Quick Tips: Finishing With A Top Coat

Glossing Over The Details

You’ve painted the perfect car – now what? If you want to protect your precious paint job then you’ll want to add a clear top coat. But, for a new modder, you may not know where to begin. Don’t fret! Just check out these quick tips to learn some tricks of the top coat trade.

1. Explore the possibilities. There are many, many options for applying a clear coat to your build – lacquer and enamel and acrylic, oh my! Before you take a gamble on which product to buy, you can see a review of some of the spray-on options (including spray quality and detailing bleed) in DZMaven’s video “Gunpla Special – Top Coat Showdown”.

https://youtu.be/rKh0nYnivDo

2. Keep it light and keep it layered. Spraying on a top coat takes a light touch to get a smooth surface, but spraying on multiple layers can add up to glossy success! What to Repair gives tips about applying a good spray in the video “How to spray paint – Diecast cars or anything else – Tutorial”.

https://youtu.be/VtE_kQdDsfE

3. No paint? No problem. If you want to build a car with a bare metal look that will last, you can apply a clear top coat just like you would over paint. It also provides a great surface for detail painting. See how baremetalHW does it in “How to get a Stainless Steel finish on a Hot Wheels Custom Delorean”.

https://youtu.be/DI0LdgDubRQ

4. Use what you have. If you already have it on hand, clear nail polish can be applied as a cheap and easy way to add a lacquer layer to your diecast car. In our video “Mystery Box Build: Shazam! (Painting with Nail Polish Challenge)”, Diecast Racing Report does just that.

https://youtu.be/Yi0VQteaD54

5. A special project means special treatment. Not all builds are created equal. If you are doing a special project, you may also need to follow a special top coat process. As an example, if you’re “painting” with alcohol inks, you’ll need to set the ink before sealing your car. In “Sealing Alcohol Ink”, Alcohol Ink Art Community shows you the products and process you’ll need to make that special build turn out A-OK.

https://youtu.be/Sb8N043oLmo