clear coat

[Nikolai Teslot]

I recently put together an MRRC clubman kit. I painted the body with Tamiya Color for polycarbonate, in rattle can. It turned out great. What would be the best clearcoat to use ? The car will be ran hard, and no doubt have a few mishaps. I want a clear coat that will protect, as well as keep the beauty of the paint.

[RBPhillips]

I've found Testors Wet Look Clear Coat is very chip-resistant and looks great on my cars.

[chrisguyw]

Hard to beat Tamiya TS clearcoats..!!!..........if I may ask, why did you use Polycarbonate paint on a a styrene bodyshell ??

Cheers
Chris Walker

[Nikolai Teslot]

I used it because of the color I wanted. It looks great. I wasn't thinking ahead to the clearcoat when I painted it.

[Austin]

I used Tamiya clearcoat on one of my bodies, The body as so clear that I can no longer find it.

[mattb]

You better make sure that Tamiya clear lacquer (great paint) is safe to put over polycarbonate,,,,,,, which is made for clear plastic bodies and to be applied on the inside....I think poly is usually it is a water based paint,,,,,,, which should be safe with lacquer.

[Nikolai Teslot]

You better make sure that Tamiya clear lacquer (great paint) is safe to put over polycarbonate,,,,,,, which is made for clear plastic bodies and to be applied on the inside....I think poly is usually it is a water based paint,,,,,,, which should be safe with lacquer.

Yes, that was what I need to know. What will safely go over the Tamiya polycarbonate ? The paint looks great on the body. I would hate to ruin it, with an incompatible clearcoat.

[Frank9129]

Future is the way to go. No pain, no strain. Cleans off with ammonia based cleaners.
I use it on everything except my Legends Racers. Jules did a perfect job on the paint.

[RichD]

Future is water based and you can safely brush it on almost anything, however in my experience it rubs off easily, so it may not protect your finish coat. It is especially important to use a durable clear coat over regular waterslide decals. The OP did not say if he painted a clear body on the inside, I would have thought that polycarbonate paint on the outside of any sort of body would have a flat finish. I have used Krylon Crystal Clear or Testors clear lacquer, but never over a polycarbonate paint. It wold be best to spray some palycarbonate paint on some scrap material and put whatever clear that you choose over that as a test. If you have decals on the car some types of clear may attack those.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Future (Now Pledge see below) is my favorite for years now.



Once dry, I use a little liquid car wax to polish.

It lasts well enough and scuffs from racing are easily buffed out. We have oval racing bombers here with this clear and still look just fine.

[War Eagle River]

A lot of rattle can clear coats are too hot for waterslide decals. Have found that using a 2 part clear and shooting through the airbrush works best. Its definitely the most durable and best shine. For those without airbrush experience...the Future/Pledge works fantastic...either brushed on, dipped, or shot.

[chrisguyw]

A lot of rattle can clear coats are too hot for waterslide decals. Future/Pledge works fantastic...either brushed on, dipped, or shot.

`If applied properly, virtually all rattle can clear coats are fine with waterslide decals......a few very light mist coats, with 30mins. between coats, and then build the shine with a few med coats, again, with 30mins. between coats.

While future is fast and easy to apply, it is far from durable in a slot car environment, especially if your club uses lane stickers......the lane stickers have pulled the finish (and underlying decals) off of many a slot car over the years.

Cheers
Chris Walker

[War Eagle River]

Chris, agreed with some light coats rattle cans will work most of the time. But as you know, with rattle cans, you cannot control the output of the spray. Using an airbrush will eliminate the ‘heavy’ coats that rattle cans lay down. Pattos for one recommends Future/Pledge, as they know that most folks using rattle cans will over spray and cause the decals to shrivel/blister. As for lane stickers, put them on the windshields!

[SpeedyNH]

"As for lane stickers, put them on the windshields!"

right on. i like mine partially onto the roof so the marshals can see them easily.

[F1Fan]

`If applied properly, virtually all rattle can clear coats are fine with waterslide decals......a few very light mist coats, with 30mins. between coats, and then build the shine with a few med coats, again, with 30mins. between coats.

While future is fast and easy to apply, it is far from durable in a slot car environment, especially if your club uses lane stickers......the lane stickers have pulled the finish (and underlying decals) off of many a slot car over the years.

Cheers
Chris Walker

I agree with this comment 110% - it depends on how the end product (car) will be used, but Future is not always the answer. I personally have stopped using Future as the cars that I paint are being used in proxy racing, and Future is not durable enough for my applications.

[RichD]

Sometimes if you try to mist on a finish coat you can get a rough finish. When I have sprayed a clear coat over waterslide decals I have gotten mixed results. Sometimes the decals are OK, other times they may crinkle up. If the decals get damaged you have to strip the car down and start all over. To avoid the risk I coat decals with Future before I put on the final clear coat, since I started doing that I have not had any problems with damaged decals.
I have noticed that the paint makers reformulate their products from time to time. You might have a can of paint that has worked well, but when that runs out and you buy another can you had better take a close look at the label to be sure that the ingredients are the same. To be extra safe you can also to a test shot.
Future is known to react with some types of white paint causing it to change to a tan or yellowish color. Once again a test shot would be in order.