We should almost never use flat finishes

I tend to disagree.  I don't necessarily doubt the accuracy of your comments regarding the actual paint finishes found on military hardware.  However, several factors combine to make things seem flatter than perhaps the paint actually is. 

The effect of scaling tends to reduce the apparent glossiness of a finish.  I know when I take a tour of a Navy ship, the gray paint is as you say, semi-gloss, however when I look at it from a distance, it looks flat.  You can see the same effect with cars.  When one looks at a model from even a foot or two away, the scale viewing distance is actually quite a bit away.

Another factor to consider is weathering.  Even a deep gloss paint finish, such as that found on a car, will turn flat when baked in the sun.  I think it stands to reason that a semi-gloss would weather to flat much more quickly.  Because much of what we model is WWII era when paints were not nearly so UV resistant, I would expect that actual finishes would weather to flat fairly quickly.  

As far as weathering and then sealing with semi-gloss, that would sort of go opposite to reality.  By that I mean if you have a brand new semi-gloss vehicle, and take it for a spin in the desert so that it can get dusty, the dust wil settle on top of the semi-gloss paint and reduce its glossiness.  Think about how much shinier a dirty car becomes after washing it.  

If one were building a 1/16 scale tank or 1/8 scale military motorcyle and intending to portray it in an as new condition, perhaps semi-gloss might be most appropriate, otherwise, I still believe flat paints to be generally most approriate, IMHO.

I know todays Naval aircraft are painted with neither enamals or lacquers they are painted with tactical grey (Epoxy Polyamide) very nasty stuff and very Flat. All the colors come under the milspec # MIL-P-24441

 

Scott

Interesting hypothesis, but, rather than examining "specimens", I have served on the real thing-(armor), and semi-gloss went out in the late 60's and early 70's. Even on a/c NMF finishes, unpolished aluminum "flattens" and turns whitish. Many aircraft were waxed by thier ground crews, so I suppose on a case by case basis, for aircraft, your point would be credible. To make a blanket statement is a little over the top IMHO.

 

Regards,

Steve

Can't speak for tanks or planes but I served in the submarine force for 5 1/2yrs and the paint was flat black. The paint was actually in two parts. A black pigment and an epoxy type compound which we mixed together before painting. When it dried it dried flat/matte. Everytime we returned from a patrol the salt water had added a "whitish" almost greyish hue to it. Hard to describe. From far away the boat appeared black but close up you could see the white.

edit: Actually when I went to the Evergreen Air Museum last week I did notice some aircraft had a semi-gloss coat. But the SR-71 did not. Nor did the F-4 Phantom or BF-109. The Apache did not. However the Gruman Hellcat did. The Coast Guard Rescue Helicopter did. The FG-1D Corsair did. I think the Supermarine Spitfire did. As did some others that I cannot recall at this moment. Anyways I would not place all military aircraft under a blanket statement. And if anyone ever gets to McMinnville, Oregon I highly recommend taking a visit out to the museum.

I served both with the Navy and the Marines and everything post late 1970s was flat... some of the 70's and earlier aircraft had a slight semi gloss sheen to them, after that though a flat sheen and an almost sandpaper type feel to them.. Aircraft, armor, and ships were all like that till I got out..

LateBloomer - I know what ya mean bout the grey look, the no skid on the flight deck got that way about a month into the cruise... looked black coming down on it, standing on it, it appeared almost RLM 66 gray...

army blackhawks are flat.  maybe they're semigloss from 6 inches away but from where i was walking by they looked flat.

according to signal/squadron in action books, the german planes had a semi-gloss sheen when the paint was fresh.  on the other hand, i believe that since they made such a big deal out of it, it was probably usual for planes to be painted matt (which would make sense, i doubt you want it to look shiny on the ground with the ground attack squadrons flying overhead).  also remember that some planes had fabric coverings.

there's no way in hell the tanks are going to be semi-gloss unless they just rolled off the production line.  they'll be flat about 30 yards down the road.

If you stop and think about it, you'll realize that 99.999 percent of the life a piece of large tactical equipment is spent outside, only getting inside when there is major maintenance to be done.  Given enought time, even a gloss paint job will fade and turn dull.  And semi-gloss goes dull much, much faster.

Try this experiment:  find a couple of six inch square flat surfaces (pieces steel, aluminum or just a 1 x 6 board) and paint them the gloss color of your choice.  Let them dry and take one of them outside and secure it somewhere where it won't be disturbed and sunlight can be on it for several hrs each day.  Put the second one in a cabinet inside and store the can of paint away and don't use it anymore.  In 6 months, paint another surface of the same size and material as the first two and let it dry.  Then take the freshly painted surface and the one you stored outside and compare them with the surface that was secured outside - You may be rather amazed at what you find.

I served in the U.S. Army as a wheeled vehicle mechanic in the motor pool.

Everything there was flat cammo, even the tanks and generators.

Oh yeah... I hate the color green now...

And I live in the woods on a mountain top...

Thank God there's tons of snow...