So i just finished rattle can primer, base coat, its been drying for 18 hours now. Will i get better shine if i wetsand the base with something like 2000 and then clear coat...or will that make the paint look like crap after clearcoat is applied?

 

DO NOT sand the base coat.. the only thing you should/can sand is the clear coat, then you buff it to get that 'mirror' finish. So just clear it then sand w/ 1500 then 2000 and up to 3000 or higher.. but be CAREFUL when sanding/buffing it is very easy to go through clear coat. If you plan on sanding after i would put at least 3 good coats of clear to lessen the chance of going through. btw what kind of paint are you using?

 

hey, so what happens if i sand base code...will it be totally fucked up when clearing? im using dupliccolor universal gloss black

 

What you want to do usually is have the material (or whole car) as smooth and bump/dirt free as possible so when you put the primer/paint/clear on nothing will show. If something comes up then you should sand it smooth again. If the primer went on without a problem (drips, build up, etc) then continue on with the clear.

 

im past all that
im at the base coat
which is why i asked if i can sand the base coat or not

 

no, and this doesnt go here

 

Ok check it out. my base coat has expletive ups in it. not completely smooth and a few runs. so if i sand it then clear it will it be permanently hazy since i wont polish the base?

anyone REALLY know this?

 

no. if you have runs in your paint coat (color coat), then you should wait until its completely dry, and wet sand off the runny spots. THEN, re-spray the base coat (color coat) AGAIN and make sure not to over-do it this time- make sure not to paint too much and get runs again. Once that coat is dry, THEN you clear it. DO NOT sand the base coat unless you plan on re-applying it. If you sand the base coat before applying clear, you will F*ck up your paint. Its'a PITA!

 

Uhhh I sand base coat all the time to get it smooth and perfect, and nothing has ever happened to me.

Check out my paint thread. I think I went over all the steps I did when I painted my car.

 

but you and i both have more experience with paint and we know how to properly sand without damaging. Just trying to make it a simple job for the inexperienced kind.

 

alright, so im gonna wetsand the parts that are jacked and lay some base down over those parts only.

 

should i use a 2000 grit when wetsnading base?

 

DO NOT sand the base coat with 2000 grit, the highest you should go is 600, the clear coat has to have something to stick to 2000 is way to high

 

go with sanding the base as smooth as possible... I would go with 2000 than 3000 (imo) than apply a new coat of your paint so its smooth. Once your ready for your clear coat i would get 2 or 3 layers so you dont run throught it when you buff..

 

why do you plan to sand the basecoat? Thats stupid if you have never painted before. if you would have sanded the basecoat, you would have seen scrapes on the paint. You should have clearcoated the part/parts or car within an hour of the basecoat. This makes it less likely to collect dust and that is when it is most tacky for the clearcoat to stick. Only time you need to sand is if you plan to re-paint or re-clearcoat. I painted my del Sol myself this summer. I have some runs in my clearcoat. What you want to do with that is sand the clearcoat with like a 1200 grit sand paper or 1600. Then tack cloth the area so there is no dust particles on it. I worked at a car dealership and I talked with the body shop manager. Thats what he told me to do with runs. If you have any other questions, let me know.

 

I see that you never got a clear answer to WHY not to sand the basecoat,so I figured I'd chime in for those who pull up this thread in a search and might be tempted to do this. If your color coat is solid and has no particles of flake or glitter for added sparkle, it is fine to sand color coat, BUT many paints are not pure color and sanding negatively affects the pearlescent colors - IF your color coat is at all metallic or has reflective particle flakes that float in the paint, these will be obviously disturbed by sanding and be noticeable in having a uniform flattened look that will show the direction of the sanding strokes. If your color coat is not containing such metal flakes, then you are ok with sanding it.

I learned this the hard way, trusting the more plentiful replies to similar questions that said it was ok to sand the base,but didn't get to those threads which explained about the metallic flake/sparkles until after I had already sanded the color coat hoping to rid myself of some orange peel. The thing to do, apparently, was wait until after a good thick clear had been applied and then sand to shine. I tried to get away with leaving the sanded part without recoating again with the color before clearing and it was totally obvious and unsatisfying and I ended up redoing the whole thing. If you sand the color coat before the clear is added, you should recoat with color once again to restore that randomness of any metal flake that will float to the surface and don't sand again and use the clear coat to fill any other slight imperfections that might occur. This will be much more satisfying in the finished product. I am not sure if the universal black from Duplicolor has any flake in it, but most of the honda colors do have some pearl or flake added where sanding it would ruin that natural effect. Even if you have some orange peel, you definitely want wait to buff that out in the clear instead or you will see the disturbance in the color flake unless you recoat the color again after.

 

This couldn't have been explained more clearer, me being a begginer car painter this comment answered a lot of my questions, beautifully said!