Wet sanding before clear?

[Mr. Sinister]

If it helps, this tank was painted in a semi-gloss black, with gloss green metallic, then lightly sanded before clear. I applied gloss clear, and this was the result:


The glossiness of your finish is determined by your clear, and nothing else. So long as your color coat is fairly uniform in coverage and free of grease/oil, the clear should even out any mild variations in the color.

[Sci85]

Wow Bill, that tank looks really nice. I commend you.

I finally got that base coat/clear laid down. The black looks beautiful under the clear. It's a deep black with a very slight metallic to it under the light. I love it. I am also amazed how well that Spraymax 2k clear is from a can. Amazing stuff and I highly recommend it. I got 3 full coats on the tank and front fender out of the one can. Unfortunately It was dark by the time I finished and I had to leave town the next morning so I don't have pics yet and haven't got to see it in the sun. I'm hoping I got all the imperfections out but given this is my first try, I expect a few. I did get one tiny little run but it's not that noticeable. I will get some pics hopefully tomorrow night for all to see.

[Flyboy]

Wooo Hooooo sounds like we have a winner.

[Sci85]

As promised, here are some pics. Unfortunately, there is still no sun out today so these pics don't really do it justice. In the sun or light, it's a deep black color with a very fine metallic layer. It's just gorgeous up close. Overall, I think it came out pretty good. It looks so nice in fact, that I'm going to have to repaint my triple clamps, bars, fork legs and engine covers with this paint. I used just a standard black on those and the tank just over powers them lol. Oh well.

[tkent02]

Very nice, you are almost there. Wet sand it lightly with very fine paper, 2000 or maybe 1500, then polish it. If you hear a whistling from the paper as you sand, rinse it off, you have a tiny rock under the paper which will scratch the paint. Google color sanding and polishing, read all about it so you don't go to deep, just take off a tiny amount.
It will look spectacular.

[Flyboy]

^^^ What Tom said, a wet sand with 1500 or 2000 to get rid of the orange peel and a good polish, it will look like a mirror.
Keep the paper very wet and well lubricated while sanding, clean it often.
Taking sandpaper to your shiny new clear coat is the scariest thing you will ever do.
But don't b in a hurry, give the clear some time to cure fully first, I would say, hit it in about two weeks time.
Looks awesome, good job.

[Sci85]

Your right, I do not want to take any sandpaper to that tank. It was hard enough getting to this point and knowing me, I would screw it up haha.

Don't you have to have some kind of buffing wheel to do this? Seems like it would take forever by hand no?

[tkent02]

Your right, I do not want to take any sandpaper to that tank. It was hard enough getting to this point and knowing me, I would screw it up haha.

Don't you have to have some kind of buffing wheel to do this? Seems like it would take forever by hand no?

No, it only takes a few minutes. You are only removing the textured finish so the polish can work. Not even all of the textured finish, just the very top layer of it.

Really, Google color sanding. It's easy and the results will be very impressive.
Every good paint job includes this step.

Practice on some other piece if you would feel better than diving right into the tank.

[Nessism]

If you are happy with the current finish then leave the tank alone. Sanding the clear can lead to sanding though to the base coat, in which case you will have to reclear. I don't recommend color sanding like that unless you are positive there is a good deal of clear on the tank.

[Sci85]

Nessism, I agree. I am happy with it as it stands but always open to learning. I'm pretty sure I have enough clear. I was able to get three good coats on it so may take tkent's advice and try it on one of the side panels when I get them painted.

Thanks everyone for all the help and advice. I would never have gotten this far without all the great folks on this site. The GS Resource is the best of the web for sure.

[Sci85]

Oh, and tkent, your stuff looks amazing!

[kdo58]

I tried wet sand 2k, I ended up respraying 2k, just saying.

[Sci85]

I tried wet sand 2k, I ended up respraying 2k, just saying.

Ok, so where do you think the problem was? How many coats of clear did you use? What grit sandpaper? More details please.

[tkent02]

The idea is a very slight sanding. Not even all the way through the waves or texture in the surface of the clear. Use the surface texture as a guide, stop before the tiny waves are gone. If you go farther you have no way of knowing how deep you have gone. Practice first on something you don't care about, or better yet have someone who knows how show you how it's done.

Then polish it and you will have a mirror smooth surface, much more shiny, deep and bright than you ever thought possible. Just like the expensive paint job, because this is the step that lets it really look professional.

[Flyboy]

Sci, 2K has no clear coat, 2k has the clear mixed with the colour it is sprayed as one step, unlike base coat/clear coat, which are two separate steps.