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Building Tips and technical articles. => Paint and finishing => Topic started by: Ken Culbertson on May 20, 2020, 09:54:06 AM
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I have used satin paint on my last two planes up to the clear. It seems to go on easier and shows flaws under light better. When I got to the point of doing the clear on the last one it dawned on me that it also looked better and seemed to present better in the air (at least on video). We have a lot of military type models that have high gloss finishes. Ever see that on a active duty real one? They don't want the reflection giving them away.
We regularly fly our electrics before finishing them. Last fall one of the guys who consistently gets accused (falsely I might add) of having flats in his loops flew his new creation. I could see no flats. After the automotive see your reflection clear coat, the flats appeared to be back. It was the shine off of the wing.
Now I can understand why an IC would want gloss to keep the slime from shining it up but electric? I know that the judges would swear up and down that just because the shiny ones got the highest points that it was not the shine and we would all nod up and down while our inner voice shouted "BullSh**"
I am sure there is a good practical reason (other than sealing the decals or fuel proofing both of which can be done using satin clear) to add shine. I just don't know what it is.
Just for historical reference, my father used to really get on my case for always asking "WHY?" n1 The fact that I still fly toy airplanes is proof that I never grew up! y1
Ken
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I axed about this also. At a contest. I believe at the time the answer was still gloss and shine instead of realistic.
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I think that you'll still score more appearance points with shine than without -- but that's just something you'll have to try.
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A glossy finish compared to a correct military finish has, sadly, always scored way higher. Perhaps except in precision scale. Keith Trostle can be an expert commentator on the subject, having won first place in both events at the NATS. (Only person every to have done that !)
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I painted my gypsy flat. Points be damned. The only way to change it is to let the judges know war planes should be flat, not shiny, and they should take a hit for being shiny. And that just because it's shiny doesn't mean squat!
unless they think the guys with flat jobs "cheat" because they don't (and can't) wet sand/buff the clear, so they take their frustrations out on them by giving them lower scores, which is crap. it's a property of the material.
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.....and we won't even get in to how a war plane should look beat to hell and back.....