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1.Before you start painting,wash the parts, sand all the mold lines, fill all the sink marks, smooth all irregularities, correct all inaccuracies, then light sand everything with fine grit (800) sandpaper under the running water, then dry.
2.First coat is ALWAYS gray primer. If everything looks good, I spray a coat of white primer and let it dry completely. If I make more corrections, I spray another coat of gray, then white.
3.After white primer is dry, I smooth it by slightly wet sanding it with 1200-1500 sandpaper, Make sure you don't sand trough white. Then thoroughly wash the body several times to remove all residue. Dry for 2-3 hours.
4.To lay the foundation of the good paint job, mount the body on your favorite stand, and spray a very light coat of paint.Do not even bother to cover most of the primer - just mist some paint, but make sure you mist it everywhere. Also, make sure that the humidity and temperature are suitable. Do not paint when it is cold or very humid, and when its very hot and dry. After about 20 minutes (more for enamels), lay down a second mist coat, this time try to cover most of the primer.
5.If there are still some white spots - do not worry about it. After 20 minutes, inspect the paint - if you managed to put some dust in the paint already, wait another hour (more for enamels) and then wetsand the dust and other particles in your paint with very fine (3200) paper. Wash and dry the bodyshell. Spray another (usually the last one) mist coat. This coat must cover all white primer, and the body must be covered completely. The paint could be flat in places, but this is normal. Make sure its uniform and covering every possible surface. Dry for 2-3 hours.
6.Now you spray the wetcoat. Spray the paint until it starts to look wet, but before it starts to run, this may take some practice. Also it helps to warm the paint first.After paint has cured, you will probably see some texture to it - even if your undercoats were glass smooth. That's normal because paint gets textured while it dries. This is especially true for lacquers. Second wet coat will cover this. About the only thing you need to do before spraying the second wetcoat, is make sure you do not have dust and other things in your paint. Wet sand them with 3600 sandpaper, and smooth out the paint with even higher grit (or toothpaste!). Wash and dry. If your wetcoat removed some paint from the high spots and you can see white primer bleeding through - this is the time to touch up those spots. Do not put a lot of paint though - or it will be visible even after second wetcoat. Mount your body, and repeat the process. This time leave the paint to cure for at least 4-5 days for lacquers, and good 10 days for enamels.
7.Now when your paint is dry, we need to polish it to a high gloss shine! Its not a necessary process, but even if your paint looks awesome after second wetcoat, it will look mile deep after polishing. If you managed to put some dust in your paint while laying down a second wetcoat, wetsand it with very fine (3600) sandpaper. Be extremely cautious if you used metallic paints - metallic colors tend to get lighter in places of sanding, and you do not want this. The rule of thumb when polishing metallic paints, is to apply a coat of clear over the metallic paint, let it dry completely, and then polish the clear coat, not the paint. This adds one more step to the painting process, but believe me, its better than stripping the entire body! Lightly sand the entire body with 6000 grit, and then smooth out with higher grits (8000, and maybe even 12000, but I rarely use this one!). When sanding is done, rinse the model under the running water and let it dry.
8.you can use any fine polish and wax (even automotive wax on lacquer paints). The polishing process is simple enough: get a cotton cloth (old t-shirt work fine), preferably white (this will help you see how much paint you removing), several q-tips, 2-3 toothpicks, and a polishing cloth (same t-shirt). Wrap the cloth over your index finger and dip it into polish. Then start rubbing the surface with circular motion. Try not to rub over fine details and raised edges. Polish works just like fine sandpaper, only in a liquid state. It removes paint and by doing this smoothes the surface, and if you rub over raised edges, it will remove paint just like sandpaper does. When polishing the paint, rub it till all polish is absorbed by the cloth, and then take another (clean) cloth and rub over the polished area to remove remaining polish. You will immediately see if you need to polish this area some more, or if its already polished enough. Do not worry if some of the polish filled the panel lines, you will get rid of it later. Use q-tips dipped in polish to polish hard to reach areas. Work slowly, and check your work often. Repeat the process if needed, and move to another part of the car. I usually start with the hood and continue to the roof, trunk, then to the sides of the car. When you done polishing the entire body, get an old toothbrush, and wash the body under warm running water gently scrubbing panel lines with toothbrush and mild detergent to remove all the polish from the panel lines. Rinse the body and let it dry completely. When its dry, use the same technique as with the polish to apply wax. Wax is even finer abrasive, and will bring your paint to an amazing shine, you will see your reflection in the paint!
Again, work slowly, and check your work often, because it will be really frustrating if you cut through the paint on this final stage! Of course you'll be able to touch it up, but its better not to. On this stage try not to put a lot of wax into the panel lines, cause you wont be able to wash the body after waxing. Put very little wax on your cloth, and try not to rub over the panel lines with loaded cloth - only when there are almost no wax left on it. After you done waxing the entire body, take a toothpick and carefully remove all the wax from the panel lines. Then give a body one final rub with clean cotton cloth. Try to rub in circular motion again.
