Flat Paint-Why?

Flat paints dry quicker, mask better (almist no chipping when dry) and spray better.

Quicker drying.

Painting primarily camo schemes I find working with flat's an far quicker process than gloss, I'll the gloss overall as required for decals or final finish. I also find flat more forgiving in use in comparison to gloss.

Ask the paint manufacturers. I think many of them may be unaware of the decaling problem.  If I am painting the model entirely with an easy basic color, I will indeed use gloss, but finding the right colors military or other genres where the prototypes are flat can be a challenge.

This will be interesting, being a Humbrol user matt is mainly all there is for military but I'm sure there's other reasons. Matt is more forgiving and seems to dry quicker so that for me is an advantage.

Looking forward to other replies.

Mick.

Most companies market their paints as flats. At least the military colors that are matched to original specs. Yes, using gloss versions (not common in most camo colors aside from the xtra color line) eliminates the gloss coat step. BUT- sealing the paint with a clear gloss coat also helps when using washes such as an oil wash over an enamel base. A dissimilar layer such as Future or some other acrylic prevent the thinner in an oil wash from attacking the underlying enamel base coat. And yes, I buy a lot of flat paints. Which work great on figures and other subjects that wont be gloss coated.

and thats why i use Xtracolour

But everyone has there favorite brands and most are mainly in flat. I don't know why they don't do gloss options though.