I am an avid armor modeler and am used to using Tamiya paints and flat finishes on my tanks, etc.
My daughter has asked me to build her a model of Tamiya's new Beetle. This will be my first time working with a gloss coat. I have been reading some of the questions and answers on this forum and have gotten some good ideas.
I did have a few other questions. Is it necessary to primer the body for a good gloss finish? I perfer Tamiya paints as they are easy to get a hold of. I normally airbrush Tamiya acrylics, but would their spray paint be a good option fo rthe gloss finish? Any other words of advice?
Thanks all for the help.

Good luck. I'm a wingy thingy type and don't have much experience with automotive quality gloss coats. I'll follow your lead wan wait for the real experts to weigh in.

Tamiya acrylics are my favourite paints for any model, and I've used their gloss colours on car bodies with good results. I brush paint, so with an airbrush should be even better!
Their spray cans work pretty well too

Thanks Dave.
The color she wants (light green) appears to come in the gloss finish that I could use in my airbrush.
What do you use to follow up the paint? I use Future floor polish for creating a gloss coat for decals followed by Model Masters flat finish, but could that be used for the final finish? I have tried Model Masters Gloss finish, but I was not thrilled with the results.
I would like for it to be very shiny.

Personally I rarely have to overcoat the Tamiya gloss. If I do I use an artists gloss acrylic varnish, cheap from most art suppliers and bigger bottles last for years. Even with a brush I've had a finish good enough for a couple of commission builds

Primer is esential. It will help you see flaws in the surface, protect the plastic from aggressive solvents and give the gloss coat something to adhere to. Gloss paint has an tendency to flow away from raised areas, leaving the plastic almost exposed.
Tamiya's spraypaints are great, just be carefull as there's quite a lot of preasure in the cans.
Tamiya gloss top coat can desolve the underlying coat, if also Tamiya. I use Motip top coat, which works fine with Tamiya and at 1/3 of the price.
I have also used Motip color spray's. Lots of colors to chose from and not to expensive.

Another important thing: Even after two, three or more top coats, it will not necessarily be all that shiny. A polishing compound and wax will take care of this. I use automotive products for this. Meguiars ScratchX and canuba liquid wax are my favorites.

Jesper,
Am I correct to assume the use of car wax would only be if the top coat were an enamel? I am thinking this would not work for acrylics.

Automotive polishing and waxing products works regardless of the type of topcoat you use.I use them only because I get a lot more polishing compound and wax for a lot less money then the scale modeling counterpart.

Thanks for that advice. One last question. What do you normally use to primer the car with? Do you use a specfic color depending on what the top coat color will be? Can I use the Tamiya primer I use for coating metal etched parts?

I use either black or grey primer. Depending on what color you chose, the primer can have some effect on the color. I like black primer since surface flaws shows more clearly. A local harware store had their own brand of spraypaints and their flat black was cheap and brilliant for priming. They unfortunately discontinued the brand. Since then I have tried several primers, only one of which I like. At the moment I use Tamiya fine grey primer. It works great, but is rather expensive.

Tyler

If you airbrush remmeber to thin the paint down and spray on a low pressure. I spray at 18psi with a milky thin mix.4-5 coats and once dry I use Future/Klear more as a protector for the paint and polish with a plastic polishing compound, but t-cut would work too. Once you have a nice shine you can wax it afterwards if you want. For some funky colours use nail polish thinned with celulose thinner. Some of these colours are superb and you can get flip paint effects. You need a primer or the cellulose melts the plastic.

Pete

Awesome advice guys. I really appreciate the help.

There are a number of things that can be done before and after painting gloss finishes as well.
Make sure your area is extra clean, and yourself as well! I will wet the area down to trap dust and immediately prior you can spritz your self a well to keep the dust from coming off your clothes, skin etc. Run your spray booth fan for a few minutes prior to painting to pull any dust hanging around.
Immediately after you can have a plastic container or some other clean cover to put over the fresh paint to stop dust landing on it during the cure.
Good luck!

Like you, I also do mainly armor and naval subjects. I've done a couple of car kits just to get out of my comfort zone, and try different techniques. They were just for my own satisfaction as they were nowhere near competition level. After removing all molding seams, I used Tamiya rattle-can gloss. When thoroughly dry (at least one day) use a polishing kit similar to this:
https://www.micromark.com/Micro-Mesh-Finishing-Kit
taking care not to over-do it on raised areas. This is my first attempt - wouldn't win any prizes, but I was happy with it:


PS; Molowtow Chrome pens are REALLY excellent for touching up bare chromed spots.