Need advice on Tamiya lacquers, clear coating, and decals

Yes, 12000 is more of a polish than a sanding.  I start with about 6 0r 800 depending how good the painted image is,  I find I do not need to use real fine stoff if I am going to cearcoat- 1000 grit is fine under clearcoat.

Do not get too hung up on canned sequences.  There are two reasons to clear coat- to make it really shiny and to protect decals.  If your final paint coat is very shiny it may be good enough for factory stock, but decals may still need sealing.

I typically do not clearcoat older factory stock, only show cars and customs.  If it is a really shiny finish you may get away without decal sealing.

Thanks for the info Missleman! So wet-sanding the paint through the finer grits would be good enough with no clear coat, then decaling once it's smooth and polished?  I read a few things about clear coating attacking the decals on some models so I didn't know if I should seal them with clear coat or just apply them over the paint or clearcoat.

gawrycht

Thanks for the info Missleman! So wet-sanding the paint through the finer grits would be good enough with no clear coat, then decaling once it's smooth and polished?  I read a few things about clear coating attacking the decals on some models so I didn't know if I should seal them with clear coat or just apply them over the paint or clearcoat.

 

I was recently in the same boat being mosty an armour and aircraft modeler that was venturing into high gloss coat unknown waters. 

I was leary but the proccess I went with was recommend on many car modeling sites and it worked like a charm first try. I have yet to see if I can replcate the results though.

I did this:

Primed with Tamiya surface primer thined and airbrushed. Pretty sure this was the key to the success actually.

Wet sanded with 1,000 grit and washed really well.

sprayed with Tamiya rattle can lacquer. This was nerve aracking as I have neversucceed with rattle cans. NEVER!

Wet sanded again with the 1,000 grit

Applied decals (only a couple)

Airbrushed a coat of Tamyia X-22 clear cut about 25% with Tamiya lacquerthinner .

While the clear was still wet I misted it with straight Tamiya lacquer thinner.

The results were far beyond what I hoped for!

https://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/4/t/191661.aspx

Oh and I always seal decals no matter what the project.Never had any react with a clear coat.

missileman2000

I typically do not clearcoat older factory stock, only show cars and customs.  If it is a really shiny finish you may get away without decal sealing.

 

This^

There is a time and place for super shinny. Same applies for chromed parts. Factory or aged chrome is not even remotely like what comes in a kit and really needs to be knocked down a bit. 

I don't disagree with the above (super shiny on models) but I recently took the plunge on my recent build for a sorta-super shiny finish. I basically wanted to remove the orange peel effect first off, and achieve a decently glossy finish.

FWIW I'm relatively new in the hobby so take that into consideration when reading the next bit.

I primed using Vallejo primer with my airbrush. It worked but it was my first time using it and I didn't like it much.

Applied 3 coats of colour, airbrush again.

4 coats of Revell rattle can clear, let dry for a few days.

Wet sand 3k, 4k, 6k, 12k.

Tamiya Coarse polish with Tamiya polishing sponge.

Tamiya Fine polish with Tamiya polishing sponge.

Applied Tamiya wax.

I was pretty happy with the results and despite being a lot of steps, they went pretty quick. I'm used to polishing real cars and spending 50+ hours on a polishing project, so this was nothing!

IMG_6415 by barry.goss, on Flickr

IMG_6419 by barry.goss, on Flickr

q20v

I don't disagree with the above (super shiny on models) but I recently took the plunge on my recent build for a sorta-super shiny finish. I basically wanted to remove the orange peel effect first off, and achieve a decently glossy finish.

FWIW I'm relatively new in the hobby so take that into consideration when reading the next bit.

I primed using Vallejo primer with my airbrush. It worked but it was my first time using it and I didn't like it much.

Applied 3 coats of colour, airbrush again.

4 coats of Revell rattle can clear, let dry for a few days.

Wet sand 3k, 4k, 6k, 12k.

Tamiya Coarse polish with Tamiya polishing sponge.

Tamiya Fine polish with Tamiya polishing sponge.

Applied Tamiya wax.

I was pretty happy with the results and despite being a lot of steps, they went pretty quick. I'm used to polishing real cars and spending 50+ hours on a polishing project, so this was nothing!

Your results are the perfect gloss for that car. In real life you would expct that sort of shine on a car like that. 

I thought the gloss level suited the car as well, thanks!

FYI, the steps I followed were largely in-line with what is presented in this youtube video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihtqGRLkylo&t=1031s