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Paul

Finish and gloss

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Simple answer: practice 

Everyone has different methods of painting, find what works best for you, and that takes trial and error.

 I am definitely not the greatest painter, but I personally like lacquer and usually use spray cans. I build a lot of resin so I like to use self etching primer as well. I usually sand the primer with 600 or finer sandpaper. Your paint will only be as slick as your primer. Make sure that you have a clean surface with blemishes removed before primer. Make sure to apply primer and paint in light coats. The actual spraying takes practice to get the feel of it. I usually do not go for high gloss paint jobs myself, but when I have, I used Testor high gloss clear. Once the clear is good and dry, do not recoat unless you sand the clear first. You can also finish with a polish job with ultra fine sandpapers and polish. 
Like I said, there are many methods, get some cheap kits if you can to practice on and go for it. Even the best builders have paint mishaps, so don’t worry if you do.

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That is probably the hardest question to answer because there can be a ton of variables involved but I will share with you with my technique. I agree with Driptroit as well, it takes practice and learning from trial and error.

For a uniform paint job of all body parts i.e., Hood, cab and sleeper. I find its best to temporarily attach all 3 together (as if they're in final assembly position) and paint them all at the same time. This will ensure an equal amount of paint coverage on the entire body providing a uniform color. Its when you paint the hood, cab and sleeper as separate, individual items that the coverage is always off and the paint is not uniform because you'll have varying amounts of paint on the 3 different items that will give you 3 different shades.

As far as that high gloss finish goes I'm sure there are some secrets out there but my technique is no secret its just time consuming. I prefer to use lacquer paints because they dry super fast and you can sand off any imperfections such as dust that may end up in your paint job. With lacquer you don't have to worry about scratches that appear in the paint from sanding because the lacquer top coat makes the sanding scratches disappear.  Lets fast forward, you've primed and painted and now its time for your topcoat. With Lacquers, I'll do minimum of 4 coats topcoat. (Follow directions of specific top coat recoat dry times). I do 4 coats so I can sand out the imperfections without having to worry about sanding through the paint layer. After my 4th coat has totally cured (usually 24 hours is suffice if your impatient like me) that's when I sand out the imperfections in the top coat and bring it back to a super duper high gloss finish. This is where the time consuming part comes in. Sanding. I use soft micro sanding cloths. They sell them in kits that usually come with 2000 grit - 12,000 grit and a soft block to wrap them around.  When possible I like to start out with the highest grit possible like 3200 but if I need something rougher I'll go down to 1500 and start with that. Long story short, you want to sand out the top coat imperfections (dont rub hard) starting with the lowest grit paper i.e. 2000 and work your way up to through each grit of paper in order from 2000, 3200, 3600, 4000, 6000, 8000, all the way up to 12,000. The object behind each level of soft cloth sandpaper is to remove the previous levels scratches. Every time you move up a grit you'll be sanding away the previous grits scratches. By the time you get to 12,000 grit the scratches should be gone and it'll be super shiny. No tricks, no secrets, just elbow grease and time. For the coop de gras to put the shine over the top, polish it with a carnuba car wax. BAM!!! mirror finish.

That's how I do it in a nutshell. Keep in mind, if you ask 20 modelers in a room the same question you'll get 20 different opinions and techniques. Well, if they divulge their secrets that is.  Some people like to stop at 3200 grit, use rubbing compound then carnuba wax. When it comes to modeling its all trial and error and personal preference.

Good Luck and Happy modeling.

 

 

Edited by Mark 1
missed a few words

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