Small Scale Military Headquarters

I am in the process of putting together a F4F-4 Wildcat fighter and I was wondering about the paint situation. I have been buying magazines about restored actual war planes and I have noticed that most restored war planes have a glossy paint finish even with camo schemes. I would have to admit that every plane I have ever built has been painted with flat paint(except for natural metal skin planes) same goes for the 21st planes I have bought. What is the deal here? The finishes in many old photos seem flat, but more recent photos of resored planes appear really glossy.

TJ

During the war the paint schemes on these aircraft was very flat. The shiny paint you see on todays restored WW2 planes is nice looking, but you would have never seen that kind of shine on an F4F Wildcat in 1942.

The flat paints used are similar in makeup to primer paints today. They are porous and allow some of the water vapor to penetrate all the way to the metal surface. Not good for long term care of metal. Military colors involve flat paints to take the "sun glint" away....in other words to prevent an enemy from spotting the aircraft of vehicle from sunlight flashing off of surfaces and giving their location away. Modern restorers use gloss paints (much like your car) to protect and beautify...but mainly protect the metal surface underneath. They are also much easier to clean. Some WW2 aircraft (particularly British bombers) were coated with gloss paints because flat paints reflect a "halo" at night when a searchlight strikes it. Gloss reflected the light away from the bomber for the most part. Some other aircraft (Spitfire XIV) had gloss paint applied to cut down on drag and raise the upper speed limits so they could catch buzz bombs (V1) and shoot them down. Their tops speed were so close, the only way to catch them was lighten the load and reduce the drag with gloss paint and polish.

Thanks guys. I went flat with the model. Now that you mention it, the article I was reading was about a restored Spit. It was very shiny to the point of being ugly...

TJ