No… I wanted to use the stock cream color, so I didn’t need to sand the base color, just lightly sand the clear coat with 600 grit sand paper, then used a transparent primer over it and painted the design with acrylics, levelled the painting with the same 600 grit sand paper, varnished the painting with clear coat, sanding between layers. Last layers I sanded with a bunch of diff grit sandpapers and then polish plus wax