How do you get a deep, deep smothered in honey glossy paint job?

[conchan]

I would really like to be able to paint a kit that has a deep, deep gloss to it. But can’t seem to get it to work.  

1. After taking care of the mold lines, etc., I sand the body lightly with 400-2000 Tamiya paper.
2. Spray one light coat of primer (either Tamiya or Mr. Hobby) remove imperfections, grit, etc. to the best of my ability.
3. Respray lightly to cover sand marks.
4. Spray a base coat of the final colour and let dry.
5. Spray a secondary coat of final colour that looks “wet”. (maybe it isn’t “wet” enough?) and let dry for a day or two (Tamiya Spary TS-???)
6. Spray two or three coats of clear with a 15-20 minute wait between coats. (Either Tamiya or Mr. Colour)
7. Polish with Tamiya polishing compound (Coarse, Fine and Finish) 

Is there something I am missing or doing out of order or just plain wrong? 

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and enjoy!

Edited June 19, 2022 by conchan
Spelling

[stitchdup]

I use a micromesh polishing kit before the polishing compounds. Once the clear has properly dried I start with the 2500 grit and work my way up to the 12000 grit. I've even used it on gray primer and ended up with a high gloss finish without using any polishing compounds, just the micromesh pads

[Smoke Wagon]

If you wet sand with 1500+ (gradually using finer and finer grit to your liking, I usually stop at 3000) after the final clear coat has cured, it will remove orange peel and leave you a matte smooth finish. With enamel paint I just skip clear and sand the color coat itself. Then use your polish to return the finish to a deep, uniform gloss. 

Disclaimer: this process won’t net you a paint finish that tastes like it was smothered in honey. Unfortunately it’ll taste more like Turtle Wax and elbow grease...

[tbill]

I normally wet sand my primer coats, then if painting a solid color, I’ll wet sand that, then clear coat, and wet sand the clear between coats, then after I apply enough clear to achieve the shine I want, I wet sand the final coat and then use meguires 105 and 205 rubbing compound . I normally use 2000 grit paper.

[robdebie]

If you're willing to try totally different 10-minute route, try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCKZ_fo4eW0

For the last part, you really have to crank open the Paasche. I tried it with close to ten enamel paints of different brands, and nearly all worked as advertised.

Rob

[Plowboy]

The one step you're missing is sanding your clear smooth before polishing with the compounds. I'll usually use 2000 grit and then lightly go over it with 4000. Then use the Course, Fine and Finish. You'll want to spray at least three coats of clear to allow for sanding and polishing.  

[Matt Bacon]

This is how I do it:

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234956647-matts-tips-for-painting-cars/
 

best,

M.

[pack rat]

3 hours ago, Plowboy said:

The one step you're missing is sanding your clear smooth before polishing with the compounds. I'll usually use 2000 grit and then lightly go over it with 4000. Then use the Course, Fine and Finish. You'll want to spray at least three coats of clear to allow for sanding and polishing.  

This^

[StevenGuthmiller]

4 hours ago, Plowboy said:

The one step you're missing is sanding your clear smooth before polishing with the compounds. I'll usually use 2000 grit and then lightly go over it with 4000. Then use the Course, Fine and Finish. You'll want to spray at least three coats of clear to allow for sanding and polishing.  

This again!

 

 

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

I'm a little surprised that I haven't yet seen the suggestion to bury it in a few coats of 2-K clear! 

 

 

 

Steve

 

 

[Can-Con]

Same as above but I start sanding with the 3200 or 4000 grit and use each of the next grits through 12000 and then polish with the Tamiya polish.

[Matt Bacon]

...you can do it without sanding paint without resorting to 2K, and properly used, 2K clear can give a pretty impressive effect, especially if you want to win prizes at contests..

best,

M.

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, Matt Bacon said:

...you can do it without sanding paint without resorting to 2K, and properly used, 2K clear can give a pretty impressive effect, especially if you want to win prizes at contests..

best,

M.

Just be sure that you know what you're dealing with going in.

It's apparently very nasty stuff!

 

And in all honesty, it's not necessary to do well in a contest.

There are many different ways to skin a cat.

 

 

 

Steve

[Matt Bacon]

It is nasty stuff, and it does require you to take all the necessary precautions. YMMV, but I've tried several approaches to paint and weathering in contests, at least one of which offers what I think is a more realistic finish, but the judges' preference, in the UK at least, was for the wet-look clear of 2K. The Britmodeller post I've linked above gives my full techniques and rationale; you can read it, or not, as you choose...

best,

M.

