To clear coat or not

[atomicholiday]

Sorry if this has been covered before. My question is: do you clear coat all your body's after color coating or not? As with everything else in this hobby, there is no right or wrong answer here. Everybody does things a little different and that's just the way it should be. I just want an idea of what everybody else does and why.

Personally, I don't use clear coat unless I have to. Sometimes (to my eyes) a miles-deep wet looking clear coat looks almost like it's out of scale or something. Not sure how else to put it. I looks great, but at the same time not quite realistic maybe? Does that make sense? Not to say I haven't done it. Sometimes that's what a project calls for.

About the only times I'll use clear are if the paint is metallic, or I need to seal decals better. If it's a solid color (non-metallic), I prefer not to clear coat. Looks more realistic to me. And I avoid clear over white at all cost. It has always turned yellow on me over time.

Let's hear it. What's you take on this?

[Snake45]

My views on this are very similar to yours. If it's a solid color, I usually won't clearcoat. Metalic or metalflake, usually I will, though there are a VERY few metallic paints I've learned can be polished out without ruining them.

Lately I've even been trying to get a subtle, factory-like orange peel in the finish of factory stock builds. That's actually harder than getting a high-gloss "showcar" shine, and almost no one who sees it appreciates it until you explain it to them--and sometimes not even then. Ah shucks oh well.

[W-409]

Some people don't appreciate the way I do this clear coat thing, but I clear coat always. Doesn't matter what color the car is, it will always be clear coated as it makes polishing much easier and creates shinier paint job. Always if there are decals applied, I will shoot a clear coat too. It's not that I think I must seal the decals under a clear coat, but then after polishing that clear it makes the decals look painted on. And that is just the thing I'm looking for on my builds.

Some of you folks turn out some really impressive paint jobs without clear coats. I appreciate it, but I will keep shooting clear coats on my models even if someone might think it's not realistic.

[atomicholiday]

Cool. And that's what makes this a great hobby. There's no right or wrong way to do this stuff.

[Can-Con]

Here's a simple tip to keep your white paint from yellowing after clearcoating it. ,,

NEVER use enamel clearcoat or that Testors "laquer" clearcoat. I have models with white paint that have been painted over 15 years ago that are still as white as the day I painted it. Just use a real laquer like duplicolor or an acrilyc like Tamiya.

[Snake45]

Doesn't matter what color the car is, it will always be clear coated as it makes polishing much easier and creates shinier paint job.

I'm going to respectfully disagree with this statement.

Shine comes from light reflecting off a smooth surface. Neither the light nor the surface (nor your eye) care if the surface is clear or colored, only that it's perfectly smooth. A colored paint can be polished up as shiny as any clearcoat. I know; I've done it. (Naked plastic can, too.)

That said, clear can sometimes be easier to polish than color. And in many cases--candies, metallics, metalflakes--it can be just about the only way to get a high gloss without disturbing the uniform appearance of the paint.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Snake45

[dublin boy]

For what it's worth..

Solid colours, polish them out they don't need to be cleared unless you want to.

Metallic colours, they need a clear coat as they dry flat or at best semi gloss, then polish it out.

Two pack clear can look a bit contrived though, like it's a scale inch deep, but i guess it's fine for a show Rod or similar.

[Ramfins59]

I always clearcoat my models. I use either Duplicolor paints or Tamiya paints and Duplicolor clear over all of them. On my latest project I used Black Gold paint and clearcoat and it seems that their paint and clearcoats are a little "hotter" than Duplicolor or Tamiya. I've never had any lacquer clearcoats turn yellow. Using clearcoats over decals does make them look painted on as Niko said above.

Clearcoating also gives you 2 other advantages; It helps protecting your paint when you polish it, so you don't polish through, and, it protects you from cutting through and peeling the paint when you apply and trim Bare Metal Foil.

[Pete J.]

Ok, this is a real bone of contention with builders and feelings are strong on both sides. I am a clear coater for several reasons.
1. I use a lot of automotive lacquers. These are typically two part systems with the base color coat going down flat and clear over the top. There are a number of lacquers that are intended to be used this way. Zero paints from HiroBoy is one of the model paint companies that does this. They must be clear coated.

2. I like my base coat of color to be as thin as possible to limit the coverage of surface detail. In order to polish it to a high gloss, you need clear or it is too easy to rub through the paint. Personal technique. Has nothing to do with "the way real cars are"

3. I like to clear over decals to hide the decal carrier film edge. This is were others will disagree with me saying "But real cars use vinyl stickers and they have an edge." True but we are talking about scale models here and we view them at scale distances. If you view a 1:24 scale model from a foot away, that is the same as seeing a real car at 24 feet away. At that distance you will have a tough time seeing that edge and except for a difference in sheen, you will also have a hard time telling if it is a decal or paint.

4. There are those who say "That is not how it is done on the real cars." True, but this is scale modeling. Very little that we do on these models is done the way they do it on the real cars. We are dealing with plastic. Real cars are mostly metal. Real cars startup and drive. Models don't. I don't care if it is done the same way as it is on real cars, if it looks the same, then that is what we are trying to achieve. By the way, that brings up an issue of terminology. We build models. These are representations of real object. Others (and they are rare) build miniatures. Miniatures are scaled down versions of real object that operate. Want to see some miniatures, got to this web site. http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/facility.htm While you are there check out Louis Chenot's Duesenberg SJ. That is a miniature, not a model even though they refer to is as such.

