Best way to find swirls for beige metallic car?

[imported_mrecktid]

Hey guys, I`ve been trying to figure out what the best lighting to use to find the swirls during the daytime when I`m doing some swirl removal. Here`s the car I`m having trouble with (mine).



http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a86/mr_ecktid/02_22_3.jpg



I work in the shade, but the sun comes in some areas and it`s real hard to notice the swirls. My halogen 500watt isn`t too bright, should I buy another one to add more light?.....any other ideas?



-Mark

[BobD]

My preference is halogens.

[VroomVroom]

Yep. I bought a set of 1500w stand-mounted lights @ Home Depot. I actually wanted to return them because they highlighted too many swirl marks. :)



Seriously - great investment. Not just for detailing - I`ve found myself using these things for dozens of tasks.

[seth812]

i just picked up a 600w portable halogen lamp from home depot. do you think that`s bright enough or should i exchange it for something a little brighter?

[WSUcommuter]

I have a twin set of stand-mounted halogens from Sears. They heat the garage well in the winter!



:bigups

[imported_mrecktid]

I had a 500watt halogen but it wasn`t too bright, I guess I`ll try it again...thanks for the replies.

[imported_animes2k]

Personally, when working on light colored metallics (or even a darker metallic like my silverstone S2000) I find a high-wattage incandescent to be the best. If you`re going to use the halogens to spot swirls and scratches, it helps to have some distance from the lights and to keep the lights at a bit of an obtuse angle.

[twitch]

Interesting you should post this. I worked on defect removal this weekend and my coupe is Desert Platinum as well.



I had a real hard time picking out the spots that I wanted to concentrate on. The halogen light I had didn`t show anything. I found the best lights were the two incandescent bulbs on the garage door opener above me. Luckily I had an idea of where the scratches I was concerned about were and I could see them if I got down at an angle.



I became confused for a bit because I hadn`t used a halogen before to find the spots on my car and expected to see swirls like most of the pictures people post.... BUT I didn`t. So I did the best I could with the light I had and took it to the gas station at night. I know this is normally when I see the scratches the most but the paint was smooth as glass. I probably removed about 95% of the defects that bothered me. I will post pics in C&B when I have the daylight to take them. Unfortunately though I didn`t end up with good before pictures because of the whole lighting issue but oh well.



:)

[imported_mrecktid]

Incandescent light is the white lights at like big parking spaces at the mall right?



Yeah there are two major trouble spots I have (the rear fenders) that is so hard for me to find the right lighting, especially in the shade during the daytime. At night under the parking lights it`s ok, but I still wish I could see swirls like some of the nasty car posted on here. Those seem so obvious.



I guess we`re a bit at a disadvantage twitch with our color ^_^



It`s ironic, when I got the car I got the color mainly because it looked good but also because it would hide dirt/swirls.



Now that I`m an Autopian (not really but I`m working on it!) I wish I could see all the dirt and swirls :(

[imported_animes2k]

Incandescent lights are regular light bulbs, best used bare (no shade of any sort) and probably clear glass, too.



I think the best lighting setup would be a combination of fluorescent, incandescent spots and halogen work lights.