Rookie Question About Finish

[rhephner]

I'm working on the model shipways Rattlesnake and am starting to second guess my painting choices. I used acrylic paint purchased from Model Expo and have not applied any finish. The  more I look at it (and the dirtier it gets) the more it looks like it's lacking something. 

 

The question is, should I apply a finish of some kind? I'm reluctant to do that for fear of making it look too shiny. What do most folks do? Semi-gloss?

 

Thanks.

 

Rich 

[dgbot]

Try to find a flat wipe on poly if you can.

David B

[augie]

There's not a lot on sailing ships of that vintage that's shiny.  Take dgbot's advice and look for a flat poly.  As an alternative there's flat acrylic lacquer (Testor's Model Master series) that will give a nice flat finish.

[Keith_W]

What exactly are you unhappy about with your model? The colour? The consistency of the paint? Can you post a photo?

[rhephner]

It's no so much that I'm unhappy with it, as I'd like to preserve it. It gets dirty pretty easy and I'm worried that without some kind of protection, the paint will fade, crack and just generally look "unfinished" if that makes any sense.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I a flat or satin wipeon poly seems like a good idea.

 

Rich

[S.Coleman]

I know what you mean. I think your best bet would be dgbot or Brian C and Augie answers. I used clear satin on my rattlesnake and it came out fine, not too shiny.