Clear coat - anyone used Halfords Lacquer?

[munkster]

Am summoning up the courage to paint my F1 car bodyshell and have got some "Zero Paints" that need a clear coat. These paints recommend a few options, including Tamiya TS13 as well as "Halfords Lacquer". Now, the latter will be cheaper, but I wondered if anyone has used this for modelling? Would be distressed if it messed up my paint job (assuming I don't mess it up first!).

I guess ideally I'd use some sort of lacquer/clear coat that can be airbrushed rather than be at the mercy of an aerosol that decides for itself how much to push out but if the TS13/Halfords options are good enough then that might be fine by me.

Cheers for any info.

 

[Centurion3RTR]

Hi Rob, i have used Halfords Lacquer before mate and will never use it again on models. I put five coats of primer, five coats of colour then one of Halfords Lacquer and it killed the piastic. Try it on scrap first mate and see what ya think, but if it was me i'd be "clear coat that can be airbrushed".

Have fun, John

 

[andygh]

I used it as a pre-decal coat once, never again, it goes on in very thick layers

 

[munkster]

Hah, guess that's that option struck off the list then! Thanks guys!!

 

[Richy C]

Hi Rob , with Johns advice looks like halfords clear is out then ( cheers John I was looking to try this a some stage but will stick to what I know works now ) Rob as you have already used the zero colours try the zero pre-mixed clear , it works ok mate and you have the satisfaction that it won`t eat your decals or the model if you follow the rules , saying that tamiya TS-13 is also fine over zero paints and decals , and if you prefer airbrushing it just decant it into a glass bottle , personally I would go the zero clear pre-mixed route .

Richy

 

[munkster]

Cheers Richy, Zero Paints just seem to work out a bit pricey that's all - the P&P on a bottle of the clear coat is almost as much as the product itself!

 

[munkster]

What other airbrushable gloss clearcoats are there? It would cost me at least £14 to buy the Zero Paints stuff since there's a £9 min spend plus about £5 P&P... Prohibitive for a small order methinks...

I bought some Xtracrylix satin for something else and it steadfastly refused to be pushed through the AB - am I meant to dilute it or something??

 

[stona]

I bought some Xtracrylix satin for something else and it steadfastly refused to be pushed through the AB - am I meant to dilute it or something??

It needs thinning. I use their own brand thinners for varnish but thin their paints with water.

Steve

 

[Richy C]

You could try vallejo clear gloss , easy to use and goes on a dream and its acrylic so can`t do any damage , it does not come out super glossy but saying that F1 cars of the era that your building were never super glossy anyway they used decals/stickers like we do , unlike todays F1 cars a lot of their stuff is airbrushed/sprayed on now I believe , also another thing to remember is scale if it ends up too glossy it could end up looking like a toy but thats only my opinion Rob ,

Richy

 

[munkster]

Thanks guys. Sorry to be a real pain but do we mean the following then:

http://www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/thinners-300ml-xtracrylix-xa1ttt.html?utm_source=googleps&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=gshopping

for the Xtracrylix satin varnish and

Model Color - Gloss Varnish - 70.510 - (193) Vallejofor the Vallejo gloss then?

Is Xtracrylix gloss any good out of interest? If I'm getting the Xtracrylix thinners might be simpler...

So many questions!! Sorry!