This is the part that really finishes (excuse the pun) your job. While it looked decent before a good coat of varnish just makes it brilliant. I suggest a polyurethane finish - its a real 'plasticy' finish and works well. I chose Cabot's Cabothane. You will probably need 2 cans of this to do the whole kit - depending on how many coats you do. You can get spray varnishes aswell but I don't believe them to be as heavy/durable as a painted varnish. They also make a huge mess (as the spray goes everywhere). However they do take less time to cover the shells. I recommend against them.
Its the same deal as with the stain. Nice thin coats - take your time. Theres really nothing different to doing the stain - except you have the choice to do as many coats as you want. Again - I chose two but that was because I was impatient (I wanted my kit back intime for a jam) and knew that two coats got the effect I liked. More coats will mean its shinier and more protected. After one coat you will start to see how the varnish improves it, but two really seals the deal. You could do as many as 3 or 4 if you wanted to.
After you have finished varnishing and are happy with the level of shine achieved you can give the bearing edges a VERY light sand with your 160/320 grit just to remove any little bits of paint/varnish that may have gotten stuck on there.
Here are the finished pictures of that damage I told you about earlier - they turn out alright but if you can avoid them its all the better.
©Daniel Wright 2004