MY problem with (supposed to be cheaper) Luster Coat is the amount of dud cans I got...especially the color cans but did have two clear duds (dud= contents will not spray without a lot of spit n sputter from solids even after hours of shaking and increasing temp to 115F)
I fly profile .35ish planes and quite a few 1/2a Cox powered buggers...so Nitro range is 10% to 35%
MY experience is A-Typical because I don't get a high count of flights on any one airframe, and my casual flying is sedate enough that I do have the will and time to properly clean them after use
This thread is about KBS Diamond clear..in a moment
One of my older (to me) planes is a Sig 1/2a Sky Ray with Black Widow fed exclusively Sig Champion 35%
Sig Orange and Red color dope with Sig Non Tautening LiteCoat Clear...mostly used to seal the supplied decals... to date flown about 15 flights over 5 years and still no discoloration or softening of the finish (even behind the engine, just looked)... I know Dope is NOT fuel proof so this is mostly about my anal post flight cleaning regimine
I have dozen or so combat 1/2As with TeeDee, Fora, Norvel, and Picco engines...these are mostly foam with balsa and some hardwood... SLC or Doculam wing covering--- generally all wood is thinned epoxy fuel proofed, several with Dope or Rustoleum top colors.. More than 25% nitro used in all of them.. exhaust does not blemish them but raw fuel can and does...
You guys are mostly Stunt and care about appearance points.....I do take personal pride, and strive for good finishes, but I am not a contestant so not overly anal about polishing out for Perfect finish
Old joke but true in ANY endeavor
There are three(3) characteristics/variables but YOU can only ever have two(2) of them
Fast
Good
Cheap
Fast and Good will not be Cheap
Fast and Cheap will not be Good
Good and Cheap will not be Fast
So with all the available clears it really comes down to desired end result
MY person use of KBS Diamond Clear is over my Dope or Rustoleum Color paint..
I am anal about paint prep
Sanding
Air blow out side
Cleaning (diaper cloth rag with 91% alcohol)
Wax Tack rag
Gloves
I Never run any engine in my shop
I Will kill ANYone who brings ANY Silicone into my shop
I did NOT Use KBS Diamond Clear for any final High Gloss finish... I just desired a easy to use final Fuel proof coating
I have 2 of the 4 oz sample kits and NOW two spray cans of the 15oz (much better value IMO...if they have any shelf life Yet to be determined)
I used all of one 4Oz can (unthinned) in a Preval Sprayer over Well cured and Absolutely clean prepped Duplicolor Enamel (underlying layers are Nitrate and Butyrate Dopes) DC 540 primer mostly sanded off
The Diamond Clear was used to close off all ingress points and seal decals. The, Preval sprayed, KBS Diamond shine was (not perfect) but IMO plenty good n shiny
BUT at $21 plus shipping I thought pretty expensive for the two airframes
With the KBS Diamond 15% to 35% Vitamin N does not seem to have any visual nor cleaning rag evidence of being attacked
One Ring Master and one of the RSTs have KBS Diamond clear on the nose and fuselage... both over Rustoleum color... Fuel is 15% for both the Fox 35 and the LA 25...two years old now with about a dozen flights on each... no crinkling/wrinkling, color transfer, or loss of shine
BTW my use of this KBS stuff, rather than the two part spray bombs... was about cost and ease of use --- I tend to think if I ever activated a two part spray can, MOST of my $19 would end up in the trash