Ok, I'm painting my car with cellulose paint next month, in a gazebo - everything as usual on a strict budget...

 

My Zed is primed and rubbed down, and ready for the base coat. I've been praticing on other parts - nose panel, targa stips, door handles etc. I'm getting the hang of spraying, finding it annoying how every little imperfection shows up with the base coat - why can I still see score marks from sanding, even after rubbing down the primer with 600 grit?!

 

I don't plan to use clear coat, due to the extra cost, and the added risk of screwing up at the end. It should also be easier to respray anything I'm unhappy with at the end.

 

The paint I'm using is this, which dries glossy -

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1L-Mystery-Purple-Cellulose-Metallic-Gloss-Car-Paint-Custom-Colour-Celly-/330405867444?hash=item4cedb96fb4

 

Now, I understand, from all my research, that I'm meant to rub down my finished paint with 1200 / 1400 grit, then use a cutting compund / paste to eliminate the scratches, polishing to a glossy finish. I've tried this on the targa end strips and it just leaves dull finish, the other freshly painted untouched targa strip looks way better. So why do I need to use a cutting compund, it looks fine the way it is. Can't I just seal the fresh paint with wax? If I has orange peel I could understand, but it's already a smooth finish.

 

Any advice would be great.

 

Just read through this from beginning looking forward to seeing finished results but no matter what little mistakes you end up with I think you should be extremely proud of the results so far I wish I was able to do more with my own but I spend so much time unwell if I was to spray car prob take me about ten years lol, I have done in past with 2k only though and full kit as my mate was a panel beater so used to show me bits, but it takes a lot of heart to jump in to a full car re spray so top marks just for trying.

So, I cut and polished....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unless it's pouring down there will be wax tomorrow, followed by more polishing.

 

Not sure about the bonnet, it still has orange peel effect, but I think this is in the paint not the the clear coat.

 

An despite using 2500 then 3000 grit, I had score marks that seemed to stay after all the polishing, but you can only see these at certain angles.

 

I think, overall, given that this was an amateur job, done very much in the elements, and on a budget, I should be more than happy. I am happy, I could be happier, but I'm not unhappy. I've learnt a lot, and although far from a pro, I think I've done damn good job.

Edited May 1, 20169 yr by MasterCookieman

At the end of the day as long as its shiny and all one colour, no one really looks that closely at it to notice any peel or the odd imperfections. You know they are there ( most of us do now lol) but you should be very proud with what you have achieved and enjoy the fruits of your labour :thumbup: