Smooth finishes

[sak]

Recently I tried my first black paintjob and I just cannot seem to get that smooth finish without tiny scratches. Normally I use a piece of 2000 grit paper from the autobodt store and soak in in a bowl of soapy water for a lil bit. Then hit with scratch-X, now I use swirl remover. I was happy with that but with black it does not hide these super small scratches. I bought some detail master 3200 paper and this stuff is as gritty if not grittier than my 2000. Should I try the 6000 or 8000 paper?

[martinfan5]

Get yourself a mirco mesh set, it goes up 12000 grit

[Longbox55]

Get yourself a mirco mesh set, it goes up 12000 grit

Ditto.

[trey allen]

what if I'm polishing up to 15000 grit, and still not happy?

[MachinistMark]

ditto what dave said. im up to about my 4th polish job, and am THRILLED with how far my skills have come, my Kenworth's black paint looks fantastic.

[sak]

Thanks, how much clear do you apply? Surely going over it with so many different pieces pf paper , you would burn thru the clear before getting to the end.

[MachinistMark]

how much clear? exactly as dave said, as much as you can possibly put on the thing without erasing detail. .

when sanding you just have to keep in mind, rised corners and such will have less on it than a flat panel, so you need to take that into account as well

[John Pol]

Where do you get this polishing kit?

John Pol

[Dr. Cranky]

Polishing is always a pleasure, but you have to be careful. I always spray a couple of extra coats of clear as a good insurance policy.

But you can't be afraid of it. You have to do it and you'll get the hang of it in no time.

[MikeMc]

Recently I tried my first black paintjob and I just cannot seem to get that smooth finish without tiny scratches. Normally I use a piece of 2000 grit paper from the autobodt store and soak in in a bowl of soapy water for a lil bit. Then hit with scratch-X, now I use swirl remover. I was happy with that but with black it does not hide these super small scratches. I bought some detail master 3200 paper and this stuff is as gritty if not grittier than my 2000. Should I try the 6000 or 8000 paper?

One other tip is "heat by rubbing" you actually do with some compounds...they need this step to fill in the swirls...Meguires or Novis both work well as does the Tamiya compounds on lacquers, cannot speak on enamels...Donn says they do get hard enough to polish...I'm not sayin......

[LoneWolf15]

See'in is believin' , Swamp Boy ! Lol! Care to take a tour through oldmansmodels.com for a refresher / reminder ? Enamels polish out to a beautiful finish .

Not my fault that you live in Humidtyville and can't use real paint ! Bwahahaha !

[sak]

Ok, so what grit do you guys start with? The 3200 grit detail master paper seemed like the quivelent of perhaps 1000 grit autobody paper. More than enough to get rid of the orange peel. Keep in mind, I am not trying to get that ultra glossy look, , just glossy, swirl free look, if that makes any sense.

[Longbox55]

Generally, you would want to start with the finest grit that will get rid of the imperfections, then go finer from there to get the shine. As to what grit to sttart with? It will depend on what the finish is like. I do tend to agree with Dave, though, 3200 is a good starting point.

One tip I'll pass along, the finish will only be as good as what's under it. In order to get the best out of the topcoats, you may want to consider using the polishing kit to do the finish work on the primer. I'm not talking going to a high gloss shine or anything, just getting the base as smooth as possible, say going no more that the 4000 grit. That will go a long way to making the final coats smooth and will reduce the work needed to get a good shine.