I recently nightshaded my third brake light to see if i would get the results i wanted. It has some sheen to it but it's not like glass gloss looking like i want it to be. I'm trying to get them super glossy. Here's what i did:

1) Wet sanded clean light with 2k grit
2) Super super light coat of night shade
*Dry for 15minutes
3) Super light coat of clear
*Dry for 15 minutes
4) Super light coat of clear
*Dry for 15 minutes
5) Wet sanded with 2k grit
6) Medium coat of clear
*Dry for 20 minutes
7 Heavy coat of clear, almost wet looking

All this and it has very little sheen and like micro dimples, hard to explain. I used vht night-shades and Duplicolor truck, suv, can top clear. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

When I did mine i didn't wed sand the clear at all and they turned out great, i only used like 3 coats of clear.

 

go to a body shop and get professionally cleared..they did it for free for me

 

i never sanded or cleared mine and they came out glossy. how glossy are they now?

 

they're a little shiney with some reflection, but there's like dimples, hard to explain i'll try to get some pics. So you didn't wet sand anything; the light, nightshade, or clear coat?

 

nope nothing. heres the only picture i have that really shows it.

 

I had the same problem. Now I have to try and wet the clear off.

 

yea that's exactly what im looking to do. What kind of clear coat did you use? I wanna start all over again, how would you recomend taking all my coats and nightshade off?

 

i used layout in remover. my dad is a machinest and had some at the hose and i sprayed it on the lights and wiped it off and it came right off! next time you do it, dont wet sand anything. i didnt do anything but cleaned them real good and sprayed 2 light coats of niteshades and 3 coats of duplicolor clear and they came out great. good luck

 

The nightshade is like bonded to the plastic. I wet sanded from 80 grit all the way to 2k with no luck, i also used paint thinner with no prevail. Whats this layout remover stuff you speak of?

 

Dimples? What was the temperature like when you were spraying?

 

its something that machinists use to remove the layout ink from metal. it shouldnt be bonded to the lens, mine wasnt, but thats prolly cause i didnt sand any of it so there were no scratches for it to seep into. you may have to go get new lenses

 

yea they're not deep, hard to explain, trying to get some pics

Yea i tried everything to get this crap off. Im gonna practice on some spare boat trailer lenses before i do my truck's tails.

 

Orange Peel. That's what is sounds like to me. I just tinted all the rear lights in the truck yesterday.
1.I wiped them off with a damp cloth
2.Dry sanded them with 2000 grit paper.
3.Sprayed a light coat of Nightshade on.
4.Let dry for 20-25 minutes.
5.Sprayed a second heaver coat on.
6. Let dry for 30 mins and put them back on the truck.

The gloss is comparable to glass. I didn't have to use clear coat?

 

You will likley need to get a new light. Since you sanded the lens the Nightshade is embeded in the cracks.

 

x2 or even fisheyes if silicone was present.


OP, have a bed cover you have used armorall on?

 

Where do you guys find the Nightshade? Autozone or Oreileys or what? Seen a few black rangers with the blackout tailights and never thought they looked real good but yalls pics look really good, not too black, just right

 

I bought mine at Canadian Tire. $12.99 a can and I might have used 1/4 of it, not even.

 

Ok, my friend donated some tails from his tacoma that i could practice on. I didn't wet sand or anything and they turned out a little better, but still not that glassy oem look im looking for. I included pics of my 3rd brake light, the reason i think i screwed up on mine was that i wet sanded 15 minutes after i painted them? Im gonna try a different clear on the other tail he left me use, i think thats my problem?






See like the "dimpling effect"?

\
mosquito livin on my truck without paying rent

 

I see what you mean about the dimples. That's "orange peel". A way to possibly get rid of that would be to wet sand just enough to get the shine you want.

 

how is it caused? and how long after must i wait to wet sand?

 

Whats the proper way to wetsanding these tjings to get rid of this orange peel?

 

i wouldn't wetsand for a few days. a good test would be to put them in a sealed container and wait until you don't smell any fumes when you open it. and i would use 1500-2000 grit wet paper. then polish out to a shine.

 

X2