Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
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Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
Hello again
SO, it’s been a while(again) since my last post and I’m quite a bit behind so I’ll try to keep my posts more regular these days, but don’t quote me on that
This week’s detail was an exciting one for me, another 8V RS3 but this time in Catalunya Red, and we all know how much detailers love red cars! This red, Catalunya Red, aptly named after the circuit in the F1 that features the longest straight after start (as it’s launching that makes this car exceptional), is a fiery red with a golden orange flake, which makes this colour changes from a lustrous red out of sun to more of an orange one when the sun hits it. VAG truly know how to concoct colours that are outstanding, so to speak
While still relatively new, my client recently bought this car and the previous owner showed her no love whatsoever. Swirls, RIDS, contaminants were rife on this car but the new owner did a decent job of bringing her back from the dead. I had seen this car on a breakfast run about a month before the detail and I was shocked by how bad this red lady was. However by the time I arrived to detail her, she was a lot easier on the eyes, albeit not perfect.
First up, some was arrival shots… the weather wasn’t great on arrival and the owner had washed her before I got there so she looked decent even in the overcast weather… proof however was under lights, but more on that later
Diving straight in, first order of business were the wheels. The owner and his son had spent an entire weekend trying to bring these up to standard, and all that was left for me to do was given them a decent decon and protect them so I went about doing that, but as always, first a thorough clean of the arches, tyres and wheels were done using a dedicated cleaners for the wheels and tyres and APC for the Arches. Various brushes and were used to agitate the dirt before they were rinsed and dried in preparation for decontamination. Wheels were then chemically decontaminated using a tar and iron remover before being clayed with medium grade clay. Arches are carpeted and didn’t receive any dressing, tyres were later dressed with Gyeon Tire and wheels and callipers were protected with Gyeon Wet Coat.
Process:
Arches: Cyclo CM30 @5:1 | HP rinse | Cyclo CM30 @5:1 which was agitated using a Mothers Fender well brush | HP Rinse
Tyres: Cyclo CM30 @5:1 | HP rinse | Meguiar’s All Wheel and Tire left to dwell then agitated with a Mothers tyre brush | HP rinse | Dressed (later) with multiple coats of Gyeon Tire
Wheels and callipers: Cyclo CM30 @5:1 | HP rinse | ValetPro Bilberry Wheel Cleaner @ 1:5 agitated using Wheel Woollies and other brushes | HP rinse | Dry | Gyeon Tar | Wiped away | Gyeon Iron | HP rinse | flood rinse | Clay using CarPro medium clay and ONR as lube | Cyclo CM30 @5:1 | HP rinse | Protected with Gyeon Wetcoat | Dried
Before:
During:
After:
Onto my favourite part of this little rocket, the engine bay. There was only light dust to clean over here with some dirt build up on the underside of the bonnet. The underside of the bonnet was cleaned with APC and later polished with Auto Finnese triple. The bay itself was cleaned using APC and water out of spray bottles and using hog hair brushes of various sizes before the paint was polished and protected using AF Tripple. The plastics and rubbers were dressed with Auto Finesse Dressle
Process:
Under Bonnet: Paint cleaned with Cyclo CM30 @ 5:1 | Polished using Auto Finesse Tripple on a MF hand applicator pad
Engine Bay: Clean with Cyclo CM30 @5:1 using various brushes | Wipe with wet MF cloth| Dried with MF towels and air | ] Paint cleaned with Cyclo CM30 @ 5:1 | Polished using Auto Finesse Tripple |Plastics dressed using Auto Finnesse Dressle
Before:
After:
Next up was the wash routine, while the car was relatively clean, I’ve never been one to use artistic license to skip a step, instead I went about my usual business of getting the car as clean as possible using the tried and tested methods, to make sure I don’t miss that single speck of dirt that would later create a pigtail that, on this ceramic clear, proved impossible to remove. But more on that later…
With the car being clean, I could probably get away with using an iron remover first to remove the embedded ferrous particles but that’s about all I was willing to change due to my OCD, but I never did it anyway because of the fact that I generally like to assist the iron removers by agitatitng the dirt with a dedicated wash mitt and I fear doing that on a “unclean” (not dirty) surface could lead to marring so instead I sprayed a layer of pre-wash onto the car before rinsing her and foaming the car. Usually I’d let the foam dwell and run off, before rinsing her and refoaming the surface but this time I went straight to the wash, using the two-bucket method. Next up was a rinse and dry before chemical decon began first using a tar remover. Tar spots were wiped away using a microfiber towel and the car was then “de-ironized” using Gyeon Iron. The car was then rinsed, and flood rinsed before it was clayed using medium grade clay.
