Sanding

[hellonwheelz3]

I have looked at several cars in the "under glass" and one in particular in the "big boyz" section and have seen some AMAZING paint jobs. I keep reading about applying several coats of primer and paint, and sanding in between. My question is, how far do you sand it after primer gets laid? Do you take it all the way to where you can see mold again? Also when you lay the first coats of paint, I'm not sure what good sanding will do? Please forgive me for asking a stupid question lol, i'm just trying to learn. I know I know, it takes practice

[envious8420]

hey Ben,

the first coat(s) of primer which is sanded is to fill any minor blemishes in the body work. the final coat of primer is more or less a sealer. just to make the body a uniform color. the sealer coat of primer should be sanded out with 1200-1500 grit wet just to smooth out the sealer coat.

again the color coats are sanded out with at least 2000 grit just to smooth out any imperfections in the color coats. just remember to not sand the last color coat before clearing. especially if the paint is a metallic or pearl. you can get away with it on a solid darker color with a good cleaning before clearing.

then your first coats of clear should go on very light just a hair more than a dusting to give the rest of the clear something to hang onto, it also kinda helps seal the color coats from the heavy dose of clear in the last step. which is a nice wet coat, don't soak it but just a nice wet "shiny" coat. which you can block out with your favorite polishing kit.

i didn't mean to go on like you don't know how to do this, but as more of a tutorial for those who cant.

hope this helps someone.

(this is only the way i do it.)

and pardon my punctuation usage, i didnt pay attention in skool

[MikeMc]

Jims got you covered. I will suggest either a book by Bob Downie or Donn Yosts DVD.

Seeing what and how these masters work will make you a better painter..I know it helped me.

As far as "how to" we all have our own way. Stay consistent in your technique and your work will get better.

http://www.oldmansmodels.com/

[Zoom Zoom]

The smoother all layers are, from primer to color to clear, the smoother your finish will be. A new layer of paint just seems to go down better when the layer below it has been sanded smooth (and by sanding, I use Micromesh so the "sanding" is almost like polishing).

Each model is different. Some require little primer, others that have bodywork require more steps in the primer stage.

I use Micromesh on nearly all paint, I level out primer with 2400-3600 grit before color, and if I go through the primer to plastic, I spot in a repair of that area & wetsand it smooth. I use similar grits between color coats (depending on the amount of potential orange peel and any dust/dirt particles to deal with, and do be very careful not to sand through to the primer or plastic because the pigment on successive coats might not be dense enough to hide those breaches in color). I don't sand a metallic/pearl color coat before clear. If I apply clear in more than one session, I'll hit it with 3200-3600 before the next coats. If you wetsand layers w/fine sandpaper or Micromesh, you end up with a fantastic finish that requires a minimum of buffing out. If I'm using Tamiya paints & it's not a dark color, I can get away with scuffing the clear with 3600/4000 & then buff it out with Tamiya coarse, fine, & finish compounds.

[weasel]

...AND wear some kind of mask to protect from the fumes!!!

...i know, i know, clear's the best...dude!!!