info@mpmhobbies.com
Call: 1-(904) 507-3327
9297 Ford Rd.
Bryceville, Fl 32009
GSI Creos Mr. Clear Color GX delivers professional-grade translucent lacquer paints engineered for stunning candy finishes, tinted clear coats, and transparent color effects on scale models and custom projects. This complete collection features 11 vibrant colors in 18ml bottles, including GX102 Clear Deep Red, GX103 Clear Deep Blue, and GX111 Clear Gold for authentic candy apple finishes over metallic bases. Explore complementary collections including GSI Creos Mr. Metallic Color GX and GSI Creos Mr. Color Super Metallic, or visit Mr. Hobby's official website.
GSI Creos Mr. Clear Color GX represents the pinnacle of translucent paint technology for scale modeling and custom finishing, offering professional modelers and automotive enthusiasts a comprehensive palette of 11 vibrant transparent colors engineered specifically for creating authentic candy finishes, tinted clear coats, and spectacular transparent effects. These premium 18ml lacquer-based paints deliver the depth, brilliance, and professional quality that have made candy finishes the hallmark of high-end custom automotive work, now accessible to scale modelers seeking to replicate these stunning effects on their builds. Each bottle contains concentrated transparent pigments suspended in a durable lacquer base that provides superior gloss retention, fast drying times, and the ability to build color intensity through multiple thin coats while maintaining crystal-clear transparency.
Candy paint finishes achieve their distinctive depth and brilliance through a unique multi-layer process that differs fundamentally from standard opaque paints. The technique begins with a highly reflective metallic or chrome base coat that serves as the light-reflecting foundation, followed by multiple thin applications of transparent colored clear coat that filters and tints the reflected light. This layered approach creates the characteristic deep, glowing appearance of candy finishes, with light penetrating through the transparent color layers, reflecting off the metallic base, and passing back through the color layers to create incredible depth and visual richness impossible to achieve with single-stage paints.
The Mr. Clear Color GX line is specifically formulated to optimize this candy paint process, with transparent pigments that maintain clarity while providing intense color saturation. The lacquer base ensures compatibility with metallic base coats and provides the durability and chemical resistance necessary for successful multi-layer finishing. Understanding the candy paint process is essential for achieving professional results, as the final color intensity depends on the number of clear color coats applied, the base coat color and reflectivity, and the application technique used to ensure even, consistent coverage across the entire surface.
The Mr. Clear Color GX range begins with essential foundation colors that serve as the basis for countless candy finish variations. The GX101 Clear Black provides deep, smoky tinting ideal for creating dark candy finishes, tinted windows, and shadow effects, with the ability to darken any metallic base to create mysterious, sophisticated appearances. Applied over chrome or silver bases, Clear Black creates the classic "black chrome" effect popular in custom automotive work, while lighter applications over colored metallics create rich, darkened variations of the base color.
The GX102 Clear Deep Red delivers the iconic candy apple red finish that has defined custom automotive finishing for decades, providing rich, transparent red that glows with incredible depth when applied over chrome, silver, or gold metallic bases. This shade represents the quintessential candy color, perfect for hot rods, custom motorcycles, and any subject demanding eye-catching red brilliance. The GX103 Clear Deep Blue offers equally stunning results in blue, creating everything from deep sapphire effects over silver to rich purple-blue tones over gold bases, ideal for custom cars, sci-fi subjects, and any build requiring transparent blue effects.
The GX104 Clear Green provides vibrant transparent green perfect for creating emerald candy finishes, tinted canopies, and special effects, with the versatility to create everything from bright lime greens over silver to rich forest greens over gold bases. These foundation colors form the core of any candy finishing palette, providing the essential shades needed for the most popular and widely recognized candy effects while serving as mixing bases for creating custom transparent colors.
