Conway, or anyone, Am I suppose to buff the clear coat "soon" after applying? I thought I heard someone told me to do that to remove imperfections. How soon is too soon?, Can I wait?

By the way, I wimped out on the yellow. It looks pretty good with the green and white so I kept it. The clear coat is on so all that it needs it the decals, photos in a week or so.

Doug

Actually you will want to let the clear finish drying. Longer is better for a wait time. I would say in roughly a weeks time. I normally first wet sand my clear withh 1500 to 2000 grits to remove the imperfections then using some Meqguries polish and a buffer with wheel I buff it all to a great shine. You can if you wish skip the sanding and use buffing compounds to do this with. But I would say wait 3 to 5 days and then do it.

Thank you very much. I got the impression it should be HOURS not days or even weeks. I do have 1500 grit sandpaper and I was planning on wet sanding it. Its turning out OK for an amature and I have to admit after a few weeks of sanding and painting and sanding and ... I just want it to be finished. Thanks again Conway.

Doug

doug,
check your PM's.
John S

I might if you tell me what a PM is? I don't care for acronyms.

Doug

Private Message

Speaking of painting... has anyone, or does everyone, use KILZ for priming and filling the holes in composite weave? Heard about it on Infocentral, but wanted to check it out here, too. That is all. 🙂

has anyone, or does everyone, use KILZ for priming and filling the holes in composite weave?

I have heard about it but have never used it.

What I found that really seems to work well for fins is just epoxy with a small amount of sandable filler like West System Microlight. Let it remain flat so it doesn't run then use a orbital sander to smooth it out. I don't know how well it would work on body tubes because the mixture I used was very thin. But I know how hard it is to fill the composite weave, the're deep enough that primers won't fill them without MANY coats but small enough that thick fillers don't like to "cling" the the weave. I hope this helps.

Doug

Yes, it does. Thanks again, Doug.

From the boat building biz, the proper way to deal with the fabric weave is to do a process called "fairing". (As in to make something look "fair" or pretty). You use epoxy mixed with glass or silica microballoons and make a paste approximately the thickness of toothpaste to peanut butter consistency and using a bodywork squeegee, your fill the weave. The mix should be at LEAST 50% microballoons. After it cures, you sand... and repeat as necessary to fill everything. That's what I do when I'm not vacuum bagging with a final layer of non-porous mylar as the release. (That process results in glassy smooth finish.)

Warren

Thanks, Warren.

I carry several products that do a great job of filling in any of the stuff you guys are talking about and then some. Most are a light to ultra light polyester body filler or finishing glaze. Some are even made with fiberglass fillers. Much easier to use then epoxy or any epoxy mix and much more sandable as well. One of the very nice things of woking in a place that sells everything paint and body.