Possible to get a show car finish without sanding?

[vongy10]

So I saw a little argument on youtube about orange peel where the youtuber was explaining about sanding down orange peel, then buffing and polishing. Some guy says he's not painting properly and that he shouldn't have to sand down the clear, just polish it a few days after painting.
The guy's european and apparently all their cars come out of the factory without orange peel and that his own paint shop doesn't create orange peel either.

"In my shop, we mainly use Standox, Standoblue water based metallic, with Standox 3:1 Clearcoat. Applicated with Anest Iwata paintgun. Three layers of clearcoat, and polishing a few days later.
On a flat surface, all you need to do, is make sure it's horizontal, and applicate 5 layers of clearcoat, with about 15% of thinner rather then the standard 10%. This will give you a literally perfect mirror finish. Can be used on round surfaces too, but more likely to drip."

I always thought spray painting always leaves orange peel unless it's been sanded down whether it's from a can or paint gun. Mum's Captiva had a resprayed front bar and the clear coat was atrotious then her Merc got it's front bar resprayed, orange peel didn't look too bad but it didn't feel smooth.

 

[sleepa]

A crash repair job will be completely different to a show level paint job. I am no painter but I can get a mirror finish with acrylic paint and little orange peel.
It will depend on the painter, some are way better then others, but I am pretty sure to get a show level finish you will need to sand down some spots at least as you will always get a paint defect somewhere.

And as far as I know it's the only way to get a true show car finish is to lay the layers of clear on thick so you have plenty of room to sand it down perfectly flat, then polish it with diminishing polishes to a super fine level to jewel the paint. Heaps of labour involved so it gets expensive.

 

[Wheeler1989]

You can get it pretty flat off the gun if you reduce it but will never be "show car" flat.

There are 2 ways or getting a really nice flat finish.

1# You paint the car, throw down 3 coats of clear, let it dry out in the sun for a day or two ( Will also pull back the clear and reveal any sinkback) then sand and buff. This is best finish by far, if your good on the buff, nothing can beat it. it gives you a genuine mirror finish with no solvent haze.

2# The only other way to get a nice flat finish is to paint the car as normal, clear it with 2 coats. let it dry right out, sand it back with 1500, roll it back into the booth and flow coat the whole car. I have done both many times and i always tend to go back to sanding and buffing

 

[WazzaVN]

Yeah you can get a good finish off the gun with a good spray gun and a decent brand of clear. Some people swear black and blue that off the gun is the only way to go however the solvent HAS to evaporate which means it will never quite be as shiny as it was after you just painted it and it's still wet. It will lose gloss even if it's just a little. That's why good clears don't require much solvent and the less you use the better of you will be.

So even if you just run the buff over it without cutting it your finish will be better off. Of course if you cut out all the peel it will look the best. 2 pack paint actually takes longer to cure than you would think. Believe it or not it is chemically active for months in some cases. So your job isn't over if you wait a week then flat block it. You will probably have to go over it some time down the track.

I was talking to a few old hot roder mates of mine. What they do is mix up enough clear coat to do just one coat at a time. They use no thinner what so ever and heat it up to a certain temperature. Sounds kinda dangerous and a bit teknical!

Why they do it though is because when you heat liquid up to a certain temperature the viscosity changes. In other words when it gets hot enough it will get thinner and won't require reducer to flow out. Also once you mix paint it starts curing and of course if you heat it up it starts curing even quicker which is why they only mix enough to paint one coat. Otherwise second coat it will be curing and lay down differently.

I haven't ever tried it and apparently painting like that can take allot of practice. I did knock out all the peel on my SS and polish it though. I wouldn't recommend it. It's a bitch of a job and takes forever. I hate polishing lol.

Edit:like said above too the clear coat will usually sink back into the base coat which also causes gloss reduction. Flow coated clear always comes up better because you're painting straight over a cured surface not soft solvent active base coat that it soaks into.

 

[hi_ryder]

Possible to get a show car finish without sanding?

no