Today's detail was by Stuart and myself and it was a trip to Edinburgh for a Knighthawk Black Civic Type R, recently resprayed and looking a touch dull and grey... Apologies here for the writeup, which will be shorter than normal as I didn't get much chance to take lots of pics as per my usual today - was dodging the weather a bit on this one, wind blowing rain through the car port... After washing and claying the car, we could see the resulting swirls in the paintwork that were contributing to the lack of gloss, and also a light peel over the finish too which was giving it its slight greyness. The before shots: Correction of the light peel and the swirls was carried out using 3M Fast Cut Plus which knocked back the light typical bodyshop peel and allowed the gloss to be restored... Using a cutting technique as follows with FC+: Spread at 600rpm Begin working at 1200rpm, light pressure and slow passes to evenly spread residue Work at 2000rpm for a couple of minutes until compound begins to dust, with moderate pressure and slow machine movements Refining today was carried out using Menzerna PO106FA Final Finish on a polishing pad, the extra bite of this finishing polish allowing for the rounding of deeper RDS on this paint which were too deep to fully remove without significant and unsafe paint loss. Refining carried out using the traditional Zenith Point technique... Spread at 600rpm Begin working at 1200rpm, light pressure and slow machine movements to spread residue and build panel heat a little - wax based lubricant of menzerna responds better with a little heat in the panel Work at 1500rpm, medium pressure and moderate movement pace of the machine until residue goes clear Burnish at 1200rpm, light pressure, slow machine movements Burnish at 900rpm, slow machine movements The results of correction and refining: Much better The paintwork was cleansed using Lusso Revitalising Cream (no better for black IMO), and followed with a Concours wax for protection. The tailpipe before... Wirewool and Briliant #2 Stainless Polish was used, followed by Briliant Chrome & Hot Area Polish to give... Glass cleaned with Stoner Invisible Glass, wheels protected with FK1000P, tyres with Meguiats Hot Shine, plastics and arch liners with All Seasons Dressing. Roll out into the daylight and enjoy The afters showing the benefits of using Fast Cut to knock back the bodyshop haze and allow the finish to have its deepest possible look :thumb: (As with all my writeups, pictures taken with Nikon D90 camera with 18-105mm VR lens [kit lens], resized using Paint Shop Pro maintaining aspect ratio. No other editing carried out).
nice work Dave! Cool car. They don't sell those here in the States. Honda would make some serious coin if they did!
Dont sell them here anymore either - new model been out for a while. There's quite a few cars I would like to see being sold in the States though, especially when I'm there!
Beautiful work, Dave! I worked on a black Impala SS last week, and would've loved to use wool to flatten the paint a little, and to undo the damage from 2 years of California Water Blade abuse. Time did not allow for it though Awesome depth in that finish. :applause:
Dave..I always enjoy reading/seeing your work and this little Honda is no exception! Brilliant work...great photography skills too...this shot and the one following it Rocks!!!