What Kind Of Clear Gives The Best Shine?

[doug2013]

i have bought some paint and it is flat when i sprayit and its enaml and i was wondering what kind of clear would be best for easy shine

[Car Crazy 81]

What kind of paint is it maybe i can help out this situation. I can narrow down name brands for you this ougha help.

Krylon- Krylon Crystal Clear

Valspar- Valspar Clear Gloss

Colorplace(Wal-Mart)- Colorplace Clear Gloss

Let me know if this works.

Edited January 15, 2010 by LSU Fan 1981

[MikeMc]

Try future.....BUT WAIT for that enamel to dry.....could take a while

[Guest arni]

What brand is the enamel? As Mike says you can use Future over it.

Or even Tamiya clear,but since it is enamel I would leave it at least 48 hours before overcoating it.

A good tip here is the sniff test! Not being funny,but smell the model up close.If you can still smell the paint then leave it a while longer,works for me.

[CAL]

Yeah, Future is very shinny, it has good depth, an easy to work with. It is the best bang for the effort.

I was a long time skeptic turned believer. I have been quite impressed with the results.

Other clears can bring more stunning results but they are often... who am I kidding, always a lot of work to get perfect.

I don't have the patients to wait for enamels which really take weeks to cure, and have Futured over enamels within 24 hrs without any problems to date.

I also use a lot more flat colors. They are easier to shoot, dry quicker, and are just as shinny after a few Furture coats, which sticks better to flats.

Edited January 15, 2010 by CAL

[seeker589]

Have you seen Donn Yost's finishes. www.OldManModels.com I recommend the Airbrush video - it really is outstanding!

He SWEARS by Testor's High-Gloss Clear shot through an airbrush. And from the gloss and even-ness of his final finishes - I am very eager to try it.

This is Donn's 1956 DelRay - check the reflection!

I know this is the MCM message board - but check out his feature in the latest issue of SAE. The proof is in the puddin'. Right Donn?

Edited January 15, 2010 by seeker589

[CAL]

Have you seen Donn Yost's finishes. www.OldManModels.com I recommend the Airbrush video - it really is outstanding!

He SWEARS by Testor's High-Gloss Clear shot through an airbrush. And from the gloss and even-ness of his final finishes - I am very eager to try it.

This is Donn's 1956 DelRay - check the reflection!

I know this is the MCM message board - but check out his feature in the latest issue of SAE. The proof is in the puddin'. Right Donn?

I agree about the proof.

And this is Future

Future over flat

[Chas SCR]

If you have an air brush then go with Du Pont Hot Hues Urethane Clear as it goes over every thing and you will not have to sand,polish or wax it when you are done. Spray and let driver for 24hrs and you are done end of story.

[Janne Herajärvi]

How about Humbrol clear?

Steps

1: Revell satin black (or any color) with airbrush

2: careful sanding to get dust away

3: Humbrol clear with brush, yes with brush

And results could be similar to this

I used 2 more steps(it was my practice) in that build but they didnt help for better results. Trunk did have only those 3 steps, so look and enjoy (i hope)

[seeker589]

I agree about the proof.

And this is Future

Cal -

Is there a Future spray how-to on the board? I would really like to read it - it seems interesting. What ratio do you thin it and what do you thin it with?

By-the-way - Really nice looking models!

[CAL]

Cal -

Is there a Future spray how-to on the board? I would really like to read it - it seems interesting. What ratio do you thin it and what do you thin it with?

By-the-way - Really nice looking models!

Thanks

There probably is a bunch of them.

My technique:

up the pressure on my brush to about 25psi, with a real wide spray pattren.

I shoot it straight out of the bottle

I start with misting some on so the heavier coats stick well. This stuff is like water really thin. I have had some bodies literally dripping with Future and they have dried perfect.

Then I just go to town. Small sags and runs will go away when it dries. Larger sags and runs will need sanded out. I just layer it on pretty heavy coat after coat until I am happy with it. Works on clear "glass" parts too.

And I spray it over BMF trims, badges, emblems side marker lights

There is a bit of a learning curve to it how much you can get away with putting on in a single sitting, quite a lot actually, and trying to keep it all "wet" so you don't get dull overspray areas.

You can tint with Tamiya acrylic clear colors: smoke, amber, red, blue, orange. you can use as glue for PE scripts

It is also very forgiving. And defects just sand out and reshoot.

Sides down at the bottoms are the trickiest becuase it is so thin that is were it likes to puddle, sag and run.

I let it dry and recover several times drying between coats and little or no sanding.

Do not wet sand it will strip it all off.

New coats of Future will melt in with old dry coats.

I grabbed a few bodies and played with it first awhile to get a feel for what it was going to be like to work with. It is not really like working with paints or other clears. If you understand it you can get outstanding finishes. If you use like a paint or clear you can still get good finishes but will miss the true beauty of this stuff.

[MikeMc]

go here....the source.....

http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html

[my80malibu]

The best clear I have ever seen is testors #1814 CLEAR it was a availble at walmart it is an enamel clear and takes about a weekand a half to dry but really does'nt yellow and is crystal and very shiney.

[Smart-Resins]

While clear is very important for a good shine, clear will do you no good what so ever if you do not follow simple rules before you ever get there! Primer coat MUST be smoothed out before applyng color. Color MUST be smoothed out before applying clear! it will not matter how many coats of whatever you put on it if your color coat is rough or dimply or hazed!! You will still have a rough cleared surface that will not bring that crisp shine! I have learned, make sure your primer coat is as smooth as possibly can be first! No it wont be perfect, its hard to see what ya got going on in the primer stage. Then apply your color. Making shure your primer has fully gassed out is important! With the color, I have learned to build it up if you can, esp. if its not a pearl or metalic. Because then you can sand and bare polish it. By this I mean, sand it down using fine sandpaper and dry polish I refer to as taking a piece of cotton and rubbing the heck out of it. Just breath on the section, then rub. Breath and rub. Once you have your paint job smoothed and shiny to your liking, then clear it. Do two or three coats depending on what you are using so you have material to polish out! If you are using Future, you must throw a bin or a pot or something over it as soon as you get done spraying it because it is a MAJOR dust collector. I know this! try working dust out of a fresh clear job on gloss black. Yeah right. LOL. Cant get in a hurry if ya want a serios paint job! it takes time. Simple rules are easily followed. They will result in terrific results. Thats why you see so many different ways that look so great like future or urathane, or even just plane clear paint! Every one says that black is the hardest color. Indeed it is because it shows EVERYTHING! But by folowing simple rules it will looks better then any other color! Simple rules again, make sure the primer is smooth! Make sure the color is smooth! Make sure you keep dust out of your clear! Then if you want/need to, polish out. I know with future, it should not need polishing out. If you do, wait a complete day, better yet two before you do and dont use anything thats abrasive! I hope this helps. I know someone did a tutorial on doing a paint process. treehuggerDave, was that you? I know someone has. Jody

[Zoom Zoom]

As you can see by now, there are many opinions on the "best" clear.

The "best" clear is the one that works the "best" for you personally. Of all the options, you'll have to find what sounds best to you, practice, and learn over time how to get the best results.

My favorite used to be Testors/Model Master enamel clear (airbrushed...I never trust their spray can enamel...ever). It airbrushes & buffs out beautifully, in those respects it's the nicest/easiest paint I've ever worked with. But...I don't like the slow-dry nature (a dehydrator is the great equalizer), the way it gets & stays "sticky" after it's cured when handling (it's very soft paint that the oils from your skin/fingers will affect), and the tendency to yellow with age, which will change certain colors over time. I have seen silver turn platinum/gold, white turn soft yellow, blues turn almost turquoise over time. I have one old Pontiac that I shot with a really light lavender contrast color inside/out. Outside the lavender is now gray, inside (without clear) is the original color. On occasion I still use enamels.

Future works well enough when you need a non-reactive clear. It's just weird how it sprays. It's almost thinner than water; I always laugh when I see the inevitable "how do I thin Future?" question...my best session spraying it was after leaving the open jar of Future in the dehydrator for a couple hours before shooting it. You can't wetsand it, you can dry-sand and buff. Some people report cracking/yellowing over time. I've seen amazing results from it being brushed on rather than sprayed. It just takes practice as it works differently than most paints. It doesn't dry to the same sort of rock-solid finish as other clears, but it dries so fast & looks great, and if you screw it up you can spray it with Windex to remove it.

Urethane clears have a nice shine that looks wet after applied, but personally I don't care for them for my use. All too often I see evidence on finished models of it drying to a much thicker film than other clears; to me if it looks like it's dipped in clear, it's just really shiny & thick & not a particularly authentic "in scale" finish. It tends to gather around panel lines, sometimes fills them in. It is extremely toxic stuff to breathe (all paints are toxic, urethane is much worse than others). Not only that, but if you do have to sand/buff out any dust, it dries so hard that it's much more work (aka elbow grease) to buff out compared to more traditional enamels & lacquers. Urethane users swear by it, because of the high-shine w/o much secondary work. A friend swears by it because he claims he doesn't have the time to spend 2 hours buffing out every paint job. Yet his models show all the negative signs I mention (thick, filled in panel lines), and dust nibs that look ginormous because he doesn't level them & polish them out. I avoid it because of the long-term health issues, the fact that I want to level & buff out my paint for the best scale appearance, and my ability to forget to clean out my airbrush when I'm done with it. Urethane must be cleaned out immediately before it cures.

Tamiya TS13 clear is my current favorite by a wide margin. Tamiya lacquers "shrink to fit", so you can put a lot of paint on and as it cures it rarely will fill in detail. It demands smooth coats from primer through color, and responds accordingly to wet sanding between coats and traditional methods of building up primer/color/clear in layers. The smoother the color, the smoother the clear. And Tamiya's own compounds, from coarse to fine to finish & then wax, work perfectly with their own paint. Often a light scuff with wet sandpaper is all you need to polish it out to an amazing shine with their compound (20-30 mins. is my average time to scuff/buff the final coat of clear; darker colors require more finesse & time). My usual method is to decant the clear, apply it w/airbrush in thin coats, working up to thicker/wetter coats. Often I follow this with one good wet coat from a fresh can. Works amazingly well, buffs amazingly well, no cracking, no yellowing. Wish it was cheaper & wish it cured slightly harder, but I'm quite satisfied with it. I shoot it over lacquers, either Tamiya/Testors or automotive colors. Don't shoot it over enamels!

If you want a nice "out of the spray can" clear, you really can't beat either Tamiya TS13 clear or Testors "One Coat" or Model Master clear lacquer.

With the right preparation, work, and practice, nearly any clear will give you nice results. Your style will determine what works best.

[Terror]

I like Folk-art clear glaze.You can get it at The Great Wall-o-Mart,in,what they call,the hobbie section.

[MikeMc]

Thanks Bob.....you are the paint guru for us lacquer guys!!

[Chas SCR]

Also you have to remember is what are you trying to get it to look like? Factory stock before the 70s? this is a different look for clear coat. Show cars that are driven to and from the show? this is a different look, and then you have the new wave trailer queen cars that look like they been dipped into the clear because they have 3 to 5 coats of it on each part. Each clear that has been talked about here has there good things to get what you are trying to make but you just need to know what you are trying to get at. Can not take a 1969 Roadrunner and put urethane on it and call it a factory stock. No factory stock car from that eara had a shine like this and also take note if its a factory stock 9 times out of 10 it does have little swirl marks that you can see from the factory.

[Aaronw]

The link to swanny's site Mike posted is well named, it is pretty much the article about Future.

If you get into some exotic paints, there are better clears out there but Future is cheap, easy to use, easy to strip (just need a bottle of windex) and actually does a great job of fixing bad paint jobs. While Jody's comments about the primer and paint are very good, I've fixed bad paint jobs with Future. It won't clean up a complete mess but it will level out minor orange peel and such. You can use it to make flat paint gloss.

I find a final polish with Macguires Scratch X really brings out the shine.

[69_charger]

i personally like duplicolor automotive finish clear cote. it can be found at crappy tire (ok, canadian tire) and it dries very quick. after the paint has dried for the full cure time, 2 hours i tihnk, i use a power buffer, and mothers carnuba wax, worrks very well, just make sure to hold the parts, or else they may fly across the garage!

[LoneWolf15]

Tim,

Just to clarify... I use Testors Top Clear Coat , not the high gloss.I've only been back into the cars for nine years so I can't say what went on beforehand with Testors products. I have cars that I shot with the Testors clear from back then and the finish is still pristine on them . By cutting the clear with cheap laquer thinner, your finish drys quick , hard and tight.

As for the use of Future as a clear , I have my doubts as time rolls on . Eventually , I feel it would start to yellow and crack as it does on floors that it's applied to . This would be a disaster for me . I don't have the time to go back and reclear should the aforementioned conditions appear. I do know that Testors clear cut with cheap laquer thinner does an outstanding job for me .

I build very little if any factory stock these days .However , I do know the diffrence between the desired types of shine . Polishing Testors enamels out and foregoing the clear , will give you a beautiful factory shine every time . For me , enamels have always been a win - win situation . You are using a product that was designed for the hobby , therefore , no worries about it affecting the plastic . You achieve a shine simply by applying the paint and are able to further advance that richness of depth and color by coating it with clear.

As always , just one man's opinion !

Donn Yost

Lone Wolf Custom Painting

[doug2013]

What kind of paint is it maybe i can help out this situation. I can narrow down name brands for you this ougha help.

Krylon- Krylon Crystal Clear

Valspar- Valspar Clear Gloss

Colorplace(Wal-Mart)- Colorplace Clear Gloss

Let me know if this works.

ya im gonna try future because i had bought the can stuff and i was polishiong it and it burnt throught ther paint

[meaneyme]

Have you seen Donn Yost's finishes. www.OldManModels.com I recommend the Airbrush video - it really is outstanding!

He SWEARS by Testor's High-Gloss Clear shot through an airbrush. And from the gloss and even-ness of his final finishes - I am very eager to try it.

This is Donn's 1956 DelRay - check the reflection!

I know this is the MCM message board - but check out his feature in the latest issue of SAE. The proof is in the puddin'. Right Donn?

The thing with Donn is that he pours way too much paint at one time on his models, that's why, if you look closely, his cars have a shiny look but most details are ommited, it's the reason I stopped using the Testors enamels. I like to keep all the small details on my models, I don't want them to look toyish with all that clear.

[cruz]

I used to be a Testors clear Enamel user when I started in the hobby but eventually moved away from them, too thick, yellow over time, slow drying and yes, it used to cover all the intricate details. I have a friend in my club that does the same thing, dumps too much of that stuff at one time, you can hardly notice the panel lines and other details.

I am using the Tamiya Clears more often now, they are fine and keep all my details intact and like Bob says, they shoot beautifully out of the airbrush. I do have to try those Testor's one shot clears one of these days, I am hearing a lot of good things about them!!

[LoneWolf15]

The thing with Donn is that he pours way too much paint at one time on his models, that's why, if you look closely, his cars have a shiny look but most details are ommited, it's the reason I stopped using the Testors enamels. I like to keep all the small details on my models, I don't want them to look toyish with all that clear.

I think you need to go to the website and look again ! None of my detail is lost , I can still put a razor thin line of baremetal foil down anywhere on a model. If the detail had been lost , the chrome would have a thick unnatural appearance to it , mine does'nt ! Check the drip edges above the doors on the Camaros , Cudas , Firebirds , etc . Very thin pieces. You can't lay bare metal foil on them if the detail has been buried in clear .

As for the shine , I generally build street machines , drag cars , street rods , etc . How deep the reflection goes is up to me . Anyone viewing my cars , up close and personal , will tell you that they are far from having a " toylike " appearance. As to my methods , and whether , they work , read my guestbook and view comments section . I'll let my satified customers do my talking for me .

Hope to see you at the show tables !

Donn Yost

Lone Wolf Custom Painting