Tamiya Paint??? Questions

1] Don't know
2] Tamiya [compatible] primer and sand w/1000 grit prior to paint. Sand the plastic body first w/600 grit w/d paper and wash with soapy water. Air dry.
3] It's best, especially min two coats so you can polish
4] On the color coat 2-3 light coats with wet sand [1000 grit] between each coat, then clear per #3
5] If it's the standard Tamiya Laquer, yes.

 

Simple...the end result is a level, smooth finish. Little chance of orange peal. It works from the body prep to the base coats which can tend to transfer to the clear coat. When polishing the clear protects from any burn thru to the primer. If you see a hint of color coming onto the paper you stop. There is a system called Micro Mesh...go's all the way to a 12000 grit. It's the very best when it comes to scale models. Here's a similar application:
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wow those are gorgeous BATS

 

Paul Fisher 1/24 scale resin kits were the base.

 

AustinMartin, I tried replicating that same Ferrari shade, but wasnt very close. I have pics in another forum, but it has been put on hold. here is a link

http://cs.scaleautomag.com/scacs/forums/p/61810/671701.aspx#671701

 

Here's another vote for clear over the pearl. It's not showing up much because of the rough texture of the paint. It will really "pop" under some glass-smooth clear. If that is Tamiya's clear pearl, be aware that it has some blue in it. I didn't know that before I sprayed it on a dark red Mercedes.

When you start polishing your paint with a Micro-Mesh polishing kit, you may want to practice on something that doesn't have a lot of sharp corners. When you color sand/polish, it's very easy to rub through the paint on a sharp corner. If you were airbrushing, you could add a little more clear to high areas. That's not really possible with spray cans. It is possible to get a glossy finish with cans, but it takes a little practice.

Here's a poor-quality photo of that Mercedes I mentioned earlier. I built it while deployed to Afghanistan. It is so glossy, you can read the writing on a light bulb reflected in the paint. It's Tamiya clear red over grey primer, with pearl and lots of clear.
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That silver Bat 9 is awesome