scalebuilderchad
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2023
- Messages
- 174
You seem to have a lot of questions about painting cars. Here is how to get a decent paint job consistently, no matter what type of paint you use.
First, I would stay from enamel paint unless you absolutely have to. It doesn't dry very fast at all.
1. Prep the body. Remove mold lines, and scribe your panel lines like doors trunk and hood. Scribe them as deep as you can without going through the plastic.
2. Sand the whole body with 800 grit. You can do this step wet or dry. The whole point of this is to give the body a very slight texture to help the pimer stick to it.
3. Apply primer. Start with light coats. And try to apply primer into the hard to spray areas first. Like under the car, under a spoiler, things like that. If you are using spray cans move the can fast as you apply to keep the coats light. Apply light coats until the primer covers the whole car.
4. ONLY SAND THE PRIMER IF IT IS ROUGH. You do not have to sand the primer if it is relatively smooth.
5. Apply paint. Again, apply paint in hard to reach areas first. And apply the paint in light coats. If you are using spray cans, do not shoot from too far away. 5"-7" is far enough. Just keep the can moving to avoid paint build up. And apply a few light coats, again, just enough to coat the whole car. Remember, the paint does not have to be smooth, it just has to be applied evanly so the color is uniform. Do not worry about texture unless it is really bad. If the paint texture is really bad, try applying one more coat of paint, but apply is SLIGHTLY heavier. This should help redice texture.
6. Once the paint has had time to dry. 24-48 hours. Then you can apply clear. Again, apply the first coat very light. focus on hard to reach areas again. Apply 2-3 vary light coats. The clearcoat will not look shiny yet. After applying 2-3 light coats let it sit for like 10 minutes.
7. Now that you have 2-3 light coats of clear and it has sat for 10 minutes, it is sticky and ready for more clear. Apply one heavier coat. Not so wet it runs, but you should now start seeing a gloss finish. Let it sit another 10 minutes.
8. Apply one final heavy clear coat. Not so heavy it runs, but you want it to look pretty wet as you apply it. And here is where you can stop and let it sit for 3-4 days.
9. After 3-4 days (or longer if you have time) Then you can wet sand it. If the clearcoat still has some texture (orange peel) than you should start wet sanding with 1500 grit. I like to use sanding sponges. Tamiya makes some really good stuff that you can cut into little squares. Wet sand with 1500, DO NOT APPLY PRESSURE. Sand lightly and frequently rinse off the sand paper and the body.
10. Wet sand with 3000 grit. Again sand lightly, let the paper do the work. Rinse frequently. And sand until you remove the texture from the 1500 grit.
11. Wet sane with 5000 grit. Same as above.
12. Get some rubbing compound and rub that into the surface. As you apply it the scratches from the 5000 grit should go away. If they don't, lightly sand with 8000 grit. Then go back to the rubbing compound.
13. After the rubbing compound, use some polishing compound. Apply this until the finish really shines.
14. I apply a wax last. You may not need it, but it might help remove any slight haze that might be left.
WARNING!!!
These steps are not set in stone. If you think you need to apply an extra coat of clear, do it. IF you think you need to add steps in the wet sanding to help you in removing texture and scratches, do it. You will probably have to vary these steps slightly depending on how smooth that clearcoat ends up, or how nice you want the body to shine.
These are general guidelines that will help you get consistent results.
Oh, one more thing. Use different color primers to suit the colors you are using. White or light grey primer for light color paints. Grey or Black primer for dark colors. Metallic pains like black primer as well.
First, I would stay from enamel paint unless you absolutely have to. It doesn't dry very fast at all.
1. Prep the body. Remove mold lines, and scribe your panel lines like doors trunk and hood. Scribe them as deep as you can without going through the plastic.
2. Sand the whole body with 800 grit. You can do this step wet or dry. The whole point of this is to give the body a very slight texture to help the pimer stick to it.
3. Apply primer. Start with light coats. And try to apply primer into the hard to spray areas first. Like under the car, under a spoiler, things like that. If you are using spray cans move the can fast as you apply to keep the coats light. Apply light coats until the primer covers the whole car.
4. ONLY SAND THE PRIMER IF IT IS ROUGH. You do not have to sand the primer if it is relatively smooth.
5. Apply paint. Again, apply paint in hard to reach areas first. And apply the paint in light coats. If you are using spray cans, do not shoot from too far away. 5"-7" is far enough. Just keep the can moving to avoid paint build up. And apply a few light coats, again, just enough to coat the whole car. Remember, the paint does not have to be smooth, it just has to be applied evanly so the color is uniform. Do not worry about texture unless it is really bad. If the paint texture is really bad, try applying one more coat of paint, but apply is SLIGHTLY heavier. This should help redice texture.
6. Once the paint has had time to dry. 24-48 hours. Then you can apply clear. Again, apply the first coat very light. focus on hard to reach areas again. Apply 2-3 vary light coats. The clearcoat will not look shiny yet. After applying 2-3 light coats let it sit for like 10 minutes.
7. Now that you have 2-3 light coats of clear and it has sat for 10 minutes, it is sticky and ready for more clear. Apply one heavier coat. Not so wet it runs, but you should now start seeing a gloss finish. Let it sit another 10 minutes.
8. Apply one final heavy clear coat. Not so heavy it runs, but you want it to look pretty wet as you apply it. And here is where you can stop and let it sit for 3-4 days.
9. After 3-4 days (or longer if you have time) Then you can wet sand it. If the clearcoat still has some texture (orange peel) than you should start wet sanding with 1500 grit. I like to use sanding sponges. Tamiya makes some really good stuff that you can cut into little squares. Wet sand with 1500, DO NOT APPLY PRESSURE. Sand lightly and frequently rinse off the sand paper and the body.
10. Wet sand with 3000 grit. Again sand lightly, let the paper do the work. Rinse frequently. And sand until you remove the texture from the 1500 grit.
11. Wet sane with 5000 grit. Same as above.
12. Get some rubbing compound and rub that into the surface. As you apply it the scratches from the 5000 grit should go away. If they don't, lightly sand with 8000 grit. Then go back to the rubbing compound.
13. After the rubbing compound, use some polishing compound. Apply this until the finish really shines.
14. I apply a wax last. You may not need it, but it might help remove any slight haze that might be left.
WARNING!!!
These steps are not set in stone. If you think you need to apply an extra coat of clear, do it. IF you think you need to add steps in the wet sanding to help you in removing texture and scratches, do it. You will probably have to vary these steps slightly depending on how smooth that clearcoat ends up, or how nice you want the body to shine.
These are general guidelines that will help you get consistent results.
Oh, one more thing. Use different color primers to suit the colors you are using. White or light grey primer for light color paints. Grey or Black primer for dark colors. Metallic pains like black primer as well.
