Lacquer colours for car models sit on a solvent base that flashes off quickly and leaves a hard film. That hardness is why modellers reach for them on bodywork: once cured, the surface can be wet-sanded, cut back and polished until it reflects. These paints go on through an airbrush or a spray can in several thin coats, and they need a properly ventilated bench, because the solvent is stronger than in an enamel. Bodywork painted this way is built up in several passes, cut back with fine abrasive and then sealed, which makes clear coats and varnishes part of the same job rather than an afterthought. The solvent for thinning and for flushing an airbrush through is in thinners and cleaners, and the shells to spray in car and formula model kits.
