From all I have seen over the years, most interior and exterior paint finishes on British WW2 aircraft were flat or matt. Exceptions might be some structures such as engine bearers and undercarriage legs which sometimes might have a gloss finish. Does anyone have any views on this? Thanks.
By: Whitley_Project - 1st December 2017 at 21:58
Thanks Graham
By: Graham Boak - 29th November 2017 at 17:58
Quite a lot were what we would now call satin, or semi-matt, at least when new. At least smooth, rather than the granular finish associated with a fully matt surface. There was a perios when the Uk adopted a very matt black, but this was found to be both unhelpful and difficult to maintain and a return was made for a smooth black for bombers and a light finish adopted for night fighters. But generally yes, gloss exteriors were rare. The US went to a gloss black (Jet Black) later in the war for their night fighters and bombers in the belief that searchlights on a gloss surface reflected less light back to the ground, but I think that this is probably the only true gloss finish used – at least in common use.
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November 29, 2017 at 5:44 pm