Polishing flat surfaces

[I.Illes]

Hi all,

I don't know if that is an old one and offical now, but since I found that many of the techniques I developed on my own before the internet era are widely spread and official techniques, I ask:

I thought about this when I looked at real aircraft a lot that seemed to be flat or glossy, depending on the angle you looked at them. So maybe this, humidity, fog and ice are the reasons many paint their aircraft dead flat,

which most of the time looks as artifical and unreal as clean and glossy ones (except they just came from the paint barn, of course). If you paint flat, decals will silver, so there is no way around a gloss coat

and a flat finish later unless you use dry transfers. What I have been experimenting with lately is that after finishing the bird with a flat surface, I use a nail polishing stick (the soft and ultrafine ones) and

polish away in the direction of the airstream, so the edges and raised details will become a bit shiny like on the real things and leaving other areas flat or a little shinier than before; depending on the subject.

Has anyone else thought of this or used it?

István

Edited October 7, 2014 by I.Illes

[slayermk1]

Applying a thin flat cote over the glossy surface with an airbrush gives you a satin look, or you just might go with a semi-gloss/satin cote and you're done!

No polishing needed.

[I.Illes]

Nah, maybe you misunderstood :) I do it partially, so you have the natural partially polished parts where there is more wear and tear usually and the raised details are more exposed to slipstream etc.

I explicitly DON'T want an even finish where every area is the same gloss or same flat. That looks unrealistic, especially on military birds :)

Edited October 15, 2014 by I.Illes

[chuck540z3]

Nah, maybe you misunderstood :)/> I do it partially, so you have the natural partially polished parts where there is more wear and tear usually and the raised details are more exposed to slipstream etc.

I explicitly DON'T want an even finish where every area is the same gloss or same flat. That looks unrealistic, especially on military birds :)/>

That all depends on scale. If you can see variable gloss on a real aircraft from 5 feet away, but not at 50 feet away (~ 1 foot at 1/48 scale), then you should still stick to a full flat finish everywhere. If what you describe is visible at 50 feet, then by all means go for it!

[I.Illes]

Exactly :) Love to experiment with surface and gloss characteristics :) Gives a lot more depth to the whole thing. :)

[Joel_W]

Your premise is correct that there will be a reflection on the high spots due to the angle of the sun, as well as your angle to the aircraft so that you can see that reflection. That reflection will increase or decrease to none as you move around the aircraft. So you can only highlight certain areas, while leaving other areas the same as the rest of the paint type.

Joel

Edited October 16, 2014 by Joel_W

[I.Illes]

Your premise is correct that there will be a reflection on the high spots due to the angle of the sun, as well as your angle to the aircraft so that you can see that reflection. That reflection will increase or decrease to none as you move around the aircraft. So you can only highlight certain areas, while leaving other areas the same as the rest of the paint type.

Joel

Yes. I have taken pics of a Tornado years ago and when you look at the radome head on, it is reflective like chrome, seen from the side,

it is dead flat black, so it is indeed at least to a certain amount due to being polished in one direction by the slipstream as the line chief told me. :)

That's the effect I simulate with polishing sticks used for polishing nails.

[billb]

giving certain points a quick rub with your finger will do the same thing as it leaves a little bit of your skin oil on the high spots. Or a quick buff with a soft cloth

[I.Illes]

Yes, that works too :) Whatever serves the purpose, you name it. I don't use my fingers much for that task however, because one easily forgets that there

might be unnoticed paint residue or such and you don't want that all across the paintjob discovering it the next day.

(How do I know…?) ;)