The purely decorative is, for example, a stained or clear finish over a hardwoood on a ship that was built out of cheaper wood, or especially one where the prototype was painted. In the decorative finish one generally wants a very high gloss, and the clear gloss coat helps achieve that.
Lets now consider the authentic finish. Even if a ship is originally painted with gloss paint, it soon weathers to a dull or flat finish. Many modelers paint even such a ship first with gloss paint. If it will have decals, decals work much better over a gloss finish. Then they apply a clear matt finish to create the final matt appearance.
Another reasons for using the matt clear include not being able to find the appropriate color in a matt paint. Some people also use the matt clear over matt paint because the clear matt makes the finish even flatter than the flat paint.
A good example of the matt finish is for Twentieth Century warship models. But
working late 19th and 20th Century ships were also usually flat. Even, again,
if painted with gloss paint they were not maintained in such a way to keep them
shiny. Of course, there is also the related subject of weathering the finish,
adding rust stains, paint chipping, salt spray stains, etc. In contrast, many
of the more prestigious passenger liners were kept in very sharp, clean, glossy
shape.
{Don Stauffer}
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