ATTN: Painters, final finish on track skins paint, Help

I've spent approximately 30 hours wet sanding, priming, and wet sanding some more. I sprayed with rattle can, sanded, and then cleared with 3 coats. I have some dry fall , overspray, and a little orange peel in the clear. At this point should I wet sand with 2500 or go after it with a compound such as Meguiars Ultimate Compound an then Polish it? I know its just track body work, but I'd like it to look good for the corner workers and gravel traps.

 

just mount it and go!

 

Use the 100-100 test.



100 yards at 100 MPH test



Looks good! :up:

 

I color sanded mine with 2000 grit then used some 3M rubbing compound to get rid of the 2000 grit swirl marks / dullness. A few days later I used some Zysol to polish it to a shiny car show gleam.

 

that looks really good super k, could you post the steps that you took from sanding to clearing? and thats duplicolor grabber green correct? how does it match to the oem paint on the tank?

 

Wet sand it w/ 2000 or 2500 then:
1. Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound
2. Turtle Wax Polishing Compound
3. 3M Fine Scratch Remover
4. Meguiar's NXT 2.0 Wax

Important side note: if you used rattle-can clear wait 3 to 4 days for it to completely dry before wet sanding. After the 3rd day if it still smells like clear coat, give it another day, all the solvents have not evaporated.

Thats alot of work for track plastics, but whatever floats ur boat. In the end you will have a mirror shine.

 

The match is close, not perfect. I can tell you this, I didn't wet sand the fender before clear and its color is deeper and matches closer than the cowl and tail unit, so that's the trade off between color sanding imperfections before clear for Perfection or getting a Better color match.
The body work I blunt had already been poorly primed when I bought it.
Sand with 400
Prime with Rustoleum sandable primer (black) available at Wally world.
wet sand with 600, use dish soap in your water rinse often and look for shiny low spots and continue sanding until they're gone.
I cheated and used primer to fill tiny holes and imperfections instead of body filler. Spray them, wait a couple seconds for the paint to tack, repeat until they dissapear, and sand until smooth and blended.
Prime again and wet sand again with 600.
Now its time for paint spray with two light coats letting the paint dry between coats, then hit it with a wet coat. Make sure you overlap the spray during the wet coat.
Allow the paint to cure for 7 days.
Wet sand with 800, you can hit bad spots/runs with 400 or 600 but be careful not to go through the paint.
Repeat the paint process for a second coat.
At this point you can wet sand again or go straight to clear after 7 days.
Clear needs to be applied a little slower and seems to need almost an hour between the 2 light coats and the final wet coat, don't rush this or the clear ends up rough and not glossy.
And now you're at the point I'm at now, waiting a few more days for the paint to cure before a final wet sand and polish.

I posted this from my phone so please excuse the poor grammar and layout.

 

Wow thats a LOT of work for track plastics!!
Im more of the colour match duck tape kind of guy!

 

It was a lot of work, but in the end it should look good. Chances are that after a spill it will get the standard spray and go touch up.

 

nice, did you use a special clear or was it just a regular duplicolor can?

 

Duplicolor Crystal Clear.

 

Wow you must be really bored, looks good but 30 hours on track plastics is insane.

 

I don't have a hell of a lot to do in the evenings, might as well be productive. I'm positive that a pro or at least an experience person would've been much faster, this was my first real attempt at any sort of painting bodywork and wanted it done to the best of my ability.

 

Dude, I understand where your coming from, first crack at it to see how its all done, might as well just go all out and do it right. Id probably be doing the same, its fun! I may not be quite that anal but I totally understand, its about pride in doing it yourself.
Looks good btw!

 

Looks hella good to me! Great job! I'm trying mine In a week hope it turns out as good

 

WoW!! i spent like $35 + left over primer from another job, and painted up a track body LoL.

that looks awesome!! sure you used rattle cans??

ever used krylon? i found it flexes better then the duplicolor.

 

Wow 30 hours on track body work.. INSANE!

 

I spent a fair amount of time doing up my track plastics.....but the good thing about it is that it was my first time doing and I learn ALOT of do's and don't so if I ever choose to go down this route again I'll have alot of details iron'd out before hand.

http://forums.13x.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=71970&d=1274410959

 

That looks pretty damn good.I wanted to add some white and black but decided to keep it simple. I had a hard enough time taping the lines on the fender and air inlet.

 

The left fairing is w/ 2000 grit wet sand and the right fairing is after:
1. Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound
2. Turtle Wax Polishing Compound
3. 3M Fine Scratch Remover

If done properly, you can get a rattle-can job to look professional.