Flat Black

[tigercat2]

When desiring to paint an aicraft flat black, what, if any, is the preferred method:

1 - paint it gloss black for decal adhesion, then spray it with a dull coating

Or

2 - paint it flat black, hit it with Glosscoat for decal adhesion, then hit it with a dull coating


I usually use method 2 - leaves it with a bit of a sheen.


Wes W.

[dragon]

I use method 1  

[Andrew Gorman]

And I prefer method 2.  Flat paint is just more forgiving. Even if I wanted a gloss model, I'd paint it with flat paint.
Andrew.

[gooberliberation]

Flat paint is more forgiving, so i use #2 as well, but if you do that I'd recommend covering the whoooole plane in gloss(i.e. future) before decalling. If you only do the spots where you put the decals and then do a dull coat, the spots that were gloss will show now matter how much dullcoat you put on, sort of like decal silvering.

Yeep I found that out the hard way :dum:

[Shasper]

Depends on how FLAT u want it. If I'm doing a Old Dog project for instance, then I'll use flat black, paint on at least 5-7 coats, future the whole thing, decal, and here's where the fun part comes in: I brush-paint on 2 coats of Testors Acrylic flat clear followed by a thinned coat of clear, then I spray 2 coats of Testors Dull cote, guranteed ultimate flat-ness


Shas B)

[tigercat2]

Thanks very much for the tips.  Recently I have built several Anigrand resin kits, and due to the fast-setting CA glue used, have mis-aligned several joint lines.  It is amazing how a good coat of flat black and a few well placed red stripe "walkways" can hide many errors!!

Wes W.

[Jennings]

Then there's the best of both worlds - semi-gloss black.  Tamiya's semi-gloss black is the best model paint ever, period.  It sprays like a dream, you can decal directly onto it, and then if need be you can gloss over it no problem.

J