Beyond the foundation shades, the Mr. Clear Color GX range includes vibrant specialty colors that expand creative possibilities for unique candy finishes and custom effects. The GX105 Clear Pink delivers eye-catching transparent pink ideal for custom show cars, racing liveries, and subjects demanding attention-grabbing color, creating everything from soft rose tones over silver to vibrant hot pink over chrome bases. The GX106 Clear Orange provides brilliant transparent orange perfect for racing cars, hot rods, and high-visibility subjects, with the ability to create fiery sunset effects or rich burnt orange tones depending on base coat selection and application density.
The GX107 Clear Purple and GX108 Clear Violet offer sophisticated purple tones that create stunning candy finishes ranging from deep royal purple to lighter lavender effects, perfect for custom motorcycles, show cars, and subjects requiring elegant, distinctive color schemes. These purple shades demonstrate particular versatility, creating dramatically different appearances depending on whether they're applied over silver, gold, or even colored metallic bases, allowing modelers to achieve unique custom effects through base coat experimentation.
The GX109 Clear Brown provides rich transparent brown ideal for creating bronze candy effects, tinting clear parts to simulate aged or tinted materials, and achieving warm, earthy transparent finishes. Applied over gold or copper metallic bases, Clear Brown creates authentic bronze and antique gold effects perfect for vintage subjects, steampunk builds, and any application requiring warm metallic tones with added depth and complexity.
The Mr. Clear Color GX range includes two unique metallic clear colors that combine transparent color with metallic particles, creating self-contained candy effects that don't require separate metallic base coats. The GX110 Clear Silver contains fine silver metallic particles suspended in clear binder, creating a transparent metallic finish that can be applied directly over dark base coats to create unique effects, or layered over other clear colors to add metallic sparkle to candy finishes. This versatile color enables creative layering techniques, such as applying Clear Silver over colored candy finishes to create complex multi-dimensional effects with both color depth and metallic brilliance.
The GX111 Clear Gold similarly combines transparent gold color with metallic particles, creating rich, warm metallic effects that work beautifully as standalone finishes or as components in complex multi-layer candy systems. Applied over dark bases, Clear Gold creates deep, luxurious gold tones, while lighter applications over silver or chrome create subtle gold tinting with maintained reflectivity. These metallic clear colors expand the creative possibilities of the Mr. Clear Color GX system, enabling effects that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with traditional candy paint techniques.
Achieving professional candy finishes requires understanding proper application techniques and the multi-stage process that creates these distinctive effects. The process begins with thorough surface preparation, as any imperfections in the base surface will be magnified by the transparent clear colors. Surfaces should be sanded smooth, primed if necessary, and brought to a flawless finish before applying the metallic base coat. The metallic base coat serves as the light-reflecting foundation and dramatically influences the final candy appearance, with chrome or polished silver bases creating the brightest, most reflective finishes, while colored metallics create unique custom effects.
After the metallic base coat has fully cured, the clear color application begins with very thin, even coats applied by airbrush at appropriate air pressure and distance. Multiple thin coats build color intensity gradually while maintaining transparency and avoiding the runs, sags, or uneven coverage that can ruin candy finishes. Each coat should be allowed to flash off or dry before applying the next, with typical candy finishes requiring 3-6 clear color coats depending on desired color intensity and the specific clear color being used. Darker colors like Clear Black and Clear Deep Red typically require fewer coats to achieve full intensity, while lighter colors like Clear Pink or Clear Orange may need additional coats for saturated appearance.
Maintaining consistent application technique across all coats is critical for even candy finishes, as variations in coat thickness or coverage create visible streaking or mottling in the final result. Working in good lighting conditions helps identify coverage inconsistencies during application, allowing immediate correction before the paint dries. After achieving desired color intensity, a final protective clear coat from the GSI Creos Mr. Super Clear collection or GSI Creos Mr. Topcoat collection seals and protects the candy finish while providing the final gloss level and durability.
