Today I decided to try to improve my bonnet, which is full of stone chip repairs with ill-matching paint and also suffered from an accident with a paint spillage.
I clay barred a long curved mark on the bonnet with the recommended clay and clay lube. Then I used the orange buffer with my orbital machine and Meguire's paint compound, being careful to apply it exactly as in the video. I then used isopropyl alcohol to clean and check the area. I repeated this, then cleaned and polished the area. No sign of the mark, just a nice and evenly shiny area of the bonnet.
This may seem like amateur hour to some of you but for me it was a big deal. It's given me the confidence to do some more areas tomorrow.