Rustoleum Clear Gloss Lacquer

[Snake45]

Saw this for the first time at Walmart today--Rustoleum Lacquer "High Lustre Coating." I've been looking for a clear lacquer in a spray can so I picked up a can. Anyone ever used this? Does it work and play well with model paints? 

[hedotwo]

Following

[Mark]

Don't know about model paints (presumably you mean lacquers like Testors and Tamiya) but I know a guy who has used it over automotive lacquers like Duplicolor.  I'm not sure what the time frame is (how soon clear is applied over color) but it seems to work.

I guess clear sprays like Testors and Tamiya are moving off the shelves there, too?

[Dave G.]

All I can say is it goes over chrome parts well and over acrylic color coats well.

[Snake45]

Thanks for the replies. I'll try it on something soon and report back. 

[Bills72sj]

Following. I have a good stash of Testors Wet Look clear but it will not last forever.

[Snake45]

Okay, this morning I sprayed a heavy, "abusive" coat of the stuff on 4 or 5 random spoons I had laying around from previous paint tests. So far the lacquer has not reacted badly with any of them. 

They're all shiny, but not "super glossy" or "wet look" glossy. I suspect that several coats could be rubbed out to a nice shine. 

Next test will be on the purple '66 "JunkNova" body I'm working on. Not sure what paint is on it now.  I'll lay a couple light coats on that, then a few heavier ones, then try to polish it out. If it doesn't work, I'll just strip it--the finish on it isn't great now, and I'm not wild about the color, so no huge loss if it all goes sideways. 

[Deuces ll]

Please post pictures Snake!!! Thanks bud!... ?

[Snake45]

Won't post pics of the spoons, but will describe and give my recommendations. 

Will of course post pics of the JunkNova when it's finished. 

[Snake45]

Update: Have now laid three coats--two light mist coats, one heavy wet coat--on JunkNova, which I believe was orignally painted with rattlecan Model Master Purple Pearl (now discontinued). There has been no adverse reaction between the lacquer and the purple. 

The original paint is fairly deep and glossy on the horizontal surfaces (trunk, roof, hood, fender tops) but a bit thin and orange-peeled on the vertical surfaces (body sides). My goal is to build up a level, polishable surface everywhere, and then color-sand and polish it. The plan is to lay 2-4 more wet coats of the lacquer and see what it looks like. My experience with rattlecan lacquers is that except for Testor Wet Look Clear, which goes on thick and dries very hard, you need quite a few coats to stand up to a good polish. I'm prepared to use 8-10 coats if necessary. 

[slusher]

17 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Update: Have now laid three coats--two light mist coats, one heavy wet coat--on JunkNova, which I believe was orignally painted with rattlecan Model Master Purple Pearl (now discontinued). There has been no adverse reaction between the lacquer and the purple. 

The original paint is fairly deep and glossy on the horizontal surfaces (trunk, roof, hood, fender tops) but a bit thin and orange-peeled on the vertical surfaces (body sides). My goal is to build up a level, polishable surface everywhere, and then color-sand and polish it. The plan is to lay 2-4 more wet coats of the lacquer and see what it looks like. My experience with rattlecan lacquers is that except for Testor Wet Look Clear, which goes on thick and dries very hard, you need quite a few coats to stand up to a good polish. I'm prepared to use 8-10 coats if necessary. 

Good information Snake. Rustoleum owns Testors no you would think it would work. Thanks for trying it and passing the results on to us brother...

[Snake45]

Just checked coat three, which dried without fogging and seems to be filling in the orange peel rather nicely. Laid on coat four. If all goes well, will do five and six tomorrow, then maybe try starting to polish. Fingers crossed! 

[charlie8575]

I'm interested to see your findings.

Charlie Larkin

[Snake45]

Laid on coats 5 and 6 today, and they're already dry enough to handle. 

Hard to photograph; these are the best two of five. Previously, the body sides, especially the lower sides, were so orange-peeled that they almost didn't have any sheen at all; now they've got a little gloss to them. It actually looks better in 3D than in these pics. 

I'll start polishing it tomorrow. I believe it'll shine up pretty nice. We'll see. 

