Sci-Fi model: wich paper? (glossy? photo? matte?)

venom_82

New Member
I read several topics about the weight of the paper, and that's ok, but I still have doubts about the type of finish, like glossy, high glossy, matte etc.

For now my idea is to build different ships of the Battlestar Galactica fleet, but i don't know wich type of paper offer the best results for this type of model.

for results i mean both the esthetic and the practical side, like modelling difficult, application of glue etc.

I think (but i'm not sure) that matte is less problematic in several aspects, unlike the gloss may have trouble with some glue, or problem with the coat during the folding.. i'm right?

what do you recommend?
 

wildheart258

New Member
My experience is very limited, but (coming from a background in mostly plastic kitbuilding) I have found that I prefer to build in matte, then apply a clearcoat to produce the desired finish; gloss or matte.
 

irjvik

New Member
Hi. I'm answering a bit late, but I hope this will be read by people having the same trouble.

The problem is *not* the paper, but what you want as your finished result (aka model).
Glossy paper means the model is almost shining, reflecting some light.
Matte paper means the model is "average", absorbing some light.

Example : do you really want your German WWII bunker to be a shiny one ?

As for spaceships, you mentioned Galactica Battlefleet, those are mostly military vessels.
Please take a look at real military planes and tanks, you will notice military paint is supposed to absorb waves (in fact Type I and II radar waves) so it is the opposite of a reflective one. But here we are in a science fiction context, everything is possible, so the choice is yours...
 

kirkhere

New Member
The apparent visual depth and clarity of the finished product will look different on different surfaces of paper - with a high gloss, less ink soaks into the paper, resulting in more color on the surface.

With a matte, you'll get more ink soaking in, with a possible side effect of less sharpness (because the ink runs a bit), lesser reflectivity (shine), and some paper warping.

However, if you clearcoat (paint or spray) after the print dries, you do recover a certain amount of depth and apparent saturation.

Try it either way and see what you like best. Once you've seen the results you can produce, you'll find that sometimes a project screams out for quality, which will tell you what to use!
 
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