I hate when that happens. Orange peel happens when there wasn't enough time for the first layer to dry. I just experienced it myself. Lacquers dry fast, but I still managed to make a zombie lady. my objective is to get a nice glossy shine on my car body like I’ve seen people get on YouTube by using it. They tend to sand the body first with 6000/8000 grit sand paper as I say I was only using the chrome and aqua clear as a test as I had it ready sitting there cured. I’ve painted another 2 test pieces with my main subjects colours. Tamiya TS spray then 3 coats of Tamiya LP gloss clear. I will give it 3/4 days and then try the compounds on those.

The left side was corrected with a rotary tool and jeweler’s rouge. The right side is Mr. Hobby Polymer Finish and the “clear” winner! You can easily see my fingers and the reflection from the camera lens while the left side is far more distorted. I highly recommend this product and can’t wait to use it again. Polished Part with Keyboard Behind I also tried it on some spoons with the LP paint on tonight, not clear coated and I couldn’t replicate the problem with the Alclad so the Tamiya TS spray is more robust than the Alclad clear! Still I couldn’t get a noticeably different finish between polished and non polished after 3x fine and 1x finish Clear coating gives a much better surface to polish your model and you don’t have to worry so much about digging into the color paint layers. It also will fill in those micro scratches and level out super smooth. There are many clear coat products which Sunward Hobbies offer, in this case it’s Tamiya X-22 Clear, again reduced 50/50 with Mr. Leveling Thinner 400. Mirror Finish on Part in Blue Glove Just as in the automotive industry the key to a good finish is in the preparation. A shiny surface will show many flaws, thus to begin I’m going to make certain that the surface of my plastic is as even and smooth as possible. In this example I’m using the bonnet of my Tamiya Lotus Super 7.This article will focus on Tamiya Polishing Compounds and how we get to that point, so let’s grab a bunch of items from the store and have some fun. Many Items Gathered Together

In this Sunward Hobbies Tutorial, you’ll be seeing how polishing your model with Tamiya Polishing Compound can make a huge difference. Also, I’ll throw in some items which will make your life easier, give an even better finish and possibly save you some money. All the products used in this article came from Sunward Hobbies. I didn’t use any special materials and all the techniques can be easily replicated by most people.At this point you can choose to reapply the course compound or move on. It depends on your theme and desired look. Make certain, though, you wash your applicator in the warm water. Takes but a few seconds and ensures what is put on it next is not contaminated by the previous job. Rinsed Off Part with Course Compound Behind The final Tamiya application was with their Finishing compound. Here I did 2 or 3 applications to get a mirror finish. If you look closely, you see the reflection of my glasses and finger at the bottom of the polished part. It’s quite remarkable the look you achieve with not much effort. The great thing about Tamiya’s Finishing Compound is that it can be used for any general polishing, such as removing fingerprints or getting rid of water marks around decals. Fine Compound with Applicator and Silver Labeled Tube It goes without saying that the smoother the previous layer the smoother the next will be. Here, I’ve primed with Mr. Primer 1000 because it gives me the desired result. It’s clean, yet all the flaws show up in the semi gloss reflection. In this case it was a few bits of lint. Mr Primer Surfacer 1000 with Sanded Part Whenever you move from any grit of sander or compound it’s vital to get rid of the rougher effort. When sanding you blow off the heavy dust or in this case the heavier compound. I use warm filtered water and an Atlas Ox hair brush. In a minute or so the caked compound and rehydrated lubricant wash away. Part with Atlas Brush in Water For some modelers this would be enough shine, but there are a few more steps left to get better results, so hang with me till the end. As you can see there is a drastic improvement and with just one application. Also note, I’ve washed the part and applicator. Almost Mirror Finish with Applicator and Tube Behind