[WWI] Scale black

[Aidrian Bridgeman-Sutton]

Shiny works in some cases - the question we need to ask is what do I want
from the model and why am I modelling it? In my case I'm not a good enough
artist to do what RK does on paper and canvas and  moulded plastic lets me
get the shapes close enough that I can think in terms of 3D paintings 

If you're doing an elderly and weather beaten Nieuport in the Dardanelles
scale colour and careful weathering is one technique for suggesting a sense
of time and place. 

On the other hand if you are doing a subject because the appeal is the
colour and finish, bright and shiny will work very well to bring out what
you want to bring out; what is wrong with a glossy idealized Albatross if
you want to concentrate on colour and heraldry rather than wear and tear? 

To use the car analogy are you modeling the neighbour's car which gets
washed and vacuumed occasionally or are you depicting that car as it might
appear at the Paris show or at Pebble Beach where even the inside of the
rocker covers might be washed and waxed? 

Different objectives, different outcomes, but problems can arise when the
objective isn't clearly thought through before starting or when the plan
isn't carried through consistently. 

If you have a clear vision of where you want to end up and that means glossy
finishes and bright colours straight out of the tube that's a perfectly
valid approach. Just don't weather it in that condition- you'll find that
you can easily fall between too stools.

Aidrian
(Neat black might be useful for ot RAF heavies - look at the undersides of
an early Wellington and it's like looking at Disaster Areas sun ship - light
just falls into it)

-----Original Message-----
 
I do, however, agree with you about the overly shiny car & airliner models.
Yes, I admire the deep flawless finishes some guys can get after hours of
polishing but they look totally unrealistic. But your argument is all about
the finish and has nothing to do with toning down colour. Your scale black
model would be just as unrealistic with an excessively glossy finish as mine
would with straight black and an overly glossy finish.