luftwaffe finish?

Oddly I went shopping for paint today, the gallon can type, and the finishes were matt (flat), egg shell, satin, semi-gloss, gloss, and high gloss. The samples in front of me the egg shell is very slightly glossy, and the satin has a slightly detectable glossy look. Remember we are talking about middle 20th century oil based paint. In the 1970s my parents had the repaint the exterior of their house every other year. The house was last repainted in 2011 and it still looks good as of last fall. The paint back then didn't last. Anything deployed in to a combat zone back then the proper finish should be a light washing with rust.

it was nearer satin if that helps.

Brandnew off of the assembly line they had a semi gloss finish, but once they were taken up to fight a few times, the paint job became matt.

It appears the RLM colors were satin or semigloss when factory fresh, but weathering and field camouflage might well change the look to a flatter finish. Also, various methods were used to clean the aircraft, from spraying with a hose to soap and water scrub to rubbing down with fuel, which also could change the gloss. As always, reference photographs of the particular aircraft being modeled are the best guide, and I would never downgrade a model for being in a flat, satin, or semigloss finish as long as the colors were decent and the workmanship was good.

It sure seems all of the RLM colors which match German WW II colors are a bit semi gloss. Most of the WW II German aircraft I have seen modeled at competitions and on box art are semi gloss. I have painted all of my Nazi aircraft with RLM colors from Testors and they look like the box art in terms of shine so I assume they are correct.

It's believed to be a satin finish/semigloss. I do mine by spraying very light coats of clear flat over the gloss finish. When it dulls it down to the point I like, it's done.