you might want to switch waxes as I think Novus might be a bit too harsh, especially for a hobby clears such as Testors. I've been using Meguiar's Car Cleaner Wax since the '90's and I've never had an issue with it. Even the soft acrylic hobby paints I've rubbed out in the past with it.

Yes, before polishing out the whole works, I want the entire body rubbed out with the cloths. This may be time consuming to some, but it's worked for me for many years and the paint guys in the 1:1 world can tell you that's pretty much how it's done.

I find that Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0 is a little more agressive than the Cleaner..I usually start with 2000 wet then up to 4000..Haven't got pads or paper that go any higher but like you said just like the real deal, one panel at a time..

[DDD]

So let me get this straight you wet sand the 1 fender with all the different grits then move to the door and do the same thing and the back panel and do the same thing and so on? so I wet sand the fender with 3200 and finish with 12000 how do you protect that fender from the 3200 when you start the door from going over into the fender. if that makes any since. I was sanding the whole car with one grit then start over from the beginning with the next grit and so on until you reach 12000 so you guys are stating that is the wrong way? I know my questions might sound dumb, just want to do it right.