Deglossing paint

[Anonymous]

Am almost done carving foam on layout. Went to small local hardware store to get some supplies for other projects on house. Was looking at paint to start scenicking. Guy comes up and we start talking about latex paint and if he could mix the right color, blah,blah. He said he's got abunch of cans of colors that didn't turn out right on sale! We're going thru them and he said here's one that the lady brought back because it looked like dirt. BINGO! The only problem is that it's Gloss Oil based Enamel. At that point the testosterone took over and that little voice in my heads telling me "I can make this work". Then the best part, it's only 3 dollars a gallon! So, then I start justifying about how I can take my time with grass and foam due to the longer drying time. So now the can is setting on the bench and I'm trying to figure out how to degloss the paint so it looks flat or satin at the very least. 50 cans of dullcoat doesn't sound very cost effective. My question is: Is there something I can mix in the gallon prior to application to take out the shine. Any thoughts would be helpful, and as always I extend my thanks in advance. Willy

[Medina1128]

Some oil based enamels will attack foam, if you're using it on your layout. Other than matte medium, I can't think of anything you could add to your paint that will kill the sheen. Either that or shoot the final scene with Dullcote. You could let the paint dry, then cover that with matte medium, adding the ground foam to THAT layer.
In either case, I would test this paint on a scrap piece of foam before putting it on your layout.

[John Richards]

If I remember rightly we use to use Talcumm Powder to dull Gloss Paint for model
ships we built 40 or 50 years ago. Maybe another chap could confirm this??. It was
a while ago.
regards,
John.

[ndbprr]

Haven't tried this so you might want to experiment but if you took real dirt and baked it to kill everything you don't want and sifted it real fine - then you could put down the paint and blend in real dirt to dull it down.

[claycts]

We us "Micro Spheres" a brand of dulling agent that we get direct from the factory. The consumer version SHOULD be available at a Sherwin Williams or Glidden paint store. This is the mixing for dulling about anything to do with colors. My $.02