I read somewhere that if you color sand your car after painting it that you loose that super wet just painted gloss that you get using the new urethane paints they make now. I know color sanding yeilds a high gloss finish. Someone explained that color sanding gives a nice factory like gloss where unsanded gives the thick just painted gloss look. I profess to be a major amature when it comes to paint and body work. I would like some coments from some of you more experienced painters on the pros and cons of color sanding then maybe a few how to tips to get-r-done. I used DCC Concept Acrylic Urethane and supossedly the paint can be used either way. Also should I apply a clear coat. Again, the paint can be used either way. My thoughts are leaning toward just the color sanding then to be done with it. Is there a time frame that the color sanding should be done in? All feedback is appreciated. Dave
If you use single stage metallics, you cannot sand them. A single stage solid color can be sanded. Any clear coat can be sanded. The purpose is to make the surface perfectly smooth. After buffing it will be like a mirror if done properly.
I've color sanded that single stage acrylic and it's ok. It'll shine fine, but if you put it right next to a base clear panel, you'll see the difference. The reflections in the single stage just look a little hazy compared to the base clear. How much gloss the paint has is determined by how it's mixed at the supplier. You can have high gloss semi-high gloss, flat, etc. The only thing sanding does to the finish is put scratches in it, which dulls the finish. The smaller the scratches the brighter the finish. Even polishing leaves small scratches, but they're very very very small. It will not affect the gloss of the paint though. For instance, you can polish flat paint until the cows come home and it'll never shine like a high gloss. If you don't mind orange peel and runs in the paint, then you don't need to sand. If that kind of thing really bothers you (like it does me) then sanding is a necessity for single stage or base clear. As far as how to's... I'm sure there are more experienced painters, but I just used a DA sander to knock down the orange peel, then wet sanded everything by hand with inceasingly higher count grit. Then I used a rubbing compound on a DA buffer followed by Mother's polishing compound. I waited to sand until the paint had cured. Probably didn't need to, but I didn't want to screw anything up. Things to look out for are body lines and creases. DO NOT SAND THESE with a block or the DA. You'll cut right through to the metal instantly. You can very lightly hand sand the body lines. Also, when wet sanding, or buffing, do it out of direct sun and try to keep from doing it on hot days. The water will dry up too fast and leave the dust on the surface and the next tim you go over it it'll get all scratched up. A little soap in the wet sand water is a good idea too. A little bit goes a real long way there.
Candy colors as far as I know are 2 stage because the color itself is very thin paint. Some candies are 3 stage and there may be more, but all will end up with clear on top. Clear coat doesn't produce any more shine than single stage but with enough layers, it will give it depth.
My car is painted with concept and in the last two coats we added clear into the paint 50/50 then 75/25 then wet sanded till the cows came home it has a candy look to it but it is non metallic.
Only do this if you really really REALLY hate orange peal this is alot of work and if you go too far with the sanding you will have to repaint the panel. And get ready to put a side pretty much a whole day for polishing. Dont be discouraged though i does look real good in the end. If you used singlestage some companys will let you put clear over top of them (suposing there is no metalic in it), if so you could always block down the car with a fine grit like 600-800(wet sanding, being carefull not to burn through) and clear the car this will help with alot of the orange peel that comes with single stage. then go over the clear with a fine grit like 1000 and then increase till you get to something like 2000 and the polish start with a good medium cut compound on a wool pad, then a light compound on a foam pad, then switch to a clean foam pad (cant have every used compound on it) with a swirl polish and buff to a briliant shine. Its ALOT of work 90% of the people out there wont be able to tell the differnce but if your doing a show car or something like that its a must. A real candy is a metalic base, with a transparent color sprayied over top, then cleared. Tri-stage, very very hard to spray. You can sand and polish them but if you burn through the clear you well *(^%*)% because candys are next to impossible to match perfectly
Thanks for all the replies and thoughts. I'm still torn. Probably end up doing the color sanding. There's just something inside of me telling me not to put sand paper on a new paint job knowing it's just one of the steps.
