Maybe just do a quick top coat, sand, prime and paint?

For the amount on there, I would expect it to look like that at first. Rough sand, hit with couple more thin light coats, probably need to thin your mud a little more. Sand in between. It will clean up. Big spatula fast strokes.

Is it too late to paper tape the inside corners?

Rough sand first. Mud goes behind the paper tape anyways

Yikes. You want to tape with your first coat. That said, it’s not the end of the world. Take your blade and scrape off all mounds and big imperfections. Going thick is not the way. Get a bucket of regular spackle (white bucket with green lid) add a little water to help thin it out a bit. You want to be using a 12” blade to make smooth coverage.

The gaps in the corner seemed big so i thought i had to fill in with mud first lol thats my bad

Should i buy an electric sander? Would that work better or what kind of sander

you can do that, but like other people have said you want it to be a little thinner.

Try to sand a lot of what you already have up down smooth, then tape all the corners. Youtube is your friend.

Then do a SUPER LIGHT coat on top of your tape. Then a SUPER LIGHT sand.

By this point you should be almost smooth. if you need another coat, go for it. Light, thin coats are the way. Heck, if it takes you 4 coats, go for it. Slowly get smoother and smoother until you are happy.

For the sake of you and your house I’d get the shop vac sander tool with the sanding screens. They’re pretty cheap at Home Depot

Make sure you got at least a 8" spreader when doing mudding on drywall. A smaller one will not give you the gradients you want.

If you got a gap in a seam, you mud the gap, take some tape and fold it in half, press it into the seam then mud over the paper to fill in the gap.

You can sand between applications of mud once it dries. Since youa re new to this, allow this to take place over a couple days. Once you get good with it, you will have next to no sanding to do and do it in a single application.. I always run a 12" spreader and I only need to spot sand.

Way too much mud on first coat and corners sorely need tape. Check out Utube videos and practice on a sample joint. The most common mistake newbies make is they apply too much compound and play with it aiming for perfection the first coat.

It'll go pretty fast with an electric sander. Use drywall sanding paper -- it looks like a screen with abrasive on it, so it doesn't load up.

Sand everything down more-or-less flat without going through the drywall paper or tape before applying more mud.

You're also going to need a much wider blade to do the tape. It looks like you have a four or five inch blade. You'll need a ten or twelve inch wide blade. Mix your mud a trifle thinner. It's easier to get right if you put on multiple thin coats, sanding flat in between.

The pros can do it in essentially one go, but that takes an amount of practice I don't have.

A real light orange peel texture will do a lot to conceal imperfections.

Remember that a bunch of very thin coats is better than one big fat coat Use the flex in the widest knife you can to keep it thin. It takes practice, it's not an easy skill until you learn it.

It is very possible my first mudding job looked about like that. But the learning curve isn't too steep, and plaster is pretty forgiving.

Knock down high spots and paper any junctions or corners where you haven't yet. Then just keep on going, smoothing rough spots, and working toward an overall skim coat. I always prefer a good flexible 6" knife for most of that. One trick is to use a worklight at a steep raking angle, so you can see all the imperfections.

Don't be in a hurry and it will eventually get done, and you'll probably be half-decent with a mudding knife by then.

Step one would have been not to have huge gaps in the corners tbh...

The job starts with hanging the drywall. The cheat is to use Great Stuff to fill gaps, use a filet knife to cut it flush and move straight to tape and compound...

But that's in the past.

You need to sand the highspots until your either flat or to the paper. Then start from there with tape and compound.

YouTube has lots of videos that make it look easy. It won't be, but with a few extra hours of sanding you'll still be successful.

Also, forget hot mud. It's hard to even know how much strength hot mud provides, it's more about working speed which isn't your concern. Premix is way more forgiving

Use a wet sponge! I like one you would do dishes with that has the scrub texture on one side. Make it pretty damp but not dripping. Way less messy than sanding

Here's a major clue. DON'T USE ANY QUICKSET MUD! It's a gigantic pain in the ass and should only be used by pros on a small job. Taping is more of an art than trade, as you need to feather and sculpt the wet mud to make the wall appear flat.

Hot mud dries so hard that it's a pain to sand, so I usually only do the first layer with hot mud and mesh tape, then use regular weight standard mud for the 2nd and 3rd layers. And as suggested below, thin coats are key.

Tape is set with a 6" knife. Larger blades are used in subsequent coats.

Everyone sucks at mud at first. Keep practicing my dude. Take everyone’s advice and work to fix it. Don’t give up. It’s a cool skill to have. The funny part is the whiz vids on YouTube make it look soooo easy. It’s not. They’re just that good.

YouTube Vancouver Carpenter. Best drywall instruction in my opinion. Like some said, shouldn’t really need much sanding between coats if any. I prefer to start w a 6inch blade for tape and then work up in width with each coat. I prefer traditional all purpose mud in the green and white bucket and add water to thin for skim. More coats and lighter as you go. Level 5. Best of luck!

Can't recommend that guy enough, his tips have definitely helped me out

He’s the best.

Thats actually exclusively who I've been watching! He makes it look super easy

Keep in mind, doing drywall well the first or even tenth time is going to end in disappointment if your expectations are even remotely high. Mudding drywall is an art. You can learn the basics watching videos, but you'll only get better through loads of practice.

I also wouldn't recommend having started your first time with hotmud for anything other than filling large gaps. It's not nearly as forgiving as pre-mix taping, all-purpose or topping mud. It's also way harder to scrape or sand.

The number one tip I received that helped so damn much is to thin the mud down. It's way too thick as purchased. You want it to be roughly the consistency of sour cream so it goes on thin and smooth.

The number 2 tip is to know when you're beat and pay for help. I started mudding my huge basement and realized it would take me weeks or months to complete. I paid a pro to do the rest and it was done in a week. Money well spent.

I always do the first coat with AP, but I like the lightweight for sanding

If the gaps are big it’s best to get something more solid in there for backing before taping. I can’t tell how big they are, but if the gaps are like 1/2 inch or more I’d just cut some strips from some of your drywall waste and fill those gaps as best you can. Then, tape.

A little mud goes a long ways. It’s easier to add more thin coats, than it is having to sand down thick coats. When I did my bathroom I ended up doing 3 coats, starting with 6 inch blade, then 8 then 12. Then I sanded most off cause it was too thick, and did the same process but with much thinner coats. Light sanding between coats. Turned out good.

I hated it so much though that I have hired a pro for every mud job big or small since then 😂

The one advantage of hot mud for beginners is they have to stop... lol

If it's all premixed and ready to go its like kindergarten fingerpainting.

sanding, and paint, make me the mudder i ain't.

Do not use too much quickset, it is a pain in the ass to sand, you never want to have to sand it. I'm not a professional by any means but i only use quickset to tape and fill large gaps, wait an hour, scrape any high spots with your knife, then do one or two coats with slightly thinned mud. Buy it in the 4 gallon buckets an home depot. Light sanding after and your good to go.

Also a lot of the other guys have some very good tips, a wet sponge, you can buy regular sponges in a two pack at HD, completely removes the need to deal with sanding and all the dust that comes with it, as long as your mud is pretty flat.

Buying the compound in a bucket versus using sand mixed hot mud.

Paying extra for the bucket on bigger jobs saved so much time and material.

What have you done….go to YouTube. There are thousands of videos for ya. That’s WAY too much mud

Here is my advice. Hire someone that does this for a living. Its not worth the frustration and then forever you will notice all the mistakes every time you are near it.