The metallic base coat selection profoundly influences the final candy finish appearance, offering creative opportunities for customization and unique effects. Chrome or highly polished silver bases create the brightest, most reflective candy finishes with maximum color brilliance and depth, ideal for show-quality builds and subjects demanding maximum visual impact. These ultra-reflective bases work particularly well with darker clear colors like Clear Deep Red, Clear Deep Blue, and Clear Black, creating the classic candy finishes associated with high-end custom automotive work.
Standard silver metallic bases from the GSI Creos Mr. Metallic Color GX collection or GSI Creos Mr. Color Super Metallic collection provide excellent reflectivity with slightly softer appearance than chrome, creating beautiful candy finishes with more subtle character. Gold metallic bases create warm, rich candy effects, particularly stunning when combined with reds, oranges, and browns that complement the gold undertones. Clear Deep Red over gold creates deep burgundy candy, while Clear Orange over gold produces rich copper-orange effects impossible to achieve with silver bases.
Colored metallic bases open even more creative possibilities, with blue metallics under Clear Deep Blue creating intense sapphire effects, green metallics under Clear Green producing emerald brilliance, and purple metallics under Clear Purple generating deep amethyst appearances. Experimenting with different base coat and clear color combinations allows discovery of unique custom effects, with the transparent nature of Mr. Clear Color GX paints enabling endless variation through layering and mixing techniques. Even non-metallic bases can be used creatively, with gloss black bases under light applications of clear colors creating deep, mysterious tinted effects.
Beyond candy finishes on opaque surfaces, Mr. Clear Color GX paints excel at tinting clear parts and creating transparent effects on scale models. Aircraft canopies benefit from light applications of appropriate clear colors to simulate tinted glass, sun protection coatings, or the subtle color casts present in real aircraft transparencies. Clear Green or Clear Blue applied to the interior surfaces of canopies creates authentic tinting while maintaining transparency for viewing cockpit details, with color intensity controlled by the number of coats applied.
Automotive windows receive realistic tinting through careful application of Clear Black or other dark clear colors, creating the privacy glass appearance common on modern vehicles. The transparent nature of these paints allows light to pass through while adding color, maintaining the see-through quality essential for realistic window effects. Tail lights, marker lights, and other transparent vehicle components achieve authentic color through Mr. Clear Color GX application, with Clear Deep Red for tail lights, Clear Orange for turn signals, and Clear Violet or Clear Pink for custom lighting effects.
Sci-fi and fantasy subjects benefit from transparent color effects on energy weapons, force fields, transparent armor, and other speculative elements where glowing or tinted transparent materials enhance the futuristic appearance. The ability to build color intensity through multiple coats allows precise control over transparency levels, creating everything from subtle tinting to deeply saturated transparent colors depending on application requirements. Clear parts can also receive candy finishes by first coating with metallic paint on interior surfaces, then applying clear colors to create colored metallic transparent effects.
The Mr. Clear Color GX range's excellent mixing compatibility enables creation of unlimited custom transparent colors by combining different shades. Mixing Clear Deep Red with Clear Orange creates custom red-orange tones, while combining Clear Deep Blue with Clear Purple produces unique blue-violet shades. The transparent nature of these paints means that mixed colors maintain clarity and transparency, allowing continued use in candy finishing applications. Recording mixing ratios for successful custom colors enables reproduction for touch-ups or future projects requiring matching finishes.
Layering different clear colors creates complex multi-dimensional effects impossible to achieve with single colors. Applying Clear Gold over a silver base, followed by Clear Deep Red, creates a unique warm candy red with gold undertones, while Clear Deep Blue over Clear Purple creates deep, complex purple-blue effects with incredible depth. These layering techniques require careful planning and testing, as the order of color application significantly affects the final appearance. Starting with lighter or warmer colors and finishing with darker or cooler colors typically produces the most successful results, though experimentation reveals unique effects.
Gradient and fade effects become possible through careful airbrush technique, applying heavier concentrations of clear color in specific areas while feathering to lighter coverage in others. This technique creates custom paint schemes with smooth color transitions, ideal for racing liveries, custom graphics, and artistic effects. The fast-drying lacquer base facilitates multi-color work, allowing different clear colors to be applied in sequence without extended waiting periods or risk of color bleeding between areas.
