Review: 3D Paint Coating and 3D One Cutting Compound and Finishing Polish



3D Ceramic Coating and 3D One Cutting Compound and Finishing Polish






3D Ceramic Paint Coating


What is it?
3D Paint Coating is specialty resin and a true ceramic coating. It does NOT contain Si02.


What does it do?

Seals your car's paint using using a liquid polymer


When do I use it?

After properly preparing the paint for the coating.


Why should I use it?

To seal you car's paint with a super durable coating that creates amazing gloss while resisting degradation over time.



From the manufacturer

A coating that finally rubs out the competition with the Crockmeter Test.

3D Ceramic Coating Kit protects your car from the sun’s damaging rays and the resulting oxidization, is highly hydrophobic and keeps your car looking glossy, without the need for constant application. 3D Ceramic Coating Kit is safe to use on clear coats and single stage paint coats. Best part is that 3D Ceramic Coating is done in just a few simple steps, all carefully applied by your own hand and can last for years on your vehicle.




3D One Cutting Compound and Finishing Polish


What is it?
A new generation compound/polish.


What does it do?

Works like an aggressive cutting compound or a final finishing polish depending upon the pad and tool you use.


When do I use it?

Anytime you want to remove deep paint defects like swirls, scratches or sanding marks after wet sanding. Or you can use it to remove shallow defects or for a second step after the heavy cutting step. It's a combination one-step compound/polish.


Why should I use it?

To removed paint defects before sealing the paint with a wax, synthetic sealant or ceramic paint coating. It will create a defect-free finish to restore a factory new look.



From the manufacturer

3D ONE Hybrid cutting compound and finishing polish accelerate polishing performance. It has nano ceramic alumina abrasives that easily correct paint scratches by using a DA or high-speed rotary polisher.

3D One is a unique product: apply on a cutting pad to remove heavy scratches and then apply on a finishing pad to deliver an exceptional high gloss finish.

It’s easy to use easy to clean up and it leaves the perfect finish every time. It works best when applied in a shaded area, but it is also sun-friendly.




My comments

I normally write very in-depth reviews that include a lot of photo-documentation that really focuses on the BEFORE condition of the paint and the process. I didn't do that with this detail job because,

A: The paint was in really good condition. It had light contamination that I removed using detailing clay. It also only had light swirls and scratches that were difficult to capture on the bright, metallic orange paint.

B: This detail is what I would call a true show car detail, that is I used a multiple step approach to perfect the paint just like I would if the paint were in horrible condition. The paint on this car is on the HARD side of the soft/hard spectrum and so even though the swirls and scratches were shallow, it took a lot of pads, products and buffing to remove them to show car quality level. As such - more work and less pictures of the actual process.




2011 Corvette Z06 - Full Exterior Show Car Detail

Here's the car after I was finished. All these pictures were taken with an iPhone 10xMax for what it's worth. While the results look great, they look even better in person. The paint looks dripping wet.

Note: These pictures were taken after an exhaustive compounding and polishing and hen 2 applications of the 3D Paint Coating were applied back-to-back.


























Carbon Fiber Roof

While I know a lot about cars in general, I don't know everything. The owner told me this model Corvette has a Carbon Fiber Roof. When I looked at it, I didn't NOT see the normal "fiber appearance" normal to carbon fiber components. So I was a little hesitant to start chopping on it with a cutting pad and compound. So I took a very careful approach.


Roof Test Spot

Test Spot 1: I used a Lake Country BLACK 6.5" Force Hybrid finishing pad. - This removed the shallow swirls and scratches.

Test Spot 2: I used a Lake Country WHITE 6.5" Force Hybrid POLISHING pad. This removed more of the swirls and scratches but a lot still remained.

Test Spot 3: I used the Lake Country ORANGE 6.5" Force Hybrid CUTTING pad and I HAMMERED on this roof. This removed 99.9% of the defects.


