Replies

1. 
   Rich14 | Feb 21, 2007 01:21am | #1

   Yes, spray it. Couldn't resist. You can probably get away with 320 dry. The finish should sand to a fine powder, easily. If it doesn't, give it more time to dry and harden. Always use a sanding block. Then use a lubricant with finer grit abrasive wet-or-dry paper (400, 4-0 steel wool, 600, 1000 etc.). Rich

2. 
   Kevin | Feb 21, 2007 01:40am | #2

   Since you mention brush marks I assume that you don't have spray equipment. If you did then not only would you not have the brush marks but you would also be able to very easily and very quickly repair any kind of surface flaw which involved leveling the surface by misting MEK over the repair after sanding it flat with 320/400. Since you apparently don't then I'll defer to Rich on manual techniques.

3. 
   testtest | Feb 21, 2007 03:28am | #3

   A better brush would be a step in the right direction.

4. 
   Sequim Tool | Feb 21, 2007 04:38am | #4

   It's how you brush it on, you can't brush over it. One pass and get off before the brush runs out of lacquer then start the next pass at the end of the last pass.   It may be drying to fast. Car painters use a retarder to slow down the drying time so the lacquer will flatten out. I have used a retarder to keep it from blushing.

1. 
   user-53667 | Feb 23, 2007 04:23pm | #5

   Thanks for the replies.  Rich, I dry sanded it with 400 (didn't have anything between that and 220 on hand) and that worked OK.  I'm hoping that after my QS-600 arrives from Mr Jewitt (stealth gloat) a few light coats sprayed on will even everything out.

   Kevin, what does misting MEK over the sanded surface do?  I'm wondering if that method wouldn't help me out now, because after sanding as mentioned above, when held at a steep angle to a light source, some of the pieces show a bit of streakiness.

    

1. 
   Kevin | Feb 23, 2007 07:25pm | #6

   MEK is the primary solvent among a small handful of primary solvents for nitrocellulose resin. So what misting it over a sanded repair does is it refloats the surface - turns just the outermost layer back into a liquid very so briefly so that when it dries it's as if you resprayed it but without having to actually respray it or having to wait for the solvents from an entire layer of lacquer to flash out.

   This technique works best if mixed with a small amount of retarder - 5 to 10%. PM Acetate is my favorite and also a primary solvent for nitrocellulose lacquer. Adding a scant amount of the same nitro lacquer to the mix is the ultimate. But it's not necessary... It's just the easiest formula to work with. Particularly if the final grit on the repair was a bit on the course side. The added nitro helps fill the valleys of the too course grit scratch pattern.

   What the retarder, and to a lesser degree the added nitro, does is it helps bite into the existing finish. MEK flashes so fast that if used alone it takes a bit more than would be necessary with the added retarder, which risks pooling, which in turn would leave a noticable effect on the surface.

   Basically with just the straight MEK it takes several mist coats in relatively quick succession to perfect the repair, whereas with the retarder in the mix it usually just takes one mist coat.

2. 
   jeanlou | Feb 24, 2007 04:40am | #8

   Joe

   You have all the advice you need, especially the one about buying a brush designed to apply lacquers, so I will put a little spin on things.

   Try padding a thinned lacquer finish (several coats). It is a little like a French Polishing technique, except that you use thinned lacquer and no lubricating oils. Try it on scrap. It may suit you in the future.  JL

5. 
   frenchy | Feb 24, 2007 01:20am | #7

   JoeMeyers,

    Avoid them if possible.. Over thin your lacquer and put many many coats on rather than thick paint coats. .