Should i clear coat or not ?

[jazzywheelz]

i know this question has been covered a thousand times before but after searching the forum i'm still non the wiser.
it seems that clear coating has it's advantages but is not always necessary, so i thought i'd explain my circumstances and see what the general opinion is.

the final body colour of my model (tamiya 1/24 GTfour ST205) is black (tamiya TS). the finish is quite good and looks shiny and smooth with no orange peel. there will be a couple of small decals (front & rear badges) as well as some gold detailing painted on top of the black.

so what do you guys think ? should i clear coat ?

i've read a few horror stories on here so i'm just worried i may ruin a paint job which at the moment is looking lovely.

[freakray]

It's personal preference. If you're happy with the paint, why risk it?

[stevenoble]

If the paint is as you describe,smooth,shiny and no orange peel then personally I wouldn't clearcoat it.You may,as I found to my cost lately,ruin a good paintjob.

[MPWR]

Only metallic colors really need to be clearcoated. Some people find they can get a good shine easier with clearcoat then with uncoated solid color- but if the paint looks good to you now, that's not your issue. Otherwise clearcoating can be usefull to protect decals (but done wrong, it can also ruin them).

If it looks good and you're happy with it, there's no need to clearcoat. It would be a shame to ruin a paintjob you're happy with.

[jazzywheelz]

thanks for your answers guys.
i think the only reason for me considering a clear coat was to protect the decals, but i really can't see them being too vulnerable anyway as they're so small.
so thanks for helping me make up my mind fellas.
no clear coat.

ps. i'll post some pics of the paintwork in my WIP in a few days when i get the good camera back.