Question for everyone building WWII aircraft… shouldn’t the final finish for all aircraft be semi-gloss or gloss as opposed to flat? If you see these aircrafts live, the body are always shiny.
Please advise!
My limited pool of knowledge is that what you see in a museum, showroom or show may be gloss or semi-gloss, but in an actual theater of combat there were very few…most were flat finishes for anti-glare. Some late Navy birds used a gloss sea blue and P-61 nightfighters reportedly has a glossy finish, and I’m sure there were more. Reviewing old pictures on line or in books usually supports this. Just my [2c]
Hi PSU
The only wearers of semi/gloss finishes I know of during WW2 are Luftwaffe aircraft which had a semi matt oily finish on their aircraft up until mid war , the pacific theatre aircraft both allied and axis as previously mentioned and the natural metal finishes used by the allies until the wars end. As regard these NMF`s they are often assumed to be used as the luftwaffe was unable to defend germany at the end but it has been mentioned that the removal of the paint enabled that extra few miles range into occuppied europe.
Most were initially flat, according to most of what I’ve read and my father, who was intimately involved with with both flying and maintaining many of the aircraft in question. There were exceptions (whatever paint was available was used, gloss and flat were often mixed to produce a semigloss—this was war, and exercize in semicontrolled chaos and destruction).
There are some other factors: Gloss and semigloss paints tend to become flatter with age and wear. Many flat paints tend to become glossier with age and wear, especially those of the era in question. They tend to get polished by dust and water abrasion. Even modern flat paints in military use, which are often far more resistant, display some of this behavior.
Initially, at least, British paints were matt, until it was discovered what a detrimental effect it had on speed. Over, and over, again, you’ll hear of “Sky Type S,” in which the “S” stood for smooth. In fact all paints were “Type S,” (semi-gloss,) except for RDM2 Special Night, which was a totally flat black, and a complete nightmare to maintain. It was this drag effect which caused the British to use masks, for our camouflage, rather than just freehand spraying. Any over (or under) spray, causes a rough surface, which causes drag. It was found that unskilled labour, if told to sand the surface down, tended to be over-enthusiastic, and completely removed the paint on any protruding rivet heads, etc., thereby ensuring that the aircraft needed respraying. Flexible masks got rid of the problem. In maintenance depots, with no masks, the workers (even though freehand spraying,) still had to keep the “feathering,” between colours, down to 1-2 inches, preferably 1. Later, in the war, it became commonplace for groundcrew to wax, and polish “their” aircraft, to improve the performance.
Edgar
PSU now this may be right or wrong but it’s what I do for model aircraft and the finish I apply to the paint work. Please bear in mind I mainly do fighters.
Early to mid war ETO I use a flat coat like Gunze and add a drop or two of Future in to give the aircraft a slight sheen to it a sort of scale effect satin.
Late war German dead flat thin coats of un-even paint with lots of wear showing. Supplies of everything were running low including good paint.
BMF mid to late war satin coat usually Gunze over the top of something like ALCLAD. I like my allied aircraft especially to look reasonably well maintained but not shining like they’ve come out of a show room.
PTO MTO & Nth Africa dead flat and faded a lot by the sun and the elements. Paint chipping is prevalent and the whole plane looks a fairly bleached.
I hope this helps.