Hi folks.

Quick question for US Aircraft Modelers (as I have built a grand total of 1). What final clear coat should I give a bare metal P-51? I handed painted the silver, applied the decals, and put on a protective gloss coat for the decals. Should I retain the gloss or would it be more realistic to kill the sheen with some matte? Thanks!

Nigel! That metal looks just fine in the photos, I would recommend keeping the finish as it is but go over the anti glare panel (and maybe the stars and bars) with some kind of matte finish. It calls for some masking (try it out beforehand on something else so that you are sure that it doesn't ruin the metal finish) but it will probably be worth the effort!



Magnus

Every coat of clear you put over an NMF finish will dull it more and more. Depending on how dull you want it, you can alternate between gloss and matte coats to get the dullness you want.

Thanks for the feedback folks! I've left the metal color as is, but I went over and painted the olive drab parts with another matte coat.