Confused

Hi,

I am confused with compunds and waxes. What is compound and what is wax? When are they used, what are their individual uses?

Another question is can i apply compound or wax after i have already sprayed the car body with tamiya clear coat?

Cheers all.
Kyuu

compound is an extremely fine abrasive used to polish the model (to make it shine), and wax is an optional "coating" to protect the paint afterwards. You normally use compound, and then wax.

Hi,

I am confused with compunds and waxes. What is compound and what is wax? When are they used, what are their individual uses?

Another question is can i apply compound or wax after i have already sprayed the car body with tamiya clear coat?

Cheers all.
Kyuu


Im confused too.... why didnt you read the FAQ? it answers all your questions.

wax on, wax off.

http://www.worth1000.com/entries/123000/123386ejMI_w.jpg


Rest of the wisdom is for those who look in the 1337 FAQ !


Oli

wax on, wax off.

http://www.worth1000.com/entries/123000/123386ejMI_w.jpg


Rest of the wisdom is for those who look in the 1337 FAQ !


Oli


you meant !##& FAQ! LOL

I DID go through the FAQ before posting. Unless the FAQ we read are different. =\

There are topics on how to use compound and wax BUT nothing on what is compound and wax, when are they used and what are their uses (which is my main query). In any case, thanks for the input.

How about the other question. Can I still apply on compound and wax IF i'd already sprayed on tamiya clear coat?

thanks again
kyuu

IMO, you should use wax on your LAST coat only - in your case clear. Paint or clear won't adhere very well to a wax :)

Compound you can be used inbetween paint and wax - it is like a liquid sandpaper but veeeery fine.

Thanks.

So then does wax give better shiny effect or clear coat?

But from other posts, it seems that the effect from using compound is already great.

What is the best method?

You're confused and I've a lot of patient today, so I done the job for you: few steps:

-1 READ CAREFULLY FAQs

-2 READ HOW TO sticker: here you can find a exaustive answer: ex.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59123

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=89313

and, if you need more have a look on alex site

www.italianhorses.net (http://www.italianhorses.net) he done a lot of tutorial

or in the eric WS

http://models.magietec.com/gallery/main.php
http://www.scalewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

how you could guess I spent ony few minutes to find out a lot more than what you nedd just now: all is under you eyes, you need only to search, and keep you time, like on modelling.
Regards
Giovanni

I fully understand your confusion! When I started this hobby I read all the FAQs all over the place millions of times looking for the "right" answer and I still haven't found it today :)

For my benefit let me tell you how I see it (maybe someone will correct my mistakes ;) );
1. Wash and sand the body
2. Primer - always. White for light colours, grey for dark colours
2. Smooth primer coat with 1200-1500 sandpaper (I use toothpaste)
3. LIGHT mist coats of paint (2-3) - sand out dust and other crap BEFORE you put the next coat of paint on.
4. Apply wet coats of paint (2-3) -
5. Smooth out dust and orange peel from the paint with 1200, 1500, 2000 grit paper UNLESS you painted metallic paint then DON'T sand it, go straight to OBLIGATORY clear coat
5. Apply rubbing compund (also commonly called polish) to remove fine lines from sanding. It is possible to achieve very good finishes at this point and some people would not use clear and or/wax
6. OPTIONALLY apply clear coat (same steps as 3-4)
7. repeat step 5 on the clear coat
8. OPTIONALLY apply wax (I do because I think it looks really nice :) )

The difference between polish and wax?
Polish/compound is a liquid sandpapaper and you can paint your part after it. Wax works as an even finer sandpaper but also leaves a water repellant film on the surface which means that you probably can't paint on it.

Hope that helps and doesn't just confuse you even more :)

EDIT:
PS another thing I have just started doing is this. I bought one of those compressed air sprays for cleaning PC keyboards. Just before spraying paint, I give the part a burst of air to remove any dust. The pressure that comes out of these cans is very great so be careful that it doesn't blow your car across the workshop :) but it is very efficient at removing dust!! (My assistant still can't understand why her can disappeared :biggrin: )

EDIT 2:
Lucky for us Giovanni is lazy today :biggrin:

From ScaleWiki (http://www.scalewiki.com)


Compound (http://www.scalewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Compound)
Wax (http://www.scalewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wax)
Preparing a body for priming and painting (http://www.scalewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Preparing_a_body_for_primming_and_ painting)
Polishing A Body (http://www.scalewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Polishing_A_Body)
What order do I do all the painting and polishing steps? (http://www.scalewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=What_order_do_I_do_all_the_paintin g_and_polishing_steps%3F)


You should try ScaleWiki (http://www.scalewiki.com/), it has updated FAQ from here and much more info. You can even search to it, which is much more easy.