matte finish paint to gloss?

[foxbat426]

Hi, sorry if this was discussed here before, but i was wondering if there was anyway to make a testors enamel matte finish paint to a gloss finish?  The first thing that comes to mind is to add a gloss enamel clear coat to the matte paint, but im just not sure if that would work. Any ideas??  Thank-you for a great forum!  John

[angelo7]

I use mostly flat colors.  They are much easier to apply.  I then put two or three coats of clear.  For dark colors I use Testors High Gloss enamel.  For lighter colors I use Testors Wet Look lacquer or just Clear.  I don't buff or sand.  If I did the results would be better.    The truck you see in my Avatar was done with flat green.  Click the Avatar to see a bigger image.

[foxbat426]

flat colors are easier to apply - i do agree.  that truck is bad ass!!  what do you do for touch ups' though?  for instance if you are masking and then remove the tape and need to hit a very small area with a brush, it will be flat and it wont look right against gloss. maybe i'm reading into to much.  maybe i will try it that way.  by the way, do you airbrush or use cans?? great info - Thanks!!

Edited September 20, 2016 by foxbat426

[angelo7]

For touch ups, I spray a little paint inside a plastic cup and apply the collected paint with a small brush.  I do the same with the clear.  I only use spray cans.

[Snake45]

This is Model Master (flat) FS34151 Interior Green with their Clear Top Coat over it. You tell me how well it works.

[peteski]

It would be tough to make a flat paint glossy just by adding bunch of gloss clear to it.  But as Snake shows, applying a clear coat to flat finish is the best way to deal with it. But remember that it also darkens the color a bit (similar to how flat paint would look if you wet it with water).

[Jon Haigwood]

I am doing some testing on using Future over flat black. Trying to keep as much body detail as I can.

[Snake45]

It would be tough to make a flat paint glossy just by adding bunch of gloss clear to it.  But as Snake shows, applying a clear coat to flat finish is the best way to deal with it. But remember that it also darkens the color a bit (similar to how flat paint would look if you wet it with water).

It also helps to "polish" the flat paint by rubbing it with a cloth or something like a paper napkin. This will take it to a matte, a satin, or a semigloss, and cut down on the number of gloss coats required to shine it up.

It's even possible to polish up a flat paint the way you would a gloss and get it to shine that way. This will NOT work that well with ALL paints, colors, or body styles, but there are cases where it would work just fine.