My comments

The roof maybe carbon fiber, but it has a basecoat/clearcoat paint system over it. The roof paint was just as hard as the clearcoat paint on the rest of the car. The carbon fiber aspect is UNDER the paint and has NOTHING to do with how you treat it. If you ever need to do paint correction to a 2011 Z06 - treat like the rest of the body panels.














Review


3D Ceramic Paint Coating

Super Easy To Use. That is the key PRACTICAL feature of this product that stands out and you will like. It spreads out easy and you get great coverage from a few small drops of product. It glides over the surface easily. It has a long flash time so you can take your time moving the product over a section of paint. Wiping of the treated area is also easy. It leaves the paint slick and slippery with amazing, wet-paint looking gloss. The second application is only a tick stickier at the wipe-off stage and my guess is because you're building up a layer coating on top of coating so the second application is truly sticking or bonding to itself. If you've never used a paint coating before, this is a GREAT first coating to trust and use. The owner of the company, Tunch Gorin is also the lead chemist for the company. 3D is late to the market in introducing a paint coating but in Tunch's own words, he had to make sure it was right before he would launch this new product.


3D One Cutting Compound and Finishing Polish

Oh man.... this is a NICE product. First, it's a one-step compound/polish. Don't confuse these terms with a one-step AIO - that's not the kind of one-step this product is. A one-step AIO will do what this product will do, that is cut and polish BUT also leave some protection behind, in the 3D line, this would be the 3D Speed. This is a dedicated product for abrading the paint. You will want to seal the paint after using it.

This product uses great abrasive technology. Anyone that has ready any of my hundreds of articles and tens of thousands of posts on this forum, (often times my posts or "replies" are as in-depth and educational as an actual how-to article,), knows I stress....

Abrasive Technology

When it comes to abrasive technology, there are two groups. There is NO GREY area in-between. Abrasive technology is either GREAT or it's JUNK. Here's the criteria, it's real simple too...

A compound, polish or cleaner/wax, (products that use abrasive technology), must be able to remove defects without leaving their own defects behind.

If a compound/polish/aio can do this.... then it uses great abrasive technology. If it cannot - then it's junk.

Kind of harsh don't you think Mike?

Not at all. I'm the guy that wrote this article,

Clearcoats are thin by Mike Phillips


There is not enough paint on your car to use products that use junk for abrasive technology. Click the link above, look at the pictures and choose as you will. There are a lot of great products on the market, I only use and write about products that I consider to use great abrasive technology. If a product won't pass my testing on black paint - I won't use it and I certainly won't write a review encouraging you to use it. This is a really nice product.


Forever Buffing Cycle
Besides meeting my criteria for abrasive technology it has a buffing cycle that LASTS FOREVER. The stuff never dries up. You can buff until the cows come home.


ZERO DUSTING
It won't dust. You can try and try as hard as you can and you cannot get this product to dust. Ain't happening. I know some of you HATE product that dust, (don't normally bother me), and if this describes you then you'll love this product.

Excellent cutting compound
To make it cut like a chainsaw, use a wool pad on a rotary buffer, to tame it down use a foam cutting pad on any tool.

Excellent finishing polish
Like stated above, to use as a finishing polish simply switch to finishing pad.

This is truly a one-step compound/polish.



Summary
This new paint coating teamed up with 3D One is a powerful combo that will take care of anything in your garage or shop and the results will blow you away. (see above pictures)



On Autogeek.com


3D Ceramic Coating Kit - 30mL - $79.99

3D One - 32 ounce - $42.99

6.5 inch Lake Country Force Hybrid Orange Cutting Pad - $10.99

6.5 inch Lake Country Force Hybrid White Polishing Pad - $10.99

The FLEX Supa BEAST - $435.99 The part number for this tool is; XCE 10-8 125 - I have also upgraded it with the optional 6" backing plate swap

FLEX XFE 7-15 6 inch Backing Plate - You need this larger backing plate to use the pads shown.

Cobra Forrest Green Edgeless Microfiber Polishing Cloths - 12 Pack - $19.99 - Not pictured but I probably went through 3 dozen towels.