U.S. Art Supply US Clear Gloss Topcoat Acrylic Airbrush Paint, 8 oz. also excellent as a Gloss Pouring Medium blender

I'm completely revising this review. Initially, I gave this topcoat 1 star. I bought it for airbrushing as a sealant coat on painted 3D prints. I used this topcoat in a cordless airbrush whose compressor can at most deliver 20 PSI. This topcoat clogged the airbrush so badly I had to replace it! I ended the initial review stating I was just going to take this to a local dump.Well, this bottle has sat for months, and I've gotten different airbrushing equipment since that time. I gave this topcoat another go and am actually pleased! I really wish that people that liked this stuff would share a lot more about what they use to apply this, and if they use an airbrush, what gear and settings they use. I also wish the manufacturer would add some information on proper use in this listing. But I digress, and below is what I've done to get this stuff to work for me.I am using a trigger-style dual action airbrush. When I say trigger I mean there's a lever you pull, like a pistol trigger; not the button lever seen on top of most airbrushes. I use two trigger style airbrushes, one having a 0.3 mm needle/nozzle and the other having a 0.5 mm nozzle. My compressor is a 1 liter tank Master brand air compressor. I'm just using the typical 6 foot hose from compressor (with water trap) to airbrush.The biggest nuance for me is this topcoat needs HIGH pressure to atomize properly. I've been running my compressor at 40 PSI. That is, when I pull the trigger on the airbrush full blast, the compressor air regulator reads 40 PSI. At rest, the regulator reads almost 50 PSI. At this pressure, with either airbrush, this topcoat flows smoothly and silkily.The second biggest nuance is to use it and lose it. Don't load this stuff into your airbrush, then do some prep work or walk away. Finish preparing your workpiece, get your compressor pressurized, get your workpiece ready, make sure you have all your supplies in reach, and so on. Load this topcoat in, spray as many coats as you want on your workpiece, then immediately clean your airbrush. If you didn't add reducer or other additives, then just pour any remaining topcoat in the paint cup back into the container, then run airbrush cleaner through your airbrush as desired.For my first batch of 3D printed models, I followed the advice I just gave and had zero issues. On the second batch, I forgot to touch up a few rough spots on a few models, so with this stuff sitting in my airbrush paint cup, I took a few minutes to perform said touch up work then got to spraying the topcoat. The spraying went well, I had zero flow issues. But when it came to clean up.... I had to take a watercolor paint brush and literally sweep congealed globs of topcoat out of the airbrush's paint cup after it sat filled and soaking in airbrush cleaner for a minute.Thankfully, I didn't have any clogs but I was extra thorough about running airbrush cleaner, forward and back-blow, through my airbrush and carefully cleaning the tip. The airbrush still works fine!My 3D printed models now have a glossy protective coat over their paint jobs! I can still press dents into the topcoat with my fingernail, but I basically have to scrape hard with my nail, and the topcoat is only a couple days old on the print, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's still curing.I noticed this smoothed out the layer lines on the 3D prints as well, so I'm definitely going to try this on bare, un-primered and unpainted prints and see if it will smooth over the layer lines before I lay paint down. But I'm digressing again.So, for any tool in my experience, speed is key. Don't just leave this stuff sitting in a paint cup. Use it and put it away. For airbrush users, I advise only trying this topcoat if you have a capable compressor and experience with cleaning your airbrush efficiently. Use higher pressure and again, finish all your preparations before even loading this into your airbrush. Once you load it, spray your coats, pour back any remaining topcoat, then clean your airbrush. It's worked for me, and I'm actually really pleased with this topcoat now!UPDATE: I hadn't planned on updating this review, but I think my recent experiments with this topcoat may be useful for others. With this update, I have included a photo some resin castings that I painted to try and illustrate my findings, though I don't think the photo does it justice.I have three points to discuss: 1. application in multiple coats 2. Dipping in this topcoat is viable and 3. Mixing this topcoat1. Don't stick with one coat of this stuff. If APPLIED PROPERLY, I'm finding that multiple coats of this stuff can give things a VERY glossy finish! Regardless if you dip your object, use a brush or spray with an airbrush or spray gun, get your application method stable and apply multiple coats, letting each coat dry thoroughly. I would've included a photo of some of my dipped 3D prints that I've dipped in this topcoat multiple times, but when I took my shiny prints in to work, coworkers immediately snatched them up. My fault for being lax in taking photos.2. I did quit using this topcoat for a time, since it is tricky to get to atomize even with my previous advice. One day, I watched a video where someone dipped a figurine in varnish, which is basically what this topcoat is. So, I tried it. The first few times, I'd dip a 3D print, then slowly twirl the print to shake off the excess. For some reason, this caused the gloss topcoat to haze over. I've found that simply dipping a figurine, then suspending the figurine or simply setting it down will prevent hazing. Again, dipping to form another coat over a previously dried coat can really shine up a figurine!3. This is the most critical part of this update, and I feel silly for not realizing this earlier. This topcoat is water based, which means it's easily diluted. I have some airbrush paint reducer, also from US General Art supply, and it works well with this topcoat! Mixing in some reducer also makes it MUCH easier to airbrush this topcoat, as it atomizes more smoothly! HOWEVER, mind your mixing ratios. I've found that adding too much reducer will negatively affect the finish you get from this topcoat. I very much go by look and feel of mixes when it comes to airbrushing, so I sadly don't have an exact ratio for you. I would say, by estimation, that adding reducer beyond a 1:1 ratio will start to negatively affect the finish.Now, onto the photo: I recently tried to mix this topcoat into airbrushing acrylic paint along with reducer, and I got some good results!The two rabbits in the photo were airbrushed with standard pink acrylic airbrush paint and metallic "solar gold" paint formulated for airbrush use. The gold and pink turtles were airbrushed with the same paints, but with this topcoat added (I mixed about 1/2 part paint, 1/2 part reducer to 1 full part topcoat). The third blue/light blue turtle was airbrushed with thinned Testors enamel paint.The photo doesn't really show it well, but the turtles are a bit shinier than the rabbits! They're ALMOST as shiny as the blue turtle, which blew me away. One reason I airbrush with Testors enamel paint is the incredibly glossy finish I get from those paints, along with the durable finish. While I doubt this acrylic mixture of reduced paint and topcoat will be as durable (I'll have to test that...) the fact that it's nearly as shiny is awesome. Acrylic paints aren't as toxic as enamels, and while I always wear a respirator and use my paint booth when I airbrush, I just like having this option!One final note: While added reducer will prevent this topcoat from flash curing in an airbrush cup, creating globs that have to be fished out, added paint will start to cure on longer durations, so I advise not filling your airbrush cup very much with this mixture. I have had to wipe away some slightly dried paint out of my airbrush cup before, but it was still a pretty easy clean up.At this point, I've used up about 3/4 of this bottle, and if I use it up and still have a need, I'll gladly buy more! Due to my experimentation, I am thinking at this point, that the folks at US General Art supply don't have instructions for this topcoat because it's more versatile than it looks, but I would still encourage them to create instructions at least for airbrush use, if not for dipping and paintbrush application as well.

I am very pleased with this. It is exactly as advertised and it arrived in excellent conditionThank you

Okay….runs through an airbrush really well, but not a high gloss finish. More like a slightly glossy satin

Lay it on thick and let it dry. It's gloss and hardens fairly quick. Basically capable of getting the factory shine like hotwheels factory paint.

Works great, but dries bumpy