Using a base coat and a clear coat is perhaps the most common way to paint a car, seeing as using two coats of paint provides shine and protection. Often referred to as a clear coat finish — because of its placement on top of the base coat — is actually a paint that doesn't contain any color or pigment.

Some vehicle refinishing professionals judge clearcoat on the number of layers you need to achieve appropriate film thickness. Simplistic categorization of clearcoats according to the number of coats applied looks as following: MS (medium solids) – 2 or 3 coats. HS (high solids) – 2 coats.

First off, single stage automotive paint is a type of paint coating that is exactly as it sounds… it's a 1-step shiny paint that you can put on your car project. You can shoot the paint on in a single stage, as opposed to 2-stage paint, which requires you spraying a layer of base coat, and then a layer of clear coat.