5. Last I clear coat because it offers some protection to the decals. I know others have 40 year old models with original decals that are in fine shape. My personal experience tells me they need protection. I have on occasion nicked a decal with a fingernail or a tool, ruining an almost finished model.

These are all my personal opinions and the reasons I do what I do. Others do otherwise and they may disagree. All we can do is agree to disagree.

[W-409]

I'm going to respectfully disagree with this statement.

Shine comes from light reflecting off a smooth surface. Neither the light nor the surface (nor your eye) care if the surface is clear or colored, only that it's perfectly smooth. A colored paint can be polished up as shiny as any clearcoat. I know; I've done it. (Naked plastic can, too.)

That said, clear can sometimes be easier to polish than color. And in many cases--candies, metallics, metalflakes--it can be just about the only way to get a high gloss without disturbing the uniform appearance of the paint.

I should have been more specific with my statement... I meant that when it's clear coated, I can turn the paint job into a much better than if it was not clear coated. I've tried polishing bare paint a couple of times and it has never turned out really good. With the clear coat on, polishing is much easier and it creates shinier paint job, for me anyway.

[Snake45]

I'm not against clearcoating. I used to always do it, and now still do it without hesitation when (IMHO) it's necessary. I just try to get by without it nowadays if I can.

[MrObsessive]

I'm not a believer in clearcoating solid colors as there should be enough hardener in the paint to make this unnecessary. To me, it's just more work to have to put yet another coat(s) of paint on when I could be rubbing out and polishing what's already there.

The following were done with no clearcoat..........just careful rubbing out and polishing.

Here's an exception...........the Daytona I built years ago is actually a metallic paint job. The flakes are very subtle, but they're there.

I rubbed this one out per normal and it came out fine. As Snake mentioned, rubbing out metallics are generally a no-no, but sometimes you have exceptions.

This is just my personal preference------your mileage (performance) will vary.

Edited January 18, 2015 by MrObsessive

[atomicholiday]

To me, it's just more work to have to put yet another coat(s) of paint on when I could be rubbing out and polishing what's already there.

I always feel like it's one more opportunity to screw something up. Especially when the color coat has gone on really nicely. I shot a '70 Challenger in Panther Pink once. Came out awesome. Applied the decals, and shot it with clear to seal them. I got one nice big fish-eye right in the middle of the trunk. I ended up stripping the whole thing. Back in the box it went and I haven't looked at it since... 15 years ago. And the rest of the car is finished.

By the way, I love that first one you have pictured. Beautiful car.

[Pete J.]

Remember, when all have had their say, the magic is in the magician, not in the wand. Each of us does things in a certain way because it works for us. Ultimately, you must find your own path.

[Guest]

I clear every paint job whether it's metallic or solid. Two coats of paint, four of clear on metallics. Three coats of paint, three coats of clear on solids. For whatever reason, I can get clear to lay down smoother than paint and it saves me time on polishing. Sometimes, I get them smooth enough that they don't need to be polished. That doesn't happen very often though.

[StevenGuthmiller]

I always clear mine as well, regardless of the paint underneath. The main reason that I do it is for depth for polishing purposes. Too many times, I've had a pretty nice paint job that was ruined by polishing through the paint some where. Steve

[Longbox55]

Sometimes I clear, sometimes I don't. Depends on the paint job and the final effect I'm after.

[Deathgoblin]

So far, the only one I didn't clearcoat has been my Ferrarri 612. I wasn't very pleased with the way the paint handled afterwards, so I'll clear the rest from now on.

[StevenGuthmiller]

I will say that I've had bad reactions with clear coats also. I've had several occasions where I've had clear coats crack on me when using Testors clears. I've since given Testors spray paints the old "heave ho". Had way too many issues with them over the years. I am now using automotive clear coats. I have yet to try airbrushing Duplicolor "Paint Shop" clears, but I think that may be where I'm heading. Steve

[Longbox55]

The Paint Shop clear, the one that comes in the quart can, is pretty nice to work with. I've done a fair amount of testing with it, and have found it to be very forgiving, and it works well over not only automotive paints, but also many hobby paints.
This one is shot over Duplicolor GM black metallic with the Prismatic Metalflake midcoat. The red half is Kustom Kolor Transparent Red Apple.

Same midcoat as above, but the base is Testors One Coat Inca Gold.
This one was a little different experiment, The top is Metallic Clear midcoat, the bottom is the Prismatic, the middle has no midcoat. The base is Tamiya TS37 Lavender.
Similar to the above pic, but this one was based with Duplicolor Silver metallic (I don't recall the exact color), the topcoated with Tamiya Acrylic Clear Blue. As you can see, the clear coat did not affect the acrylic at all.
Dirty Donny Vantasy. The top and bottom colors are Duplicolor, the maroon band in the middle is Tamiya. It also has a faded midcoat of the Prismatic on top into the Metallic on bottom, then the whole thing cleared with the Paint Shop clear.
Ignore the car, it's a die cast. But the floor of the garage in this pic, which is made from a laminate countertop remnant, is also cleared with Paint Shop. It first got a couple of mist coats in 3 colors of vinyl paint to replicate a Terrazo style floor, the clearcoated to bring the shine up. It has not been sanded at all, just cleared.

[StevenGuthmiller]

I like the idea of the can of clear & airbrushing it on. You can get better control & a thinner coat with an airbrush, & with the quart can, I shouldn't have to buy clear so often. Plus, as I understand it, it's already pre-thinned & ready to spray, which is a plus! I'm definitely going to give it a try. Steve