Top coated. I used a 2 part industrial high build polurethane for the top coat. I do industrial sandblasting and painting so I'm used to this typre of paint. In hind site I would have used something different like Awlgrip. The paint I used is super tough paint but really hard to lay down flat. I ended up with some orange peel in the finish, ut it still looks really nice. Red is hard to cover with so I ended up having to put on 3 coats!