Shiny Cars/ Bikes & Worn-looking Exhausts?

it will give you a glossy finish, but to make it smooth as glass you need to use a polishing kit.
Lee

Exhausts should be gloss if they are chrome dull otherwise.

Ok then, what is a polishing kit (i.e. what does it consist of), is it easy to use, where could I pick one up, and how much will it cost me?

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm kinda a n00b in the world of model cars & bikes.

Don't use varnish to clear over your decals or paintwork!!
The stuff IS yellow, or WILL yellow over time, giving all white areas a distict yellow tint.
Use Future. Even with numerous applications, it still a better option than varnish.
I've actually been in the pits at the Australian 500cc Grand Prix (the Kenny Roberts Modenas pit) and in wandering around and having a look at many of the teams found out that most of the markings are vinyl decals applied over the painted fairings, and there are distinct differences in the surface finish between them. Some decals are matt, some semi gloss, and some gloss. There was no clearcoat over any of these decals, as they must be periodically changed from race to race (some countries don't allow tobbacco sponsorship and those decals must be removed for the race or swapping teammates fairings ) or sponsorship deals change and their markings are removed or just moved - it'd be hard to replicate this effect in 1/12 scale, so I just use Future over the decalled fairing.
The exhausts are a different matter - have a look at the individual team website - I go to http://motogp.tiscali.com/en/motogp/index.htm
and from there to Riders/Teams and that page will have a link to that teams own website - they always have excellent photos of their bikes. Also do a search on Google for that team which should provide links to other images.
I use Metalizers for overall color, have used clear yellow and clear blue for the heat affected zones (the curves in the pipes as well as the welds) - but try to maintain a high degree of overall cleanliness - remember these are million dollar prototype motorcycles and incredibly well maintained - there's no such thing as a dirty GP bike. A clear with Future or Satincote works well for me.
Good Luck
LeeTree

I wasn't actually going to use wood varnishor anything like that - I just couldn't think of a collective word for all clear paints/coats/whatevers for plastic models.

Well I live in the UK, and about the only paints I can get hold of where I live are Tamiya acrylics & sprays. These are fine for actually painting, but you refer to 'Future' for the clear coats. What is it, and do Tamiya make a similar thing? I think I can get hold of some Humbrol Matt/Satin/Gloss-Cote model varnishes. Would these be fine?

Also, what are the 'Metallizers' you refer to? Simply metallic paints right? What colour would you recommend for the exhausts - gun-metal, metallic gray, chrome silver, flat aluminium,. or something else?

Finally, what do you do with the clear blue/yellow (i.e. how thickly do you apply it, and do you apply it with?), and where have you put it on the exhausts - for example, where would the welds be?

Thanks for all your halp guys! I'm confident that this model will be well above my last in terms of quality & detail, mostly thanks to your help!

I'll try some answers:

Future: An acrylic floor finish for vinyl flooring (linoleum) made by S.C.Johnson & son (Johnson's Wax). Used by modelers as a clear coat.

Metalizers: Can be paints that are applied then buffed to the desired sheen or things like Bare Metal Foil, which is basically a very thin sheet of metal with adhesive on one side (I think, I've never used it).

Exhaust painting/welds: Go to a web site that shows the particular motorcycle and/or the exhaust manufacturer's site. Colors/finishes can vary (My Kerker pipe was flat black and my friends Supertrapp was polished Aluminum).

I recently used a technique suggested by Paul Smith in the January '96 edition of FineScale Modeler for the exhaust on my McLaren F1 car, and it gave me excellent results:
After priming the pipes,
1) Airbrush the pipes with Testor's Metalizer non-buffing stainless steel.
2) Airbrush the bends in the pipes very lightly with Testor's flat brown.
3) Airbrush the pipes overall with a very light coat of Testor's Metalizer exhaust.
4) Drybrush a little (thinned) Gunze Sangyo clear blue on the heat points (bends, flanges).
5) Airbrush a very light clearcoat (I used the Testor's Metalizer sealer).
Don't over do the flat brown or clear blue, and check your reference photos for how much brown and blue, and where it should be most prominent. It takes a bit of work, but the results are impressive.

Wow thanks guys! Keep 'em coming, because I've got at least a week until the kit arrives from the good ol' US of A anyway!

In the UK, Johnson's Future is marketed as 'Klear'. It's a floor wax for kitchen tiles. paint on the model, brush or airbrush, and leave to dry somewhere dust free as it will attract it like a magnet. it works well on clear model parts too, gives a more realistic shine to cockpit conopies, for instance. A bottle will cost about two quid and last forever. Try wilkinsons hardware or most supermarkets. Also check out the aircraft and techniques forums here, there are loads of references to it.
Cheers
Pete

GT500, sounds like you've got the general idea and some other good advice to go along with it. FYI, a polishing kit is esentially a collection of 6 or 7 progressively finer 'cloths' that are used for polishing. They have grits starting at about 3200, then going finer from there through 3600, 4000, 6000, 8000, and 12000. They are generally a flexible 'cloth' type material, or mounted to some sort of flexible foam pad. The idea is that you start with the coarsest grit and work your way through until you get to the finest. By the time you hit the last grit, the finish is very smooth. Top it off with a 'wax' of some sort (I use turtle wax or NuFinish car wax) and you should have a baby smooth mirror finish in your paint. Some guys can get the paint and clear-coat applied very smoothly and don't need to polish. Other guys (like me) tend to need at least some polishing to pass my minimum standards.

Some cautions or things to know if you plan on polishing.
- it is VERY easy to sand through the paint to the primer, especially on edges and around other types of raised details. You have to be very careful and judge your progress cautiously.
- I wet sand with them and this makes it more difficult to tell how much progress you are making. It works much faster, but you have to stop and dry off the kit to see how far you've gone.
- you can usually get the 'kits' at a hobby store, but they're usually pretty expensive ($20-30??)

Give it a shot, but try it out on a test piece before risking that awesome bike!!

Murray

Wow cheers guys! Maybe I'll give the polishing kit a miss for now, and then I can always polish the bike later on well after I've made it if I want to.

And I'll most certainly look for this 'Klear' - it sounds like the best thing since unsliced bread (sliced bread is over-rated).