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Hi this is my first post on dakka and I'm looking for some painting advice. I'm painting up some elder vehicles and something I've always wondered was how to get that semi-gloss finish to elder vehicles. Should I use something like a krylon satin finish? This is a fire prism I am currently working on. Let me know what you think about the paint job otherwise.
[/img] http://s961.photobucket.com/user/nestastiles/library/Eldar?sort=3&page=1 [img]

I've done a lot of painting work and have got to the point where I am trying to take things to the next level. Maybe I'll post some more pics of some models to get some feedback on them.

The pictures you link to:


The "gloss effect" on that vehicle is a painting effect, rather than a gloss varnish. You could use a gloss varnish on them but you will not really get the same look to the vehice as in the pictures above. I only tend to use gloss varnish on smaller things like gems and glass; on a whole model gloss (IMO) doesn't look very good.

Some general tips for painting vehicles.

A guide on how to highlight vehicles to get that kind of slightly shiny look. Just increase the contrast of the paints you use in the highlighting stages to make it more "glossy".

The easiest way to achieve the look though is with an airbrush. You can generally get a compressor and tank for ~£50, with a very cheap airbrush for ~£5 (though I do not recommend it unless you only want to use it for a couple of things, or very large scale work like general base coating etc). Gravity fed airbrushes start at ~£30 and upwards.

Edit: Fixed tags.

Hey thanks for the info the fire prism in the pic is what I'm currently working on. In your opinion do you think adding a matte sealent would be a good addition and/or have any effect on the shine? I'm just looking to add a slightly more reflective surface to it but not a gloss like on windows/gems. Thanks

Ah, I see. A matt sealant would tend to dull the colours you have a little. They are also by their nature matt. I think you could possibly mix some matt and gloss varnish to get a slightly glossy finish, but I dont know if I remember seeing it done anywhere and I would not apply it to your model without testing it first on something you dont mind destroying.

Thanks for the response I think I'll give it a try on an old falcon seeing how its in dire need of a complete restart anyways

I dont know whether this is actually something that works in practice, but would not a matte sealant (to protect the paint) followed by a thin layer of gloss work?

I really like the colour scheme and the effect you created with your paint thinking about it, you might struggle to get a thin varnish on it if you are painting by hand, I was assuming you'd be using an airbrush, doh.

Could you do it the other way around? a varnish to protect then a thin spray of a dullcoat to slightly reduce the shine? hmm