Beeswax to fill holes?

[Simon Barden]

If you want it properly flat and shiny, I think you’re going to need to sand a lot harder than that. I can see a lot of ‘orange peel’ in that picture. It’s up to you as to how you want it finished, but if you are aiming for a standard Fender gloss finish, then that surface needs to be really flat before you start going up through the grits. Hold it up to a bright light at a shallow angle. The bits you’ve sanded should be dull as a result, but pits in the finish will still shine and reflect light. You just keep sanding until there are no shiny pits. It’s why you’ve put a lot of clear coats on - because you’re taking quite a lot off again. Then and only then do you move to the finer grits and the rubbing compounds.

[Rabbit]

If you want it properly flat and shiny, I think you’re going to need to sand a lot harder than that. I can see a lot of ‘orange peel’ in that picture. It’s up to you as to how you want it finished, but if you are aiming for a standard Fender gloss finish, then that surface needs to be really flat before you start going up through the grits.

A tack on to that, rather than faffing around with lighting trying to find shiny spots, an easier way is with a guide coat. Mist on some cheap spray paint in a contrasting colour (any cheap and nasty spray paint will do). You are just misting it on, not going for a proper coat, so reactions with different finishes is unlikely. Some of the paint will settle in the low spots. You just sand till the colour is gone, then you know you have a levelled surface to work with. It's an old spray painters trick.