Vince yes brush the paint on and then cut it back.. with solid colours that is. I used a rubber plug I thought looked useful years back from Martin Rubber when I was looking round there on a visit it was going in the bin.. 1 1/2" by 2 cm thick and I have wet and dry that has a sticky back for my pads so I cut it heat to fit and use it with water and soap as like a mini block.. takes time but works..
http://www.farecla.com/
is the trade polishes. it's what the body shops use.. ok they might ( some of them ) use a fancy top coat but I can tell you now all this fancy polish is nice but gimic really..
I do use a top coat that is a bit more fancy hence the depth of the shine.. it's more a sealant than a polish
is this
I get it from the US when I am over there.. it's the best I have ever come across and only about £20 in the US.
I think I got it once on offer at £10 I thought give it go all this wax stuff people were on about..well it's abit of a result find really..
Polish in the US is so much cheaper I bought back loads of different stuff I use for my cars in the US in the back of my car when I shipped it back.. white wall cleaner £2.00 uk price £9.99 Mothers polish I use £8 UK Price £17-19 Mothers Ali cleaner £4 UK price £12 ... my boot was rather full mind you it was a Mercedes S class so it had some room in there. along side the Porsche engine in the boot [
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sorry YOu asked how I learnt well it was trial and error and a good mentor in both Alan a paint shop owner I know ( who I knew after I learnt but has been very helpful in his tips ) and the orginal mentor Clive who owned the paintshop supplies place. On a Sat AM he was normaly busy so I used to just sit it out and talk to him between customers.. in the end making tea and coffee for him and me and we would have chats and he used to show me all the products so I had a bible of understanding but not ever painted a car before!! so I started and my first car was a Black VW Golf funny I just found the old photo's of it.. As long as you stuck the rules and didn't take short cuts then your be ok.. Black was the worse colour to learn on ( well best really ) as any short cuts show though at the last stage [&:] so I painted a panel at a time with the car in a single garage.. I had a really lucky break and bought a S/H Sata Jet Gun.. at the time it was just a nice gun.. but when time went on I later found I had bought one of the best guns I have no idea why it was for sale in the local paper or if was er fallen off the back of a lorry but either way I have had it 17 years now..
I played with Celi for a while and learnt how to push the limits with less or more thinners and getting factory finish in black off the gun.. with not much polishing needed just how the paint shops do it.. I learnt alot about the things they did and in time I think nothing of going my own cars as and when Ineed them..
I only recently blew over a quater panel on a little run about KA .. I have to say I again though it being winter and the work shop rather full I painted the primmer ( filler primer ) on with a brush and wet and dryed it back.. then when that was ready then blew over the top coats with the gun..
nothing good about this other than it was a crash damaged daily for running about in and it was cheap cheap.. but that wa soff the gun finish.. in my rather crowded garage..
I sold it in the end to a neighbour.. anyway what I am saying is you can do alot to paint before you need to do a full on repaint or you can at least do the prep work to the car to save on the man hours. you don't even need a compressor.. you can use a Blower unit.. I have for quickness even though I have a big compressor.. a B&Q blower unit PRO tool works a treat hardly any over spray being it's HVLP and it's brill.. £50
but mine has a metal spray gun not a cheap plastic thing and it's had loads of 2pk though it.. Mask wise I have a propper 3m double carridge and I also have a airfed mask.. but a double filter with a HVLP for primer work and out the door would be ok.