[RobinHood]

So its been a long time since ive posted. I finished up my Junior year of college and shipped for my 2nd and final time to United States Marine Corps Officer Candidates School where I successfully graduated and earned the title of Marine. As of now, I have the rest of my summer to do nothing but get back to the truck and try to get it done.

The last things I did which I forgot to update here included getting final body filler spots and sanding, couple coats of primer surfacer, a ton of block sanding, and my attempt at paint. Which turned out to be pretty much a total failure.

What I didnt know before painiting is that you cant cut and buff single stage metallic paints really at all. I had a pretty decent lay down when I sprayed, but there was obviously some orange peel given I am a first time auto painter. So I started with some 1000 grit all the way up to 2000 grit paper then followed with a wool and foam pad and some cutting and then polish compound. Looked absolutely great. Fantastic even. Until I rolled it outside. Turns out, I hadn't gotten all the orange peel completely out in some areas, very hard to see. The polish got ground into these low areas and oxidized in the sun creating streaks across the paint. The metallic flakes were also cut into in some areas and caused streaking in the shine. Here is a picture of what it all looked like before I cut and buffed it.