Roughening up a Red Hot Voxy

To increase my chances of succeeding on my Voxy project, I decided to be patient and vigilant in sanding the entire car after several coats. This gave me the opportunity to inspect Voxy for things that needed my attention like paint runs, uneven coats and nasty insects that got stuck in the paint while it was still wet. :)

I saw several mosquitos and flies in Voxy's body - though they can be repaired - it is quite a hassle to deal with them. You have to sand down the surface, spray on a new coat of red (if needed - depending on how big the insect is) then wait for it to dry before moving on.

For some reason, I encountered some average sized pinholes in the hood - dunno why but might be due to the times when I was too lazy to double check if everything was perfect. A friend told me that when his car was repainted - they encountered the same thing and what the painters did was to apply several drops of paint in the affected area (see picture below) - after it has dried up - sanding deals with the uneven surface . DISCLAIMER: Dunno if this is a lasting and recommended fix, only time will tell. If you have had bad experience with this advice, kindly share with us :)

TIP: Make sure that the surface is completely flat and free from embellishments and imperfections after spraying on your primer and before applying your base coat to avoid problems later on. Wash down the car if needed as sometimes, the dust from all that sanding fills up nicks and scratches and might result to pinholes  and nicks further down the road.

I consumed a gallon of paint for my base coat (if you factor in the thinner, I sprayed on around 2 gallons of red paint -maybe more). I decided that for my top coat, I will attach the fenders to ensure and equal shine :)

After the fenders were placed back - time to do some wetsanding (again) - notice that the newspaper once covering this rear wheel is gone as it was not able to stand the water brought about by all that sanding :)

Covered up the wheel with a large trashbag - reusable and durable!

Don't be afraid to roughen up the surface TIP: use around 600 to 800 grit sandpaper for sanding out the base coat - using a coarser sand paper would be devastating! :) Wash the entire car afterwards - you don't want to see sand residue mixing in with your top coat. I used some mild detergent to ensure that the car is entirely clean - I have an oily skin and sanding causes you to sweat a lot, I might have deposited too much of my bodily fluids in voxy hehe - again better be sure and safe than sorry (you have to wait for the car to dry up before spraying on your clear)  

 
TIP: Again, sanding in between coats or before starting a major layer (primer, base and top) is based on your preference and how far your willing to go. I feel that if you don't have a controlled and dust free paint booth, sanding is a must - it will separate the boys from the men :)

MAJOR TIP: Pay attention to little details like pinholes and uneven surfaces (usually caused by not sanding your filler enough) - these things will make a big difference in the end result.

 Next up - laminating Voxy with layers and layers of top coat - aiming for a carshow shine! Do you think I can make it? :)