Paint it Black!

[McColm]

Hi Guys,
I'm fairly new to painting my models, using the Matchbox different coloured plastic kits and trying not to get the glue on my fingers or on glazed parts.
I've found that mat black hides all my mistakes and gives the build a sneeky feel  such as recon or black ops.
Whilst there is the opposite if you use gloss black. Sort of sleek and sexy.
Why should that occur?

[kerick]

Flat or mat colors will hide many sins but gloss, especially black, makes the slightest scratch seem twice the size. To have a gloss finish the surface has to be glass smooth to reflect the light. A defect will interrupt this mirror like surface making it very visible. Flat or mat finishes are rough in texture to scatter the light. Under a microscope they look like a gravel road. That's why decals will silver on a flat finish and not on a gloss finish. The flat finish allows air to get under the decal. To beat this you have to spray a gloss finish over the flat to provide a smooth surface for the decals and then a flat or mat finish once the decals have been applied. The rough surface of the flat finish will allow small defects to blend in. Just ask any car body repair person about painting a gloss black finish on a car and watch him start to twitch.
As you mention finishing models in flat black I would paint them with gloss black first, apply the decals, and then apply a flat clear coat.

[Dizzyfugu]

It's also human perception and our instincts. Glossy black is attractive to us - stemming back from a time when we used to live in caves. It suggests "ripe", so you can eat it (just as red). Very fundamental reflex that's still active.

On the other side, the effect that matt black blurs outlines and hides contours, suggests danger - it's a thing you hardly fathom, and our instincts suggest "maybe dangerous" - even if it is a vehicle!

[McColm]

Wow,
Thanks for your replies.

[kerick]

There are a number of options for black painted aircraft.
Night fighters; example P-61 Black Widow.
Recon as you mentioned; SR-71 is a classic but I found an RF-101C in black with red markings circa Vietnam war.
Bombers; either all black as A-26 in Korea or black undersides like some B-52s and B-29s.
The infamous "black helicopters" that threaten conspiracy theorists everywhere.
I can't remember which US government agency it was but they had gloss black UH-60s with a gold stripe down the sides. (An interesting diorama idea, an all black chopper with a claw type hoist picking up a cow with attachments to make it look like a flying saucer)

White paint does not show defects much either. That leads to many civilian schemes plus USCG and others.

[martinbayer]

There are also the 'black bunny" 'novelty' schemes used on the F-4 and F-14 as well as Hugh Hefner's DC-9:

http://fullcolorbirds.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/f14-photo-vx4-01xl11.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6J4og0hLPXQ/SxIsnJTIALI/AAAAAAAAACk/i7r0dlX7R54/s1600/big_bunny.JPG

Martin

[kerick]

Nice pics! Love the car in the DC-9 pic.

[PR19_Kit]

There are also the 'black bunny" 'novelty' schemes used on the F-4 and F-14 as well as Hugh Hefner's DC-9:

http://fullcolorbirds.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/f14-photo-vx4-01xl11.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6J4og0hLPXQ/SxIsnJTIALI/AAAAAAAAACk/i7r0dlX7R54/s1600/big_bunny.JPG

Martin

I built Hefner's 'Black Bunny' DC9-30 from the Airfix kit some years ago. Dead simple build, straight OOB, paint black and add the world's smallest decal sheet. I thought I had pics of it somewhere but I can't find them. 

I've been aboard it too...... <smirk mode off> 

[tigercat2]

The great thing about the What If world is that you can paint and mark any aircraft in any color and national markings that you want.

Some of mine include an all-black Hughes R-11, black F-17 for the USAF, F-82, black and dark green A-10, etc. 


Wes W.

[McColm]

The 1/72 Lockheed P-2H that I built is a classic example. Has all the maritime features such as a larger weapons bay with two doors, ESM pods and sonar bouy launch tubes. But it was mistaken for the AP versionas I had used dark earth spray can all over instead of following the paint instructions within the kit. Even the retro decals off the Airfix B-24 made it look sneaky!
Going to my own version based on the US Coast Guard colour scheme for 'Project Mad Hatter'.

[dumaniac]

Hi Paint it black - or sort of

one technique that is popular at the moment is the put a darker shade along panel lines (I work in 48 scale).  So how do you put a darker shade of black on black.

One trick is to add one quarter of red paint to the black.  It looks black if you don't have black to compare it with black.  Anyway, once the aeroplance is painted with reddish black, then paint on the black lines for the contrast.  Anyway, that is my technique.

Good luck

Bernie

[McColm]

Thanks,
I'll give that a go.

[lancer]

I built Hefner's 'Black Bunny' DC9-30 from the Airfix kit some years ago. Dead simple build, straight OOB, paint black and add the world's smallest decal sheet. I thought I had pics of it somewhere but I can't find them.  Bang head

I've been aboard it too...... <smirk mode off>  Grin

All well and good, but were the bunnies on board at the same time??

[PR19_Kit]

I built Hefner's 'Black Bunny' DC9-30 from the Airfix kit some years ago. Dead simple build, straight OOB, paint black and add the world's smallest decal sheet. I thought I had pics of it somewhere but I can't find them.  Bang head

I've been aboard it too...... <smirk mode off>  Grin

All well and good, but were the bunnies on board at the same time??

Two of them were! 

It was pretty difficult  to keep one's mind on things aeronautic in the face of such distractions. 

[kitbasher]

All well and good, but were the bunnies on board at the same time??

Two of them were! 

It was pretty difficult  to keep one's mind on things aeronautic in the face of such distractions. 

The Area Rule perhaps?