7. Polishing

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Tamiya's fine finishing paper (left) contains very fine sand papers of one 1200 grit, two 1500 grit and two 2000 grit. It's about 250 yen, or $3.60 retail.

Detail Master's polishing cloth set (right) contains 3200, 3600, 4000, 6000, 8000 and 12000 grit sanding abrasives. They're also available individually.

Eyeglass cleaning cloth

When polishing a hard to reach area, put a tooth pick inside the polishing close. Cut the tip flat, and make your own tool accordingly.

Revell Germany 1/24 Enzo Ferrari

7. Polishing

I receive many questions about how to achieve a mirror-like surface, so I'll explain it in detail.

After about eight "very light" coats of Tamiya spray, the surface looked like this. You can see a moderate orange peel, but as long as it's minimal, don't worry too much about adding more layers. What's important is to apply sufficient thickness to be ready for sanding.
If orange peel is not so severe, you can use 2000 grit Tamiya sand paper. Otherwise, start from 1500 grit, and then 2000. Make sure not to over-do it, especially near the edge. I only used 2000 grit for this model.
Then, I used Detail Master abrasive 4000 grit, and worked the way up to 12000 grit. After sanding with 12000 grit cloth, the surface looked like this, and all visible scratches were gone. If there were some, go back to a coarser sanding cloth.
Using soft and fine cloth, such as eyeglass cleaning cloth, gently rub the surface with Tamiya compound or scratch remover. I used Meguiar's Scratch X for this model. Scratch X reacts with the paint, so rub off quickly, or just use Tamiya, Modeler's or Gunze compound.
Finally, I polished the surface with Zymol automotive wax. Notice the sharp reflection of a lamp bulb.
The result of polishing is even more obvious in this picture. The left part is polished, while the center part is unpolished Tamiya spray paint. If you are entering a contest, or going to show your model in public, polishing is a very effective way to distinguish your model from unpolished ones.
You can proceed the polishing work section by section, or stay with one grit, and sand the entire body, before moving on to the next grit. Sanding reveals the inner layer. If you press the surface with a finger and leaves a finger print, the paint is too soft for polishing. In that case, leave this hazy surface for a few days. Harder the surface, better the result. (Because of this reason, two part urethane clear is becoming more popular among pros.)
When finished, the surface should reflect objects sharply, and you can even see your face in the reflection, too.