2.First coat is ALWAYS gray primer. If everything looks good, I spray a coat of white primer and let it dry completely. If I make more corrections, I spray another coat of gray, then white.
3.After white primer is dry, I smooth it by slightly wet sanding it with 1200-1500 sandpaper, Make sure you don't sand trough white. Then thoroughly wash the body several times to remove all residue. Dry for 2-3 hours.
4.To lay the foundation of the good paint job, mount the body on your favorite stand, and spray a very light coat of paint.Do not even bother to cover most of the primer - just mist some paint, but make sure you mist it everywhere. Also, make sure that the humidity and temperature are suitable. Do not paint when it is cold or very humid, and when its very hot and dry. After about 20 minutes (more for enamels), lay down a second mist coat, this time try to cover most of the primer.
5.If there are still some white spots - do not worry about it. After 20 minutes, inspect the paint - if you managed to put some dust in the paint already, wait another hour (more for enamels) and then wetsand the dust and other particles in your paint with very fine (3200) paper. Wash and dry the bodyshell. Spray another (usually the last one) mist coat. This coat must cover all white primer, and the body must be covered completely. The paint could be flat in places, but this is normal. Make sure its uniform and covering every possible surface. Dry for 2-3 hours.
6.Now you spray the wetcoat. Spray the paint until it starts to look wet, but before it starts to run, this may take some practice. Also it helps to warm the paint first.After paint has cured, you will probably see some texture to it - even if your undercoats were glass smooth. That's normal because paint gets textured while it dries. This is especially true for lacquers. Second wet coat will cover this. About the only thing you need to do before spraying the second wetcoat, is make sure you do not have dust and other things in your paint. Wet sand them with 3600 sandpaper, and smooth out the paint with even higher grit (or toothpaste!). Wash and dry. If your wetcoat removed some paint from the high spots and you can see white primer bleeding through - this is the time to touch up those spots. Do not put a lot of paint though - or it will be visible even after second wetcoat. Mount your body, and repeat the process. This time leave the paint to cure for at least 4-5 days for lacquers, and good 10 days for enamels.
7.Now when your paint is dry, we need to polish it to a high gloss shine! Its not a necessary process, but even if your paint looks awesome after second wetcoat, it will look mile deep after polishing. If you managed to put some dust in your paint while laying down a second wetcoat, wetsand it with very fine (3600) sandpaper. Be extremely cautious if you used metallic paints - metallic colors tend to get lighter in places of sanding, and you do not want this. The rule of thumb when polishing metallic paints, is to apply a coat of clear over the metallic paint, let it dry completely, and then polish the clear coat, not the paint. This adds one more step to the painting process, but believe me, its better than stripping the entire body! Lightly sand the entire body with 6000 grit, and then smooth out with higher grits (8000, and maybe even 12000, but I rarely use this one!). When sanding is done, rinse the model under the running water and let it dry.
8.you can use any fine polish and wax (even automotive wax on lacquer paints). The polishing process is simple enough: get a cotton cloth (old t-shirt work fine), preferably white (this will help you see how much paint you removing), several q-tips, 2-3 toothpicks, and a polishing cloth (same t-shirt). Wrap the cloth over your index finger and dip it into polish. Then start rubbing the surface with circular motion. Try not to rub over fine details and raised edges. Polish works just like fine sandpaper, only in a liquid state. It removes paint and by doing this smoothes the surface, and if you rub over raised edges, it will remove paint just like sandpaper does. When polishing the paint, rub it till all polish is absorbed by the cloth, and then take another (clean) cloth and rub over the polished area to remove remaining polish. You will immediately see if you need to polish this area some more, or if its already polished enough. Do not worry if some of the polish filled the panel lines, you will get rid of it later. Use q-tips dipped in polish to polish hard to reach areas. Work slowly, and check your work often. Repeat the process if needed, and move to another part of the car. I usually start with the hood and continue to the roof, trunk, then to the sides of the car. When you done polishing the entire body, get an old toothbrush, and wash the body under warm running water gently scrubbing panel lines with toothbrush and mild detergent to remove all the polish from the panel lines. Rinse the body and let it dry completely. When its dry, use the same technique as with the polish to apply wax. Wax is even finer abrasive, and will bring your paint to an amazing shine, you will see your reflection in the paint!
Again, work slowly, and check your work often, because it will be really frustrating if you cut through the paint on this final stage! Of course you'll be able to touch it up, but its better not to. On this stage try not to put a lot of wax into the panel lines, cause you wont be able to wash the body after waxing. Put very little wax on your cloth, and try not to rub over the panel lines with loaded cloth - only when there are almost no wax left on it. After you done waxing the entire body, take a toothpick and carefully remove all the wax from the panel lines. Then give a body one final rub with clean cotton cloth. Try to rub in circular motion again.
, but where did u copy this from? :uh:
