Tamiya paints and clear coat options

[allecb]

Building a 350z with tamiya ts50 paint. Gorgeous color! Just want to have it shine more now. I have testors high gloss enamel overcoat. I also have testors clear gloss lacquer overcoat. Will either of these work for my tamiya lacquer paint? I've had them for awhile and almost never put clear over my models so I don't know much about them. Are those decent? Or do I need to get something else?

[azers]

I have used testors lacquer clearcoat over tamiya paints with no problems.

[allecb]

I heard some clear will yellow over time? But with mica blue I dot think thatd matter? I sprayed the paint tonight.. How long should I wait to clear coat? And how many coats

[allecb]

Also.. Decals before or after clear coat

[azers]

I have paintjobs as old as 11 years old i used tamiya clear. Close to the same formula as testors and have had no yellowing problems. This was painted in 2002 and cleared with tamiya clear. I wait a day or two so paint gasses out then i spray a few light coats of clear. Let that dry a few days. Sand any dust bunnies or fuzz out. I put on a few more coats of clear for coverage and polish out after a week. Thats my way. As far as decals i polish out then put decals on. I havent had the confidence to clear over decals after applying them. After my last disaster.

Edited March 14, 2013 by azers

[allecb]

Any other comments?

[allecb]

i tested my results on some smaller parts of the model with the "testors clear gloss lacquer overcoat" the parts with the overcoat almost didnt look as smooth or finished as the parts with just laquer paint. i cant explain it. its like orange peel kind of, but i'd rate it at a 0.5/10 scale for how much orange peel it has. ahh, i dont know you'd have to see in person cause i dont think a camera would even pick it up. maybe im spraying too far away? maybe i should have warmed up the can in some water? theres no ball in the spray can, usually "rattle"-cans have balls in them? heh..

maybe i should pick up the skills of wet sanding.

edit: after a second coat of clear, it seemed to have smoothed out. i think ill shoot three layers of clear on the car and call it good.

Edited March 14, 2013 by allecb

[ForcedAWD]

I [img=http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/s530/99jeepdad/misc%20reference%20photos/IMAG0004_zps279c6a98.jpg] have paintjobs as old as 11 years old i used tamiya clear. Close to the same formula as testors and have had no yellowing problems. This was painted in 2002 and cleared with tamiya clear. I wait a day or two so paint gasses out then i spray a few light coats of clear. Let that dry a few days. Sand any dust bunnies or fuzz out. I put on a few more coats of clear for coverage and polish out after a week. Thats my way. As far as decals i polish out then put decals on. I havent had the confidence to clear over decals after applying them. After my last disaster.

Do you recall what paint you used above? I would love to use that color for a build I'm working on.

[azers]

It is called cranberry wine pearl. It was used on chrysler pt cruisers. You can get the color in duplicolor spray and use the m.m. lacquer spray on it since tamiya clear is unavailable. I have even sprayed the testors clear over the tamiya clear with no bad results. By sanding between clear coats and putting on two more wet coats you get virtually no orange peel. By the way if you want the duplicolor number i can get it for you.

[ZTony8]

You should use the Testor "One Coat" lacquer clear over your Tamiya paint jobs.It doesn't go on all in one coat of course.Spray on multiple light coats.This can sometimes be a bit difficult as Testor's paints go on noticeably thicker than Tamiya paints.Then sand between coats of clear.Polish and wax afterward.

Clear over decals?It's up to you.If you're doing a custom car with flames or pinstriping or scallops,it's a good idea.If you're trying to replicate a race car,I'd say no.Decals on a race car are vinyl (or on mdern cars on a wrap) so the have a more semi gloss finish.A high gloss finish there looks wrong.

Edited March 15, 2013 by ZTony8

[ForcedAWD]

It is called cranberry wine pearl. It was used on chrysler pt cruisers. You can get the color in duplicolor spray and use the m.m. lacquer spray on it since tamiya clear is unavailable. I have even sprayed the testors clear over the tamiya clear with no bad results. By sanding between clear coats and putting on two more wet coats you get virtually no orange peel. By the way if you want the duplicolor number i can get it for you.

Thanks for the info

[Captain Obvious]

As far as I know, it's mostly clear enamels that will yellow over time, as will white enamel. I've never had a problem using either Testors Wet-look clear or ultra-gloss clear over Tamiya paints. Actually, I've been switching over to Testors lacquer colors, since there's usually a wider color assortment readily available to me in my area.