Is the big black sheetmetal circle that goes around a searchlight signal (as well as similar signals) painted flat or gloss black when new? For lack of a better term, I'm using shadow. Is there a correct term?

Greg

I have always seen them as flat black, although, gloss black turns flat after some weathing, so I am not sure if they were intentionlly painted flat black. But flat black makes sense for a backround that you want to be completely neutral.

NP Ry Standard Plan signal painting circa 1957

No, only cheap paint. Look at a 5 year old black car, you can shave off the reflection.

Gloss paint going flat is the mark of paint failure. Repaint it before the damage burns through the primer and gets a lot harder to prep.

Block signals are definitely painted flat black intentionally. You don't want sun glare or reflections, that being the point of the shadows. Depending on which chemicals you use, you can either buy flat black or modify a gloss.

For lazy work or when I can't do prep, I use Rustoleum 7776, it's already flat black and just shake the can and go. It's gonna fail in a few years but whatever.

For stuff I want to get right, I use Awlgrflattened with G3013 flattening agent. I've been quite satisfied brushing that. Also, any color.

When brushing, keep the paint agitated so you don't get separation and have the job come out with varying degrees of flatness.



It looks real nice on signals.

On a related topic, on the signal I'm working on right now, the front of my "shadow" is "flat" black, but the back side is multiple layers of various shades of silver, aluminim and graffiti. I have not yet been able to determine the original color of the back yet, but if I was painting and then assembling these in the factory I can't see why I would paint the back different from the front. But my logic often fails me. So as delivered, is the back black or silver?

That is an interesting question. Well if you don't see any black layers, then it wasn't ever black. Operationally it doesn't matter, and what I can see from a Google image search, both methods were common. Assemblywise it helps to have the backside the same color, so if the bolt holes don't line up, you just flip it. Durabilitywise, silver paint will tend to last longer in the sun I think. The pigment in black is often carbon, and the pigment in aluminum is, one guess. Aluminum is a heavier atom and a bit more UV resistant I think. I just looked at an NWP locomotive that looked fantastic 2 years ago, but today, the SP grey is so blanched it looks nearly white.