MarkJ

I polished the clear with 6000 through 12000 pads and helped the finish immensely but I went through to the primer in certain areas. I touched up those spots with a small brush and will reclear those spots with a small brush as well. It's not what I was hoping for, but I would need Mr. hobby, Mr. color levelling thinner to do that and nobody, I mean nobody has it in stock. Supposedly it has just the right amount of retarder in it to make the paint level out to a very smooth and glossy finish. It's just like when the Revell chrom was so popular you could not get it. I can't wait any more so I'm going to go ahead and finish this one and hope to get that levelling thinner for my next project.

Thanks, Pierre. I realized that I had bumped the roof with the airbrush and knocked a spot in it down to the primer so I think I will try sanding with the 6000 today to see what happens and touch up that spot and reclear the whole model again. I'm not getting orange peel but more like a sandy look. I might increase my thinner to a 1.5/1 ratio instead of a 1/1 like I used yesterday. That would be 6 grams of thinner to 4 grams of clear. Maybe it will flow out a little better. Now I'm starting to remember why I went to brush painting in the first place. You watch these guys on you tube using the airbrush and they make it look so simple and get beautiful results but when I try to mimic them, I don't get the same results. I guess I'm paint challenged no matter what I try to use.

I shot the Tamiya x-22a acrylic clear today and its glossy, but it still needs to be polished. Have any of you guys ever polished it and how long for it to cure before you can polish it? I don't want to rub through it to the paint and especially not to the primer. I was thinking about 6000, 8000 and 12000 grit polishing pads. Thanks in advance for any replies. I'm antsy to get the decals on and future this baby.

Fender turned out very nicely. Yes Charlie, sometimes polishing can be very scary. That's one thing I don't like to do.

Thanks, Ken for that info. Also, thanks for the tip on stirring instead of shaking. The only problem is Vallejo acrylics come in bottles that you can't stir. Only shake. I don't have to worry about that because I plan to be switching to Tamiya paint for my airbrushing paint.

I watched the you tube video on how to use acrylic paint and clear to paint a model again. The guy did not strain the clear, so I won't either. I guess there is no problem with sediment when using clear. I posted a link below if you're interested. It's weird, he's painting the same model I am. Freaked me out the first time I viewed it. painting a model car with airbrush - Google Search

The little fold I put in them makes them conical, so they fit inside the gravity cup. Here is something weird and maybe somebody can explain it to me, but I tested one of these little strainers with distilled water and it would not go through just sat there. I then tried some 91% alchohol and that did flow through the strainer. My problems in the past with airbrushes was getting little bits of trash in my paint mix that would clog up the brush. I'm hoping these strainers will help .

I bought these huge gravity cup strainers at harbor freight, but they were way too big to use on an air brush. I decided to cut the strainer parts out and make 2 little ones from each big one. Haven't tried them yet but I think they should work just fine. The little piece of green tape is to secure them to the cup while pouring the paint into it. also make a nice little handle to discard them when finished.

Thanks for stopping by Andrew. I agree.

Thanks, Bruce. i'm hoping for better results with the clear when I get some more good weather.

Did the final touch up for the black items so next comes the clear. I'm hoping I will not have to polish it. Just future after the decals are applied, I will have to sand the headlight covers a little before the clear. probably use a 4000-grit pad.

Thanks, Helmut, for stopping by and commenting. In a way I'm kind of glad I messed up the finish I had. I believe when all is said and done this airbrushed body will look a lot better in the end. I just don't have the talent to pull of what Pierre does with a bristle brush. I get the paint way to thick even eliminating the door and trunk separation lines. Thats not a good look for a model car.

Thanks, Mike for dropping by. Yes, it has been a long journey, but I am finally feeling like the end is near. Just need to lightly sand the body with 6000 pad and wash it with soap and water and then when the conditions allow shoot the clear. If it comes out glossy enough, I will go ahead and put on the glass and decals and finish it with future and she will really be finally done.

Pierre, thanks for dropping by. Yes, very close to decal day. Just hope there are no issues with them. I made them a year and a half ago and still haven't sealed them. They have been pretty sealed up though in a zip lock bag so they should be fine. Some are laser printed white decals, and the others are ink jet printed color decals.

I cleaned the air brush, and I really like using acrylic paint because I can clean it with 91% alcohol spray bottle right where I build the models. When I used lacquer and enamels, I had to go out in the garage to clean my old airbrush that went bye, bye. It's weird, when I mixed up the black paint 50/50 it was more viscous than the blue was. It must have been an old bottle of black and had dried up a little. It almost would not come out of the brush, but it was enough to do the small items I had to do. Now that I can get Tamiya acrylics, I think all my airbrushing will be with Tamiya. I can still use the Vallejo for bristle brush painting. The aluminum foil worked good as a mask, but I still need to do a touch up on the black areas I did and use a bristle brush to touch them up. Next step will be shooting the clear so I can polish without going through the paint to the primer.