[Dpate]

Never used those clears before as i use 2K clear.  Unless you lay down 3 coats of perfect clear you'll have to sand.  How much sanding you have to do depends on how many imperfections you have in the clear.  If you lay down a perfect clear coat you could go straight too polish and wax and be done.  I would use micro mesh starting at 6000 because below that is basically 1500grit and below.  You could start with 2K grit from 3M, than 3K grit, and than 5K grit if needed.  Good quality compound, polish, wax, and you're golden.  Even with clear in rattle cans the methods are still the same though.  The finer grit you start with though is less work you got to do.  Start at 2K grit(Go to 1500 if needed), 3K grit, 5K grit, and if you want you could than go 6K, and 8K from micro mesh, and by that time you could probably skip compound and go straight to polish and wax.  

[peteski]

Looking at the subject line of this thread made me cringe.  "Smothered in honey" is exactly the kind of glossy paint job you *DON'T* want.  Thick, "honey dipped" paint jobs look very unnatural.  Well, it looks like the model was actually dipped in honey. the body details/features get smoothed out, the door lines disappear.  Key to a good realistic looking paint is to get it glossy, while keeping the paint thickness to the minimum.

Edited June 23, 2022 by peteski

[StevenGuthmiller]

9 minutes ago, peteski said:

Looking at the subject line of this thread made me cringe.  "Smothered in honey" is exactly the kind of glossy paint job you *DON'T* want.  Thick, "honey dipped" paint jobs look very unnatural.  Well, it looks like the model was actually dipped in honey. the body details get smoother out, the door lines disappear.  Key to a good realistic looking paint is to get it glossy, while keeping the paint thickness to the minimum.

Agreed.

It’s always been my opinion as well that even a model that doesn’t require any sanding or polishing can benefit from it. 
Something about the polishing process that creates a more realistic looking finish, especially if you’re building something close to stock.

I like to use the analogy that an unpolished paint job can often have a toy like appearance, not unlike a piece of hard candy.

Polishing will not only eliminate that overly shiny appearance, but it will remove any imperfections or orange peel in the paint, while still giving you a very nice reflective finish.

Think of it this way.

The best high end 1:1 paint shops will still “cut and polish” no matter how nice the finish is right out of the booth.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

^^^    Exactly what Mr. Guthmiller said...and his work speaks for itself.

[conchan]

To Peteski, Steven Gunthmiller, and Ace- garageguy,

I apologize for the misleading title. I am trying to find out what I was doing wrong  and how I can make a very glossy, paint job.  The “smothered in honey” reference was to the shine/gloss of the paint rather than the thickness of the paint. 
Again sorry for the misunderstanding. 

Thank you for taking the time to answer. 
Stay safe and enjoy!

 

[conchan]

20 hours ago, stitchdup said:

I use a micromesh polishing kit before the polishing compounds. Once the clear has properly dried I start with the 2500 grit and work my way up to the 12000 grit. I've even used it on gray primer and ended up with a high gloss finish without using any polishing compounds, just the micromesh pads

Thanks for the information. I’ll try and find it here and give it a try. 

[conchan]

18 hours ago, Smoke Wagon said:

If you wet sand with 1500+ (gradually using finer and finer grit to your liking, I usually stop at 3000) after the final clear coat has cured, it will remove orange peel and leave you a matte smooth finish. With enamel paint I just skip clear and sand the color coat itself. Then use your polish to return the finish to a deep, uniform gloss. 

Disclaimer: this process won’t net you a paint finish that tastes like it was smothered in honey. Unfortunately it’ll taste more like Turtle Wax and elbow grease...

Thanks for the tip. 
and warning.

 

[conchan]

17 hours ago, Plowboy said:

The one step you're missing is sanding your clear smooth before polishing with the compounds. I'll usually use 2000 grit and then lightly go over it with 4000. Then use the Course, Fine and Finish. You'll want to spray at least three coats of clear to allow for sanding and polishing.  

Thanks for finding the missing step!

it is greatly appreciated!!

stay safe and enjoy!

[conchan]

13 hours ago, Can-Con said:

Same as above but I start sanding with the 3200 or 4000 grit and use each of the next grits through 12000 and then polish with the Tamiya polish.

Thanks for the answer. 

[conchan]

17 hours ago, Matt Bacon said:

This is how I do it:

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234956647-matts-tips-for-painting-cars/
 

best,

M.

Thanks for the link. I’ll give the Tamiya version a try on the next model.

Edited June 20, 2022 by conchan
Clarification

[conchan]

On 6/19/2022 at 8:38 PM, robdebie said:

If you're willing to try totally different 10-minute route, try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCKZ_fo4eW0

For the last part, you really have to crank open the Paasche. I tried it with close to ten enamel paints of different brands, and nearly all worked as advertised.

Rob

Always open to trying new things. Looks very interesting.  Might give it a try in the future when I get enough confidence to try an air brush. Thanks for the link.