Process:
Wash: Pre-wash mix sprayed onto vehicle using ValetPro Citrus Pre Wash | HP Rinse | Pre-Foam using Gyeon Foam | HP Rinse | Foamed again using Gyeon Foam | Panel Gaps, emblems, petrol flap and door jambs brushed using ValetPro Detailing brush | 2 Bucket wash using Gyeon Bathe and Gyeon Smoothie mitt with 2 grit guards per bucket | HP Rinse | Dried using various drying towels and ONR
Decontamination: Gyeon Tar | Wipe with MF towels | Gyeon Iron | HP Rinse | Flood rinse | Clayed using Gyeon Clay and ONR | HP Rinse | Dried using various drying towels and ONR
Pictures:
Back to ceramic clear, on the RS3’s, Audi uses a tri-coat, sometimes quad-coat system on their paint, applying first(not first in reality but first wrt to what we can see) the base colour before applying clear, and then a thin layer of ceramic clear, much like Mercedes does with some of their AMG line. The ceramic polymers then link (cure) much tighter than on standard clear which increases the density of the last layer of paint, which you hear detailers commonly refer to as “paint hardness,” which in turn is supposed to be more resistant to marring, but comes with the downside of being difficult to detail back up to perfection and also has the limitation in thickness, as it’s not the entire layer of clear we have to work with anymore it’s a thin layer of ceramic clear before the standard clear coat so one must be careful not to overdo the polishing.
This becomes a quad-coat system when the colour requires two separate coatings to give it the effect they’re after, as seen in many pearl and metallic finishes, and is true of this colour.
The car had quite a bit of swirling for its age and after taking paint readings conducting a test spot and then remeasuring the laser marked area to check removal rates, I settled on Menzerna FG400 on a Rupes blue microfiber pad for correction. Spots where more correction was needed, I’d step it up to Menzerna SHC300 with the same pad. The paint was then refined with CarPro Essence on a Rupes yellow foam pad to which left this colour looking like it should.
Process:
1st step: Menzerna FG400 on a Rupes Blue Microfiber pad | SHC300 in some areas
2nd step: CarPro Essence on a Rupes yellow foam pad
Pillars and rear lights: Menzerna PF2300 on a Cyclo green polishing pad | Menzerna SF4000 on LC black finishing pad
Before:
50/50:
Before and after:
After:
All that was left to do was to protect her and Kamikaze Infinity wax was my protection of choice to bring the most out of this colour. Left to cure for around 90 minutes, I tackled the sundry items to finish the detail. The exhausts were cleaned then polished using Gtechniq M1, rubbers were cleaned then dressed and the windows were cleaned before getting a layer of Soft 99 Glaco hydrophobic coating.
Process:
Paint Protection: Kamikaze Collection Infinity Wax
Exterior gloss trim: Kamikaze Collection Infinity Wax
Rubbers: Cleaned with Shield heavy duty Rubber and Vinyl Cleaner | Protected with Aerospace 303
Glass: Cleaned using Meguiar’s Perfect Clarity Glass Cleaner | Coated with Soft 99 Glaco
Exhaust: Cleaned using Cyclo APC @1:5 | Polished and protected with Gtechniq M1
Kamikaze curing:
Exhausts before and after:
And finally, some after pics:
Got Flake?
After:
And one interior shot:
Thanks for making it this far into my write up, if you want to view the whole album, you can find it here:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskD6p2hG
And lastly, it’s video time… if you still have data after all those pics, I made a video which shows the correction process on this beast, have fun:
I incorrectly smoked up some Kamikaze figures there... its actually 39% coating and 53% pure carnauba wax... not sure where I got my figures from... I'll fix that later
Until the next one! Thanks for looking. Please let me know what you think with a comment
SO, it’s been a while(again) since my last post and I’m quite a bit behind so I’ll try to keep my posts more regular these days, but don’t quote me on that
This week’s detail was an exciting one for me, another 8V RS3 but this time in Catalunya Red, and we all know how much detailers love red cars! This red, Catalunya Red, aptly named after the circuit in the F1 that features the longest straight after start (as it’s launching that makes this car exceptional), is a fiery red with a golden orange flake, which makes this colour changes from a lustrous red out of sun to more of an orange one when the sun hits it. VAG truly know how to concoct colours that are outstanding, so to speak
While still relatively new, my client recently bought this car and the previous owner showed her no love whatsoever. Swirls, RIDS, contaminants were rife on this car but the new owner did a decent job of bringing her back from the dead. I had seen this car on a breakfast run about a month before the detail and I was shocked by how bad this red lady was. However by the time I arrived to detail her, she was a lot easier on the eyes, albeit not perfect.
