Awesome article DE. The pictures really do the talking, nice shine! Jeez, now I dont feel so bad about my clear coat, maybe there hope after all to achieve a final finish like that. Your polishing results are waaay better than mine. Couple questions:

- what specific kind of clear is that on the model?

- shot in X applications of wet coats? or seperate with intersanding, or?

- can you elaborate on the buffing pads themselves. Right now Im using 3" foam pads intended for polishing (car detailing they say), velcro backed, came with the polisher. But there seem to be a multitude of pads, color coded based on density or hardness I guess? I cant really see much difference which makes me suspicious of either my clear or teh compound. But what I dont have is the fluffy looking one like you show. What goes with what?

- I had a pneumatic buffer (well actually it was a choked back right angle mini random sander pushed into service as a polisher) but when I started looking at the CFM spcs of palm polishers like yours, I figured my compressor might be running full time to keep up. What compressor do you have on the business end supplying air on yours?

I ended up buying one of these (as they will ship to Canada).
http://www.autogeek.net/griots-orbital-polisher.html
Im sure its a knockoff of something but because its electric vs pneumatic & light compared to others out there, seemed like a logical choice for the money. Ive only done 1 racer with it, but Im using Farecla G3 & foam pads... After sanding (1200 I confess) the finish is dimensionally nice & flat & 'semi-shiny', but just not that high luster. Now Im having 'gloss envy'. Spill your guts. And dont tell me 'wax-on', 'wax-off'