sandpaper grade

Just been polishing my Gtr with compound but still had orange peel, so i used some 1000 grade tamiya paper with water very gently, then back to compound now orange peel gone and i have a very nice shine on the bonnet. i was just wondering what grades of paper everyone else uses as i was going to get some 2000 grade paper to do the rest of the car cause i had to be bloody careful not to rub right through to the undercoat.:D

I use a Micro Mesh polishing kit with grits up to 12000
I skip some in an effort to get done faster :devil:
Micro-Surface Abrasives (http://www.micro-surface.com/)

Mike:bandit:

Mike, how long do you wait for the paint to cure before using Micromesh? And after 12,000 grit, do you still see any scratches in the surface of the paint? I have the same kit and only got good results on a die-cast car painted with automotive lacquer cured a month.

And after 12,000 grit, do you still see any scratches in the surface of the paint? I have the same kit and only got good results on a die-cast car painted with automotive lacquer cured a month.

I believe it depends on the lacquer for how long it takes to cure,Dupli-Color can be polished in 24 hours !

The 12000 grit should'nt leave anything but very faint marks which can be removed with the polish ! Are you keeping the surface and the paper
wet ?
:bandit: Mike

Keeping the paper and surface wet.. Does that mean in a big bowl of water large enough to fit 2 hands and a model. and still possible to sand..???

The 12000 grit should'nt leave anything but very faint marks which can be removed with the polish ! Are you keeping the surface and the paper wet ?

Yea, I wetsand with all the grits and I wash the model and the pad after each grit. The surface feels smooth as a baby's bottom but it still scatters light, and you can see small scratches/imperfections that the polish won't remove. It's been bugging me - the Testors was allowed to cure for 2-3 weeks and the Plastikote lacquer 2-3 days.

I haven't gotten good results on Testors Model Master spray-can and Plastikote spray-can. I'll stick with Duplicolor and Tamiya from now on.

Keeping the paper and surface wet.. Does that mean in a big bowl of water large enough to fit 2 hands and a model. and still possible to sand..???

Well, you could do it that way but it would lead to dish pan hands !
Just dip the sand paper in water and wipe of excess plastic:rolleyes:

:bandit: Mike