Wow guy's:
Mirror glass smooth finishing isn't all the difficult if you remember that Finishing takes up to 4 times as long as building your rockets.
First: Prep work is all important: I've stopped using seam & wood fillers perferring to use only the Cheapest rattle can grey auto primer I can get my hands on. Currently that is "Fresh & Easy" from Walmart (.98/12oz can - in 3 case orders). 3 Coat, let dry overnight then sand with 220 -240 DRY sandpaper. If those first 3 coats leave some grain or seam lines showing, repeat with 1-3 coats and sand with 320-360 DRY sandpaper. In is not necessary or wanted to sand our primer any finer than 360 grit. We Want some micro peaks and valley's to give the color coats a little "tooth" to grip onto. We want our finished Primer to be free of blemishes, dust, dirt,hair or there impurities but NOT so slick that the color coats have nothing to clinge too.
As Others have mentioned, Rattle can paints are not the worlds best paint/thinner/vehicle formulas. All these Rattle Cans are intended for consumer use. As such there are some tradeoffs that had to be made. One of these is the paint consistancy. Professional painters use their experience to thin a give paint to the proper "drip rate" to get the material to flow out to a smooth coat. Unfortunately all pigments do not thin the same and Rattle Can paints are made to use the same amount of solvent thinners and spraying vehicle. So all colors do not spray the same.
All that to say it isn't always the humidity or your technique that cause some Orange Peel outcomes. It happens to the best of us using Rattle Can Products.
What to do? Wet sanding the final coating is one option. but you DO NOT need to exceed 600grit when Wet sanding on our model rockets. On a Classic Car top coat/clear coat finish you would use the finer 1000, 1200, 1500 and 2000 grit wet paper but on Model rockets it is NEVER necessary!
After Wet sanding out any dust, lint or other debris collected during the painting process with up to 600grit wet sand paper the next step to a babies butt smooth glass like finish is a 3m product "Finessit-II" polishing medium. This is NOT a rubbing compound. it is a finishing medium with ultra fine removal properties. Use as directed on the lable. Finessit-II does remove a very small amount of paint so if your model has multi colors with only a single coat be very careful as you may remove that single coat in the buffing process. On Trains, Planes, Trucks & Cars we use an electric buffer. On our Model Rockets this application and buffing process is done with very soft cotton rags by hand.
As I mentioned before this Finessit-II process does take some time. but Finessit-II will remove the worst Orange Peel you can produce Leaving a Mirror smooth finish, so time well spent it is worth it. If you have created "Paint Dams" at your multi-color seperation lines Finessit-II will remove them to the point you will not be able to feel the joint. I've done 6 and 7 color camo. paint jobs the Feel as smooth as a single color coat.
A couple examples below: All produced in my basement spray booth, using only Rattle Can paints. a little wet sanding and Finessit-II before decals and Pledge with Future protective coating.
If you would like more detailed prep, paint and finishing tips; a visit to
www.narhams.org could be of help. in the left hand menu look for the Library section, when you click on Library look for Tech Tips. Tech Tip-002 through 005 will take you from Raw Wood and paper to babies butt smooth finish with lots of options and products discussed.
). When sanding is finished there should be little Primer left on the project. Primer and it's pigments are Heavy so sand as much off as practical for your purpose.
