Spraying a body for the first time

[glenn]

Having a go at spraying my first body and have a few questions,I have done some searches but there is so much conflicting info out there.

1.do I need to wetsand the colour coat and polish it before laying on a clear coat?

2.do I then lay the clear coat and wetsand/polish that too?

3.im spraying my body gloss white,which colour wash for pnel lines would look best? Im assuming flat black would be too cartoonish? maybe a dark grey?

[LoneWolf15]

Glenn ,

What are you painting the car with , enamel , laquer , etc ?

If it's enamel , yes to the wet sand , no to the polish as it will cause your clear to fisheye .

Once your clear is on and flashed out , a light wet sand and you can then polish your finish out .

[LoneWolf15]

One other point to make , if it's gloss white enamel ... You don't really need to clear, it will polish out to a very nice shine without it .

[VW Dave]

One other point to make , if it's gloss white enamel ... You don't really need to clear, it will polish out to a very nice shine without it .

Most of the clear enamels will yellow over time as well, so polishing the white paint is the best move.

[LoneWolf15]

On white and ivory colors , yes ! I never , ever had it yellow on me with any other color . Standard colors , I rarely use clear coat , no need . Metallics and pearls , absolutely ! It brings out the depth and richness of the colors !

[Guest]

Having a go at spraying my first body and have a few questions,I have done some searches but there is so much conflicting info out there.

1.do I need to wetsand the colour coat and polish it before laying on a clear coat?

2.do I then lay the clear coat and wetsand/polish that too?

3.im spraying my body gloss white,which colour wash for pnel lines would look best? Im assuming flat black would be too cartoonish? maybe a dark grey?

1 wet sand yes. polish no

2 if you use clear, do NOT use Testors enamel. It WILL yellow over time. Polish you clear only if necessary. Tamiya TS-13 usually doesn't need to be polished.

3 don't wash your panel lines, make them deeper by scribing them with the backside of a new xacto blade . It looks much more natural. Nothing looks worse than washed panel lines IMO.

I've painted a couple of models white and have found that Tamiya TS-13 won't yellow like Testors will. Plus, Tamiya paints are much more user friendly and dry much faster than enamels. Do yourself a favor and get acrylic laquer paints like Tamiya, Model Masters,Dupli Color or Dupont. I used enamels for thirty years and had a lot of good luck as well as bad luck. Since I've started using laquers, I won't even consider enamels anymore.

Here's a model I painted with Tamiya Pure White and their TS-13 clear. I didn't capture the shine,but the clear is slick as glass and only two coats. You can also see the effect of deepened panel lines.