how soon can i fine sand a scratch in metallic silver ?

[BERT aka MODEL MAKER]

I misted on 2 coats of metallic silver 20 minutes apart, then 1 hour later, put on a full coat on my Pl jupiter 2 then after an hour i noticed what looked like a dog hair right up front, but looking under magnification it looks like a fine scratch that really shows up in the silver at certain angles, it's been almost 24 hours and i want to be rid of that scratch unlike other model master spray paints that say to recoat within 2 or 3 hours or wait a full 48 hours so the paint will cure and gas out, this metallic silver has no such information anywhere on the can, is metallic silver different than strait colors ? I have some very fine sand paper that comes in the hobby store pack with an assortment of grits. I have noticed with metallic silver if you smudge or sand a small spot, and repaint the spot it always seems to stand out, what is the best method, short of stripping it to remove this fine scratch?
THANKS !

[Lt. Z0mBe]

Two things I would suggest.

First thing that might work is a nail buffing kit. Use the finest grit; on mine it's the "3" section.

The second ting that you might try is toothpaste on a cotton swab. Wet the cotton swab first, then apply the toothpaste to the swab, and work it into the swab. Then, buff along the length of the scratch, in the smallest circles possible. If you see any kind of demarcation between the buffing area and the surrounding area, repeat the buffing around the demarcation to blend the buffed with the unbuffed. Repeat as often as necessary.

Remove the polishing residue with a folded, wet paper towel; use the fold like a squeegee. Make sense?

It it was me, I would then shoot some Future through an airbrush over the entire thing.

I hope this helps. Let us know how it goes.

Z0mBe

[BERT aka MODEL MAKER]

i ended up spot sanding it last night and started to touch up the spots. thing with metallic silver is it gets darker in the spots you rub and is hard to cover up, i am going to check on it in a few minutes. I am trying to find out about the recoating times for metallic silver (MM) all the other colors say recoat within 3 hours or after 48 hours, this MM metallic silver has no such wording on the can i wonder if the curing properties are different with the metallics

[TER-OR]

The metallics are tricky. The metal flaky bits kind of tend to "float" atop the media, making that nice shiny surface. Under that is a paint media, kind of a greyish bluish color. So you'll need to buff it very smooth and repaint the area.

Bare metal finishes are generally regarded as the most challenging painting in the hobby. Aside from convincing fleshtones on figures, I presume.

[BERT aka MODEL MAKER]

yeah, i see what you mean, it really does show any color difference so once smoothe light coats to that area and wait for it to dry to see what it looks like dry before adding any more

[TB2]

Bert, as I'm not the one doing it this will be easy for me to suggest. But.. If you weigh the time it's taking to buff, sand, re-coat etc. etc. I wonder if it wouldn't take just as much time to reprime (if you did) and re-paint the whole thing. Yeah it's a pain, but that way you'll get an even finish. I've encountered this before and invariably I've been happier after redoing it than spot painting, 'specially with metallics. My two cents.

[BERT aka MODEL MAKER]

Thanks TB2, well the paint has been completely stripped off that mid hull section, i was thinking about doing it anyway as i was retouching the area and while i opened a brand new can of metallic silver and shook it up for a couple of minutes just to make sure it was well mixed, as i uncapped it and started to push the button the flippin' button wasn't on the can strait and blew off and splattered the entire can of silver paint all over that part of the garage including me and of course all over the j2 hull so i stripped it overnite in castrol super clean and cleaned it in the sink and dried it and am in the process of respraying several mist coats this time