First up, some was arrival shots… the weather wasn’t great on arrival and the owner had washed her before I got there so she looked decent even in the overcast weather… proof however was under lights, but more on that later
Diving straight in, first order of business were the wheels. The owner and his son had spent an entire weekend trying to bring these up to standard, and all that was left for me to do was given them a decent decon and protect them so I went about doing that, but as always, first a thorough clean of the arches, tyres and wheels were done using a dedicated cleaners for the wheels and tyres and APC for the Arches. Various brushes and were used to agitate the dirt before they were rinsed and dried in preparation for decontamination. Wheels were then chemically decontaminated using a tar and iron remover before being clayed with medium grade clay. Arches are carpeted and didn’t receive any dressing, tyres were later dressed with Gyeon Tire and wheels and callipers were protected with Gyeon Wet Coat.
Process:
Arches: Cyclo CM30 @5:1 | HP rinse | Cyclo CM30 @5:1 which was agitated using a Mothers Fender well brush | HP Rinse
Tyres: Cyclo CM30 @5:1 | HP rinse | Meguiar’s All Wheel and Tire left to dwell then agitated with a Mothers tyre brush | HP rinse | Dressed (later) with multiple coats of Gyeon Tire
Wheels and callipers: Cyclo CM30 @5:1 | HP rinse | ValetPro Bilberry Wheel Cleaner @ 1:5 agitated using Wheel Woollies and other brushes | HP rinse | Dry | Gyeon Tar | Wiped away | Gyeon Iron | HP rinse | flood rinse | Clay using CarPro medium clay and ONR as lube | Cyclo CM30 @5:1 | HP rinse | Protected with Gyeon Wetcoat | Dried
Before:
During:
After:
Onto my favourite part of this little rocket, the engine bay. There was only light dust to clean over here with some dirt build up on the underside of the bonnet. The underside of the bonnet was cleaned with APC and later polished with Auto Finnese triple. The bay itself was cleaned using APC and water out of spray bottles and using hog hair brushes of various sizes before the paint was polished and protected using AF Tripple. The plastics and rubbers were dressed with Auto Finesse Dressle
Process:
Under Bonnet: Paint cleaned with Cyclo CM30 @ 5:1 | Polished using Auto Finesse Tripple on a MF hand applicator pad
Engine Bay: Clean with Cyclo CM30 @5:1 using various brushes | Wipe with wet MF cloth| Dried with MF towels and air | ] Paint cleaned with Cyclo CM30 @ 5:1 | Polished using Auto Finesse Tripple |Plastics dressed using Auto Finnesse Dressle
Before:
After:
Next up was the wash routine, while the car was relatively clean, I’ve never been one to use artistic license to skip a step, instead I went about my usual business of getting the car as clean as possible using the tried and tested methods, to make sure I don’t miss that single speck of dirt that would later create a pigtail that, on this ceramic clear, proved impossible to remove. But more on that later…
With the car being clean, I could probably get away with using an iron remover first to remove the embedded ferrous particles but that’s about all I was willing to change due to my OCD, but I never did it anyway because of the fact that I generally like to assist the iron removers by agitatitng the dirt with a dedicated wash mitt and I fear doing that on a “unclean” (not dirty) surface could lead to marring so instead I sprayed a layer of pre-wash onto the car before rinsing her and foaming the car. Usually I’d let the foam dwell and run off, before rinsing her and refoaming the surface but this time I went straight to the wash, using the two-bucket method. Next up was a rinse and dry before chemical decon began first using a tar remover. Tar spots were wiped away using a microfiber towel and the car was then “de-ironized” using Gyeon Iron. The car was then rinsed, and flood rinsed before it was clayed using medium grade clay.
Process:
Wash: Pre-wash mix sprayed onto vehicle using ValetPro Citrus Pre Wash | HP Rinse | Pre-Foam using Gyeon Foam | HP Rinse | Foamed again using Gyeon Foam | Panel Gaps, emblems, petrol flap and door jambs brushed using ValetPro Detailing brush | 2 Bucket wash using Gyeon Bathe and Gyeon Smoothie mitt with 2 grit guards per bucket | HP Rinse | Dried using various drying towels and ONR
Decontamination: Gyeon Tar | Wipe with MF towels | Gyeon Iron | HP Rinse | Flood rinse | Clayed using Gyeon Clay and ONR | HP Rinse | Dried using various drying towels and ONR
Pictures:
Back to ceramic clear, on the RS3’s, Audi uses a tri-coat, sometimes quad-coat system on their paint, applying first(not first in reality but first wrt to what we can see) the base colour before applying clear, and then a thin layer of ceramic clear, much like Mercedes does with some of their AMG line. The ceramic polymers then link (cure) much tighter than on standard clear which increases the density of the last layer of paint, which you hear detailers commonly refer to as “paint hardness,” which in turn is supposed to be more resistant to marring, but comes with the downside of being difficult to detail back up to perfection and also has the limitation in thickness, as it’s not the entire layer of clear we have to work with anymore it’s a thin layer of ceramic clear before the standard clear coat so one must be careful not to overdo the polishing.
