Quick painting question

[Risu]

So I've got something I'm working on that needs to look as smooth as possible. I primed it and sanded it smooth with 500 grit sandpaper, and now I'm painting it and the paint finish isn't really as shiny as I'd like it to be. What would be the best way to improve it? I've got some Krylon gloss clear coat, but that stuff usually dulls things I spray with it. Can I polish the paint with a dremel, or will it come right off?

 

[vader71]

I would not use the dremel unless you go really slow, it will burn right thru the paint really fast. Try hand polishing it.
As for a gloss coating you can use Duplicolor gloss clearcoat and it really does a nice job but you will need to make sure you have a compatible paint/primer or it will make a mess of you finish.

 

[Volpin]

I'd wetsand it with 2,000 grit paper. After that, buff with medium cut rubbing compound, then fine-cut polishing compound, then wax and polish. Even rattle-can paint can look great with enough polishing! Pic below is all steps minus the wax.

After I get past 320 grit, I only sand and polish by hand. A dremel polishing wheel will be too inconsistent over large areas.

 

[Gigatron]

After using the commcercial grade sandpaper (which I believe goes up to 2000 in wet/dry), use hobby grade polishing pads (2400 - 12,000, available from micromark and towerhobbies). Then use automotive swirl remover, for clear coats.

After it's polished and washed, prime to look for any flaws. If there are no flaws, hit it with the swirl remover again (to smooth it out). Wash again, let air dry, then basecoat with Future Floor Wax (Pledge with Future Shine, by SC Johnson). It's water thin and dries absolutely level. It can be brushed on, airbrushed or even dipped. After that has dried (give it a week to fully cure), you can paint your top coat over that.

And even after all that, you may still have to polsih the finished paint to get it as glossy as possible.

-Fred

 

[Risu]

Wow, that's some great advice, I'll have to keep it in mind for next time. The paint has already dried on this piece though, and I don't feel like doing it over again. It's reasonably smooth, I just want to bring it up one more level. I don't have access to any of the really good stuff mentioned. The highest grit sand paper I could find was 1200, can I wet sand the paint with that without going right through it? If so, how long should I wait for the paint to completely cure before I try it? As far as polishing goes, is the red stuff that comes with the dremel decent enough? If not, what about tooth paste? As I said, I'm pretty limited in my resources.

 

[Gigatron]

1200 is still too coarse and for the amount of toothpaste you're going to go through, you're better off getting a bottle of Scratch-Out. It's like $4 and can be found at pretty much any autoparts store that carries wax and the like. Then I'd still wax it, even if it's with just Turtle Wax.

Some waxes, like Nu Shine, I believe, are a swirl remover and wax, in one.

-Fred

 

[Risu]

OK, I'll check out Auto Zone today.

 

[Risu]

Well, after a bit of polishing with turtle wax polishing compound the finish started to get kind of shiny. The only problem is, by that point the primer was showing through parts of the paint. So I figure I'll keep polishing it until the whole thing is smooth and then repaint it. Before I paint it again though, what should I use to clean off all the wax?