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Does anyone know what products/ process the FIREBALL mini uses to gets that great wet / mirror look? i have the same astro black color (zanio) but am no where near the wet look of that car.
I doubt that all of that shine comes from the detailing products, no matter how expensive they are. More likely, the clearcoat has been wet-sanded and polished.
All factory paint has some amount of "orange peel" or texture in the paint, and there's nothing you can use in the way of waxes or sealants that will build up enough thickness to completely level it out. That's where the wet-sanding and polishing comes in.
There are also tricks you can do when applying the paint itself. If you want a black finish that's extra-deep, you can actually mix some black pigment in with the clearcoat. It's similar to the "candy" paint jobs, where the clearcoat is tinted with pigment before being shot over a metallic base. The traditional "candy apple red" is actually red pigment mixed in with clearcoat, shot over a metallic gold basecoat. That's where you get the extra "depth" - there's pigment tinted all the way through the clearcoat, not just in the basecoat.
This has been a long-running peeve of mine with the manufacturers of detailing products. They'll use these show cars in their ads that have high-dollar hand-applied paint jobs with multiple clearcoats that have been wet-sanded within an inch of their lives, and they give the impression that it's their detailing product that's responsible for the shine.
Of course, I guess it's no different than cosmetics companies that use print/tv models that would be beautiful even *without* makeup, or "Oil of Olay" using twenty-something models to showcase their "age-defying" lotions and makeup.
I think it looks sweet. But why in the world would you ever spend that much time detailing that car... get out there and brun through set after set of tires.
I think it looks sweet. But why in the world would you ever spend that much time detailing that car...
The heart wants what the heart wants...
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~Matt Cook | Dublin, Ohio | '92 Classic Mini Sprite: "Fiona" + Purple Haze 2005 MCS Cabrio: "Dawn". See old MODs from "Nano" HERE - post #166 - many with How-to links!
Nothing against Brian's car, it is in great shape, but if you put any car in that location (indoor with the right lighting) it will give the same shine. I detail cars in warehouses with the same type of lighting and the shine that comes off the car is alot different then when you bring the car outside. There is a picture of Brians car outside on another thread here on NAM and it looks alot less shiny outside than in the picture you posted, but still looks AWESOME. His mini is one of my favorites out there. Hope that helps.
Actually...they probably use stuff that is way too expensive to put on driven cars.
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