[935k3]

On 1/14/2021 at 12:29 PM, Mark said:

Don't know about model paints (presumably you mean lacquers like Testors and Tamiya) but I know a guy who has used it over automotive lacquers like Duplicolor.  I'm not sure what the time frame is (how soon clear is applied over color) but it seems to work.

I guess clear sprays like Testors and Tamiya are moving off the shelves there, too?

Tamiya   is going to be around their just having some distribution problems because Tamiya USA is located in California.

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, 935k3 said:

Tamiya   is going to be around their just having some distribution problems because Tamiya USA is located in California.

I've used Tamiya clear and it didn't work much if any better for me than the Rustoleum. I paid about $4 for an 11 oz can of the Rustoleum at Walmart. What does the Tamiya cost? 

[peteski]

On 1/19/2021 at 1:20 PM, Snake45 said:

My experience with rattlecan lacquers is that except for Testor Wet Look Clear, which goes on thick and dries very hard, you need quite a few coats to stand up to a good polish.

Interesting.  I have used the Wet Look Clear on a model (painted with Tamiya primer and Nail Polish, and the clear stayed soft for a very long time (months). If I pressed my fingernail in it, it would show a mark.  That was couple of years ago, I should check if it is still soft, or if it finally hardened.

[Snake45]

10 hours ago, peteski said:

Interesting.  I have used the Wet Look Clear on a model (painted with Tamiya primer and Nail Polish, and the clear stayed soft for a very long time (months). If I pressed my fingernail in it, it would show a mark.  That was couple of years ago, I should check if it is still soft, or if it finally hardened.

Huh. My experience couldn't have been more different. My beloved Wright's Silver Cream (which will polish plastic, even hard clear plastic) would hardly touch it. I gave up on that and went to sanding it with #1200-#1500 sandpaper followed by polishing it with some Heavy-Duty (red) paste polish from the auto parts store. That finally cut it. 

[peteski]

5 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Huh. My experience couldn't have been more different. My beloved Wright's Silver Cream (which will polish plastic, even hard clear plastic) would hardly touch it. I gave up on that and went to sanding it with #1200-#1500 sandpaper followed by polishing it with some Heavy-Duty (red) paste polish from the auto parts store. That finally cut it. 

I agree that is is weird to have such different experiences with the same paint, although who knows - maybe the formula was changed and we had different patches of paint. Ir maybe the type of base-coat makes a difference.  I guess there a lot of factors and unknowns when it comes to paint's behavior.  Mine (as usual) did not need any polishing. I don't usually sand/rub-out/wax my models.

It is my little 298 Cobra.

[slusher]

On 1/20/2021 at 5:56 PM, Snake45 said:

Laid on coats 5 and 6 today, and they're already dry enough to handle. 

Hard to photograph; these are the best two of five. Previously, the body sides, especially the lower sides, were so orange-peeled that they almost didn't have any sheen at all; now they've got a little gloss to them. It actually looks better in 3D than in these pics. 

I'll start polishing it tomorrow. I believe it'll shine up pretty nice. We'll see. 

What are you going to rub or polish it with, Snake?

[Oldcarfan27]

I've had really good luck with this paint on top of dupli-color automotive touch-up paints. 

 

It's easily available at Home Depot for around $6. Dries fast, smooth and hard. Perfect for polishing. 

[Snake45]

10 hours ago, slusher said:

What are you going to rub or polish it with, Snake?

Wright's Silver Cream, my go-to. 

9 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

I've had really good luck with this paint on top of dupli-color automotive touch-up paints. 

 

It's easily available at Home Depot for around $6. Dries fast, smooth and hard. Perfect for polishing. 

My can looks like that except it doesn't say "specialty" on the label. Probably the same stuff. I paid $3.96 at Walmart. And you're right, it's hard--almost as hard as Testor Wet Look Clear. 

[crazyjim]

I've been using 2 part urethane clear from Nason but am always willing to try something new.

[Snake45]

I just finished the polish-out of JunkNova. I am VERY pleased with the results. I might have just found my new go-to clear coat. 

[Zippi]

Have you tried this clear Acrylic lacquer from Walmart?