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Hello folks,
I'm working on my first attempt at an alclad chrome project. I'm basin with a recommended gloss black model master spray enamel. I'm super paranoid about orange peel, lifting, plastic melting, and every other horrible thing that could go wrong . I'm concerned about the surface of this venom. I've come to understand the alclad needs a super smooth surface. I still plan to try sanding it, but its still a bit tacky, so I'm assuming I should wait a bit longer before sanding an adding a second coat.

I should mention there is a layer of gw white primer underneath this coat of enamel. (I hadn't planned for using enamel before I primed my entire army :/, and I was told the paint wouldn't cause any major adverse reactions, and I could sand the enamel smooth between coats. I think it might be that I'm making passes too quickly when I lay the enamel down. The other side is slightly smoother and I recall lingering a little longer, which caused the paint to look a bit wet and heavy so I started moving it before it pooled. Anyhow, do you guys think some sanding would smooth this out, or does it even need it? I'm going a little overboard with the prep. I really want the look to come out right. Ultimately I guess that's a long way of asking whether you all think this is orange peel or just residual texture from the primer.

Looks like primer to me, though to be honest it is nearly impossible to say.

Most of the time when people use rattle cans to prime, they get orange peel texture...though it isnt a horrible thing there. It is hard to see on the matte finish of most primers though.

When you apply something shiney on top though, you will see it. So, orange peel on the primer or orange peel on the gloss...same problem to be fixed. If you are using a rattle can to apply the black, be sure to practice a bit. You need to adjust the distance and what not for local conditions in order to avoid the texture of the paint half drying before it hits your surface. Airbrushing is easier to adjust as you can mess with pressure, flow and distance...with rattle cans, you just have distance that is adjustable.

Bleh, well it's just the first coat. If it's the primer, adding the second coat should smooth it out a bit too, right? Just out of curiosity, would adding a second coat also help if it actually 'is' orange peel? Also, is it still possible to get that high polish look with the whole 3k->12k wetsand process, and do I need to do that between every coat of enamel, or just the last one before the alclad?

If worse comes to worse, my army is sky serpets anyhow, so a little 'leather' texture wouldnt be too terrible. (Upon close inspection, at this point, it sort of resembles a leather bookcase with a very fine texture)

yes, that is orange peel, correctly appllied primer doesnt look like that, no primer should.
thats been sprayed at too low a pressure if i had to guess.
A common issue with rattle cans, as they do not have uniform pressure.

Edit, it also happens when the paint is too thick, heating up the can and shaking thoroughly can help with this a little.

You should be using acyrlics mate.

Negative, alclad is a lacquer that requires an enamel base coat, ...that being said, I think I am going to ditch this endeavor. I got a little too ambitious and outstretched my skill lv. Maybe after I have some practice with my airbrush I'll return ot it. I do hate working with enamel, or rattle cans at least.

I called GW and asked them if their primer would stick to enamel. They said yes, so I tried a salvage job by laying another coat of primer over the orange peeled enamel. It seems to have restored it back to square 1, albeit it a little thicker, but nothing really noticeable. Ceste La Vi. I guess I'll lean more to "candy coat/clear" rather than chrome.