Reducing gloss in airbrushed paints?

[dawgvet]

I was trying to up my detailing/realism game and was wondering if anyone knew of a simple way to tone down the gloss on paints, especially when airbrushing? I would like to be able to vary the gloss when building engines and chassis parts to help with realism. I notice many engines are as glossy as the car body. This is not the case in real life. It's not too hard to mix different ratios of flat black with gloss black but what about orange/blue/red engine blocks? I was worried that if I just sprayed Dullcote after painting then all of the components would be the same shade of "dull".  

 

Any thoughts or tips appreciated. 

Thanks,

Jed

[Art Anderson]

An old trick from the days before flat-finish paint for plastic models came about:   Add just a bit of talcum powder to a gloss paint--experimentation would be key here--perfect time to use the "spoon test" (airbrush onto the bottom of the bowl of a plastic picnic spoon!).  By varying the amount of talc in the paint, you should be able to vary the level of "lfatness".  Another solution would be to use a "semi-gloss" clear coat--and one can vary the "sheen" of that by mixing a bit of gloss clear with the semi-gloss.

Art

[Jon Haigwood]

I always use a satin clear on my engines, drive train and suspension parts. Unless it is a showcar 

 

Edited June 30, 2017 by Jon Haigwood

[Zoom Zoom]

I decant Tamiya matte and semigloss clear as needed to apply over glossy finishes that need to be toned down. So easy.

[Roncla]

I decant Tamiya matte and semigloss clear as needed to apply over glossy finishes that need to be toned down. So easy.

I use the Tamiya matte and semigloss clears as well as Alclads' range of clears for the same purpose.

Tamiya makes enamel and acrylic  flatting bases that can be added to  their bottle paints to give varying degrees of gloss and flatting base is available for 1k automotive  paints from suitable suppliers.

[Snake45]

You can spray the paint from a greater distance. This gives engine blocks and heads a nice "pebbly" finish.

Another one not too many modelers know about is, you can kill the gloss of enamels by rubbing the dried paint with a common pencil eraser. I do this all the time on my guns--I put bright red paint on the front sights, then kill the shine with an eraser. Works great!

[StevenGuthmiller]

An old trick from the days before flat-finish paint for plastic models came about:   Add just a bit of talcum powder to a gloss paint--experimentation would be key here--perfect time to use the "spoon test" (airbrush onto the bottom of the bowl of a plastic picnic spoon!).  By varying the amount of talc in the paint, you should be able to vary the level of "lfatness".  Another solution would be to use a "semi-gloss" clear coat--and one can vary the "sheen" of that by mixing a bit of gloss clear with the semi-gloss.

Art

Corn starch works well for flattening gloss paints as well.

 

Steve