This becomes a quad-coat system when the colour requires two separate coatings to give it the effect they’re after, as seen in many pearl and metallic finishes, and is true of this colour.
The car had quite a bit of swirling for its age and after taking paint readings conducting a test spot and then remeasuring the laser marked area to check removal rates, I settled on Menzerna FG400 on a Rupes blue microfiber pad for correction. Spots where more correction was needed, I’d step it up to Menzerna SHC300 with the same pad. The paint was then refined with CarPro Essence on a Rupes yellow foam pad to which left this colour looking like it should.
Process:
1st step: Menzerna FG400 on a Rupes Blue Microfiber pad | SHC300 in some areas
2nd step: CarPro Essence on a Rupes yellow foam pad
Pillars and rear lights: Menzerna PF2300 on a Cyclo green polishing pad | Menzerna SF4000 on LC black finishing pad
Before:
50/50:
Before and after:
After:
All that was left to do was to protect her and Kamikaze Infinity wax was my protection of choice to bring the most out of this colour. Left to cure for around 90 minutes, I tackled the sundry items to finish the detail. The exhausts were cleaned then polished using Gtechniq M1, rubbers were cleaned then dressed and the windows were cleaned before getting a layer of Soft 99 Glaco hydrophobic coating.
Process:
Paint Protection: Kamikaze Collection Infinity Wax
Exterior gloss trim: Kamikaze Collection Infinity Wax
Rubbers: Cleaned with Shield heavy duty Rubber and Vinyl Cleaner | Protected with Aerospace 303
Glass: Cleaned using Meguiar’s Perfect Clarity Glass Cleaner | Coated with Soft 99 Glaco
Exhaust: Cleaned using Cyclo APC @1:5 | Polished and protected with Gtechniq M1
Kamikaze curing:
Exhausts before and after:
And finally, some after pics:
Got Flake?
After:
And one interior shot:
Thanks for making it this far into my write up, if you want to view the whole album, you can find it here:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskD6p2hG
And lastly, it’s video time… if you still have data after all those pics, I made a video which shows the correction process on this beast, have fun:
I incorrectly smoked up some Kamikaze figures there... its actually 39% coating and 53% pure carnauba wax... not sure where I got my figures from... I'll fix that later
Until the next one! Thanks for looking. Please let me know what you think with a comment
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Re: Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
Like new again good job bud!!
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Re: Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
Smacked another one out the park - well done bud
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Re: Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
Awesome video
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Re: Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
Epic colour that Bud
**Cool video too. I'm keen to start a little youtube channel myself. Keep an eyeout for a new youtube subscriber on your page
**Cool video too. I'm keen to start a little youtube channel myself. Keep an eyeout for a new youtube subscriber on your page
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Re: Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
Nicely done bud.
Great work on the vid
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Re: Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
Top stuff Mikhail. Colour looks epic
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Re: Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
What an awesome car to do.
Looks very well cared for & well maintained.
Good job on getting it just perfect
Looks very well cared for & well maintained.
Good job on getting it just perfect
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Re: Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
nicely done. looks great
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Re: Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
Right.....when can I bring my car to you?
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Re: Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
Wow, thanks for video man, I have always wondered how the process actually goes and the tools used. Nice to see this is a day or two thing (Counting the costume changes).
Was well done, congrats
Was well done, congrats
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Re: Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
speechless..well done man
Heaven on Earth - VAG for life
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Re: Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
Fanatix Boy wrote:speechless..well done man
The Shaikh wrote:Wow, thanks for video man, I have always wondered how the process actually goes and the tools used. Nice to see this is a day or two thing (Counting the costume changes).
Was well done, congrats
jerryd wrote:Right.....when can I bring my car to you?
uzzi777 wrote:nicely done. looks great
GaVeN wrote:What an awesome car to do.
Looks very well cared for & well maintained.
Good job on getting it just perfect
Deranged_9n3 wrote:Top stuff Mikhail. Colour looks epic
Mbuzi wrote:
Nicely done bud.
Great work on the vid
Ahmed.Syed wrote:Epic colour that Bud
**Cool video too. I'm keen to start a little youtube channel myself. Keep an eyeout for a new youtube subscriber on your page
Kavi4GP wrote:Awesome video
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lawrence wrote:Smacked another one out the park - well done bud
DINODENASH wrote:wow !!!!
Thanks for the kind words gents, much appreciatedJulianvc wrote:Like new again good job bud!!
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Re: Catalunya Red Audi RS3 detailed (WITH VIDEO)
I wish to have such skill (as well as the tools) and patience to clean my ride. Nicely done.
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