Thanks for the compliment and I agree that white is one of the tougher colors to detail and truly make "pop." It's tough because it hides so much and reflects light so well. So even if you do get it right, it's incredibly tough to photograph.

Black on the other hand is the hardest color to detail because it shows everything. (Just the opposite of white.) Do it right, and black (or red) look like they're absolutely dripping.

BTW, it took a little looking, but here's a shot of my current truck - also Oxford White. Getting white to pop is one of my specialties. (And I should add that no glaze was used in either detail.)

 

OK, What's your secret to get that glossy, shiny finish on white?

I don't use a glaze for a filler to hide. I do like it as a gloss enhancer.

 

Merlin,

As you well know, the real secret is in the polishing that goes on before the LSP. I generally used Poor Boy's or Menzerna polishes on my trucks. As for LSP's, I like Zaino, Duragloss or Collonite 845. (The new truck had Duragloss 111 on it when that shot was taken.) I'm going to have to try the new Wet Glaze 2.0 that you recently reviewed though. That could be really interesting.

 

I just finished another detail on a white vehicle earlier today and again used Collonite 845 as the LSP. Complete details on the detail (yes, you read that right) are available over in The Detailers Cafe, but here's a few shots after the vehicle was done. And BTW, this paint was seriously dull and oxidized when I started, so the Collonite wasn't the only thing I used.

 

Nice job Tom! I waxed mine the other week with it, the prep process of getting the wax ready to use is a must

 

I really like Collinite #845 wax as the last step in full-detail; however, if you are just looking for protection it can be applied directly following a wash of the vehicle (albeit with less shiny results). I live in northern CA where summer heat gets into the triple digits regularly and our winters consist of rain, fog, more rain and some mild sunny days for good measure. The #845 wax holds up nicely in the summer time and during the winter it seems to bead water to the point I can park in the middle of a rainstorm and my vehicle doesn't even get wet (a mild exaggeration).

I bought my F150 when it was a year old and I don't think it had ever been detailed or waxed; the paint wasn't oxidized, but there was light to moderate swirling, a few water spots along the rockers and very little shine. I really enjoy a clean and eye-catching vehicle, so within a month of buying the truck I installed a lift kit, rims/tires, Magnaflow exhaust and eventually got around to detailing it as best I could. At the time I did not own an orbital polisher, so I busted my butt for a weekend doing all of the work by hand. I was still a relative novice to detailing and my overall selection of products wasn't the best, nor were they all optimized for hand application, but my final results were still pretty good.

After washing, drying, then detailing the interior I got to work on the paint. I used the following products in this order:

1). Meguiars Mirror Glaze #2 Fine Cut Cleaner (it's made for a machine, but I used a microfiber applicator)

2). Meguiars Deep Crystal Step Two Polish (also applied with a microfiber applicator, it worked decently well by hand)

3). Meguiars Mirror Glaze #7 Show Car Glaze (applied nicely by hand with a terry cloth applicator)

4). Collinite #845 Insulator Wax (I applied a thin coat the first day, then another thin coat about 20 hours later)

Here are some pictures of my results:




In the foreground is the chrome bumper, but you can see where it transitions to the paint and how shiny it is.


Can you tell it is a silver truck?


The motorcycle also has a top coat of #845 (and some dust)

 

Nice work! You definitely acheieved that "soft, warm glow" that I always aim for. And the fact that you actually polished the inside of your exhaust tips gets you bonus points too!