The lacquer-based formulation of Mr. Clear Color GX paints provides significant performance advantages for candy finishing and transparent effects. Lacquer paints dry rapidly through solvent evaporation, allowing multiple coats to be applied in single painting sessions without overnight curing periods. This fast drying enables efficient candy finish development, with complete multi-layer candy systems achievable in hours rather than days. The rapid drying also reduces dust contamination risk, as the paint surface becomes tack-free quickly, minimizing the window during which airborne particles can settle and mar the finish.
Lacquer paints create exceptionally hard, durable finishes once fully cured, providing superior resistance to handling, cleaning, and environmental exposure compared to many other paint types. This durability is particularly valuable for candy finishes, which represent significant investment in time and materials that deserve long-lasting protection. The chemical resistance of cured lacquer finishes allows application of additional lacquer-based clear coats without risk of finish lifting or damage, enabling proper sealing and protection of completed candy work.
The lacquer formulation provides excellent flow and leveling characteristics essential for smooth, even candy finishes. The paints self-level effectively, minimizing brush marks or spray texture that could create visible imperfections in transparent finishes where every surface irregularity shows. The high gloss retention of lacquer paints means that candy finishes maintain their brilliant, reflective appearance without requiring additional polishing or buffing, though final clear coats further enhance and protect the gloss.
Optimal Mr. Clear Color GX performance requires proper thinning for airbrush application, with Mr. Hobby's lacquer thinners providing ideal compatibility and performance. The concentrated formulation of these clear paints benefits from thinning ratios typically ranging from 1:1 to 1:2 paint to thinner, depending on desired coverage, detail level, and personal airbrush technique preferences. Thinner mixtures create more transparent coats ideal for gradual color building and subtle effects, while less diluted mixtures provide faster color development with fewer coats.
Airbrush setup for candy finishing requires attention to air pressure, nozzle size, and spray distance to achieve even, consistent coverage. Moderate air pressures typically between 15-25 PSI provide good atomization without excessive overspray or dry spray issues, though optimal pressure varies with specific airbrush models and thinning ratios. Larger nozzle sizes around 0.3-0.5mm work well for candy finishing, providing adequate paint flow for even coverage while maintaining sufficient control for detailed work. Spray distance of 4-6 inches from the surface typically produces optimal results, close enough for good coverage without excessive overspray, yet far enough to allow proper atomization and leveling.
Maintaining consistent airbrush motion and overlap between passes ensures even candy coverage without streaking or mottling. Smooth, steady passes at consistent speed and distance create uniform coat thickness, while erratic motion or varying distance creates visible variations in transparent finishes. Cross-hatching spray patterns, alternating between horizontal and vertical passes on successive coats, helps achieve maximum coverage uniformity by compensating for any directional spray pattern variations. Thorough airbrush cleaning between colors prevents contamination, particularly important when working with light colors that show even trace contamination from previous darker colors.
Candy finishing presents unique challenges that require understanding common problems and their solutions. Streaking or mottling in candy finishes typically results from uneven clear color application, with some areas receiving heavier coverage than others. Prevention requires maintaining consistent airbrush technique, proper thinning, and adequate overlap between spray passes. If streaking occurs, additional thin coats applied with careful attention to even coverage can often blend and minimize the appearance, though severe cases may require stripping and restarting the candy process.
Runs or sags in candy finishes occur when excessive paint is applied in single coats, overwhelming the paint's ability to level and dry properly. Prevention requires discipline in applying only thin coats, resisting the temptation to achieve full color intensity quickly. If runs occur during application, they can sometimes be carefully blotted with a clean, lint-free cloth before the paint dries, though this risks creating texture or coverage variations. Dried runs require careful sanding and refinishing, potentially necessitating complete candy system removal and reapplication in severe cases.
