C350CDi - freshly detailed, and protected with Crystal Rock!

[MB-BTurbo]

Very good price and you werent too far from me. I expect it would have been a much better finish than what I have achieved as well.

How do you paint by hand, with a brush and how do you avoid brush marks?

 

[magic qcs]

Cheers. By sanding down between coats and with it being a solvent based gel coating it settles better afterwards. Helps that I use a decent hog hair brush too so it releases the paint better. It's similar to glossing woodwork in that respect. Had alot of positive comments at a show today on some hubs and calipers I did on a Rover ZT-T a couple of months ago.

 

[MB-BTurbo]

Lol, I used a B&Q own brand brush, nothing special and Hammerite. Im please with the finish and for something hidden mainly by the alloys its good enough but there is definitely room for improvement.

Not heard of a solvent based gel before, is it tougher than normal paint and what other advantages does it have over something like Hammerite?

 

[magic qcs]

The hog hair brush only makes a small diffference in reality. The sanding down between coats helps more. It's a VHT paint, designed to withstand high temperatures, ideal for calipers. It's probably not too dissimilar to Hammerite, just it's specificlally designed for calipers and engine componants, that's all. I'm sure the finish between mine and yours would be minimal, and you'd probably only notice when up close - from 6ft away you'd be hard pushed to see the difference.

Detailing is all about subtle differences here and there but when added together make a massive difference

 

[MB-BTurbo]

Detailing is all about subtle differences here and there but when added together make a massive difference

I like that.
... and its something that my wife can't understand.

 

[mikec32]

Kool work, I would put lots of mb work up but I just don't get many of them. But I'm sure many will agree, I have helped a lot of members out with methods and products. So I suppose it evens it out. But if you look back I havnt put up super or hyper cars up, or serious restoration up. Anyway happy detailing and keep up the good work.

 

[magic qcs]

Kool work, I would put lots of mb work up but I just don't get many of them. But I'm sure many will agree, I have helped a lot of members out with methods and products. So I suppose it evens it out. But if you look back I havnt put up super or hyper cars up, or serious restoration up. Anyway happy detailing and keep up the good work.

Cheers bud. You've not put any supercars up at all, what with correctional work on those every day shopping carts such as the Ferrari California and FF, Aston Martin Vantage V12, Audi R8, and a McLaren MP4-12C... great work on them all btw, I meant it when I said you were good I saw that most of them were all for the same club member from here, so even though this isn't DW, it's still of interest to many from in here if you're doing work on a members car.

I don't do that many Mercedes myself, I've done I think 3 or 4 over the past 7 or 8 months that's all - and no black ones, they were silver with the exception of the grey C350 we're talking about in this thread. I use Scholl polishes too, which I noticed you used the S17 on the FF I think it was - not sure I agree with you on the work time, as the main advantage of Scholl is that you can pretty much correct a panel in 90 seconds;

eg. S3 Gold on rock hard cellulose paint during a single stage enhancement (cut/finish all on one polish for the none-detailers reading)..

That's not to say your technique is wrong of course, as your own results speak volumes for the work you carry out, but the Scholl system is fantastic and if you know how to utilise its strengths to their full potential, if you can do that then you're onto a winning formula and can produce stunning results in a short space of time. Likewise, keep up the good work and happy detailing

And that's me holding a swirl spotter during a recent Show & Shine demo day I held at the beginning of April - just so the doubters can see I'm not some herbert of a valeter who hasn't got a clue

 

[mikec32]

S17 is what I would use on an enhancement detail or on a minor correction detail.(if I deem fit that it will have a good correction rate due to intermediate laquer). But S17 does have a long working time. I have no doubt it can correct quickly but it also has long working times. This means if you hang in there you can hit some intermediate defects without going down an aggressive route. At the end of the day the idea is to remove minimal laquer with the greatest effect. So if S27 is worked for longer it will knock out what some compounds wont remove, without actually stepping upto S3 or even 105. Keep this up with ipa wipe downs between sets and your going to have a true finish. I even had an RS4 this week for 6 days work and s3 on an LC Wool pad would even removing swirls let alone RIDs. Short working times is a guideline. If you have fully corrected cars in the 100's I'm sure you know that no paint is the same.

Regards
Mike

 

[Aletank]

Up on the ramp, wheels off, calipers removed from the car and degreased then rubbed down with wet and dry, wipe down again and then primer. Two top coats of a VHT gel coating in the colour of choice with 600 grade rub downs between coats, painted by hand. Hubs are generally done on the car, same prep process but sprayed instead.

£30/£20 per caliper and hub respectively mate.

Hope this helps?

Matt.

Hi Matt
How long would this take ? Would it be possible to wait for the car whilst this is done ? (your 30ish miles from me )
Thanks
Duncan

 

[billywhiz]

Gents great work -

Don't argue over techniques or the finer points of products though - there is no certification for detailing so it's down to personal usage, feeling, and ultimately what works best.

We had a thread on here between detailers which got a bit bitchy and what they did or did not do. It did no-one any favours and in the end I think they got banned.

Just a heads up as both of you turn out some great cars.

Nice open day Magic - I see Foxx or Shiny Phil hasn't moved those boxes by the front door yet ...

 

[magic qcs]

Hi Matt
How long would this take ? Would it be possible to wait for the car whilst this is done ? (your 30ish miles from me )
Thanks
Duncan

Hi Duncan, it takes around 90mins a corner to do in total, which doesn't sound much but the paint takes around 3-4hrs before it can be rubbed down and recoated. After the 2nd coat goes on the same time is required before the car can be driven, so it's really an all day job. In the past I have recommended dropping it off one morning and coming back for it some time the next day. I'm sure we could sort something out if you wanted it doing. Cheers.

Gents great work -

Don't argue over techniques or the finer points of products though - there is no certification for detailing so it's down to personal usage, feeling, and ultimately what works best.

Nice open day Magic - I see Foxx or Shiny Phil hasn't moved those boxes by the front door yet ...

Cheers I wasn't arguing and don't want this thread to be spoilt, as I said, detailed's work is excellent and his method is obviously working for him, I was just encouraging the use of Scholl's main advantage over other brands of polish and that is the speed at which it works. My example was one pad, one polish, one stage with 6-7 passes - it cut and finished all in one, and look at the correctional levels... after 2 IPA widedowns. It's revolutionising the detailing industry, so much that some people find the results hard to believe. Of course it depends on how much cut is required as to what polish I use, but generally speaking fantastic results can be achieved in a reletively short space of time with any of the Scholl range. And yeah, Shiny towers is always a mess, the lads are sound though!!

 

[mikec32]

As you guys know, I have no time For silly keyboard battles.(not that there is one here) If I think another detailer is really good or an absolute cowboy, you'll get no comment from me. I don't get involved negative debates. Hence shy all those years ago I never joined DW. I think me and my friend brad at bluechip detail are detailings best kept secrets)

Enjoy the work guys

 

[mightymouse]

thanks for sharing, it looks amazing and i must say it looks better than my best days at detailing. wish i was living closer to you.

well done on such a great job. dont forget to share more when you have a chance.

Cheers