VBD2 is closed. Please go to https://vbd3.co.uk instead.

Diecast wrote: Good remark, but by my models the difference between matt/gloss is not so distinct. It is something between more/less matt. Is anyone here who has a model with really glossy base plate?
Antonin

I'd say yes I have. In my own cataloguing I have tried to treat all those 1968/69 black base models in the same way and have decided to distinguish three different shades of black bases, calling them "gloss black", "flat black" and "matt black". "Flat black" is between the other two and might also be called "semi-gloss black".

In addition I have applied the same principle to 1957-59 black base models and to 1978-82 black base models too. (In the latter era we have light and dark grey, light and dark charcoal, blue-grey and grey-brown shades in addition, which makes cataloguing those bases quite challenging.)

While there are probably more than three different distinguishable shades in reality, I am satisfied with this distinction for the purpose of my own collection. For several models, including the 6d Ford Pickup, I am able to put three examples side by side on which I can easily see the difference. It is, however, not so easy to make this difference between the three shades clearly visible in a picture.

(Side note: as far as I can tell, from 1960 to 1967 and from 1970 to 1977 there were only gloss black bases being produced, no matt or flat black ones, although it is possible for gloss black bases to lose some of their gloss due to environmental influences such as moisture. However, I believe that some late versions of black base models which were phased out in 1968 can also be found with genuinely flat - not matt - black bases. This includes 14c, 21c, 46b, 47b and 62b.)

ChFalkensteiner wrote:Flat black" is between the other two and might also be called "semi-gloss black".

IIRC, some cataloguers call Christian's 'flat black' satin finish.

Sometimes there is a real problem with a black painting. Perhaps the biggest differences are by 25a Bedford van Dunlop. For this model, there are not even enough three different description for the black base plate. I have decided to distinguish four different shades.
a) soot black
b) flat black
c) satin black
d) gloss black
Antonin

I just list "black." For me, anything else is too difficult to try and catalog. I'd go crazy trying to collect different sheen variations of the same base color.

Diecast wrote:Sometimes there is a real problem with a black painting. Perhaps the biggest differences are by 25a Bedford van Dunlop. For this model, there are not even enough three different description for the black base plate. I have decided to distinguish four different shades.
a) soot black
b) flat black
c) satin black
d) gloss black
Antonin

That's probably why my Doctor keeps telling me I'm as mad as a hatter......

Ghosty.