Color variations or blotchiness in candy finishes often trace to inconsistent or contaminated metallic base coats. The transparent clear colors reveal every imperfection in the base coat, making thorough base coat preparation essential. Ensuring complete, even metallic base coverage, allowing proper curing before clear color application, and protecting the base from contamination prevents most base-related candy finish problems. Dust or debris settling on wet candy coats creates visible imperfections in the transparent finish, emphasizing the importance of working in clean environments and applying final protective clear coats to seal and protect the candy layers.
Completed candy finishes require protective clear coating to seal the transparent color layers, provide final gloss level, and ensure long-term durability. The GSI Creos Mr. Super Clear collection offers high-performance clear coats specifically formulated for compatibility with Mr. Color lacquer paints, providing excellent adhesion, durability, and gloss retention. Multiple thin coats of clear build protective thickness while maintaining the brilliant gloss and depth that characterize professional candy finishes, with each coat allowed to dry before applying the next.
The final clear coating serves multiple purposes beyond protection, including providing uniform gloss across the entire finish, sealing decals and detail painting applied over the candy base, and creating the ideal surface for final weathering or detailing if desired. The clear coat thickness can be built up substantially for show-quality finishes, creating the deep, glass-like appearance associated with high-end custom automotive work. Wet sanding and polishing the final clear coats can further enhance gloss and depth, though this advanced technique requires experience and careful execution to avoid cutting through the clear layers into the candy finish beneath.
Achieving professional candy finishes requires high-quality metallic base coats that provide the reflective foundation essential for candy depth and brilliance. The GSI Creos Mr. Metallic Color GX collection offers premium metallic paints specifically formulated for compatibility with Mr. Clear Color GX transparent colors, ensuring reliable adhesion and finish quality. These metallics feature finely milled metallic particles that create smooth, even reflective surfaces ideal for candy finishing, with excellent coverage and leveling characteristics that minimize base coat imperfections.
The GSI Creos Mr. Color Super Metallic collection provides additional metallic options with ultra-fine metallic particles that create exceptionally smooth, brilliant finishes perfect for high-end candy work. These premium metallics offer maximum reflectivity and minimal texture, creating the ideal foundation for transparent clear colors. Alternative metallic options from the Vallejo True Metallic collection and Mig Metallics collection provide additional choices for modelers seeking specific metallic effects or working with different paint systems.
While Mr. Clear Color GX paints represent the premium choice for candy finishing, modelers may also explore alternative clear coat options for specific applications or budget considerations. The Testors Clear Coats collection offers accessible clear coating options for general modeling applications, while the Vallejo Clear Coats collection provides water-based alternatives for modelers preferring acrylic formulations. The Microscale Clear Coats collection specializes in clear finishes for decal application and protection, complementing candy finishing workflows that incorporate decals into the multi-layer finish system.
GSI Creos, formerly known as Gunze Sangyo, has been a cornerstone of the scale modeling industry since 1960, producing the Mr. Hobby line of paints, tools, and accessories that have become synonymous with quality and reliability among serious modelers worldwide. The company's commitment to innovation and quality has driven continuous product development that addresses the evolving needs of modeling enthusiasts, from traditional scale model builders to custom automotive finishers seeking professional-quality results in miniature scale. The Mr. Clear Color GX line represents decades of paint formulation expertise, combining advanced transparent pigment technology with optimized lacquer binder systems to deliver the performance that professional candy finishing demands.
The company's manufacturing facilities in Japan employ advanced production technologies and rigorous quality control processes that ensure consistent product performance across their entire range. This attention to detail extends from flagship paint lines to specialty products like Mr. Clear Color GX, with every component designed to meet the exacting standards that have built Mr. Hobby's reputation for excellence. For more information about GSI Creos' complete product line, technical specifications, application techniques, and company history, visit the official Mr. Hobby website, where you can explore their full catalog, access technical support resources, and discover the latest product innovations from this industry-leading manufacturer.