Scale75 airbrushing for matte black look

[infyrana]

I've never been happy in the past with my results in painting black as I end up with varying degrees of matte-through-glossy results depending on how and what I used to undercoat the models.  Having reviewed a few vids on painting black for Raven Guard specifically, I came across someone using a very nice matte black in the form of the Scale75 Scalecolor range.  So I ordered the (flat) black, graphite and eclipse grey to see what I can do, arriving later this week!

 

Sadly I have not yet used the Scale75 range of paints before and understand they have a gel based medium to get a better coating.  I therefore have no idea if my plan will work out well or not - so I'm looking for advice please.  Specifically help with step 3.!

 

Steps, untested, are as follows:

 

1. Undercoat via airbrush with Vallejo Black Primer (easy bit!).

2. Pre-highlight / Zenithal highlight via airbrush with either Vallejo Grey Primer (grey, or a black/white mix) or use a very light Vallejo grey (another easy bit!).

3. Airbrush a very thinned layer of Scale75 matte black to give it the dull finish I'm after.

4. Very light edge highlights of Scale75 Graphite and Eclipse Grey (will test light dry brushing as I prefer that to edge painting).

5. Find a test model and attempt to learn how to use a wet palette for better shading (this should be fun! >_<).

6. If above step fails, go back to more drybrush highlighting.

7. Paint everything else.

8. Apply weathering products, but don't overcake it like my DG!

 

So with step three, I'd like to achieve a matte black finish that shows the light sections from the pre-highlights, but I've no idea how the Scale75 will coat the model or how best to thin it.  I'd like to try and get a gritty 30k'esque look with minimal shine (need to rethink the metalics for weaponry etc).

[Shovellovin]

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/333538-scale-75-paints-and-airbrush/

 

Here is a discussion on how to thin Scale75 paints for use in an airbrush.

[infyrana]

Cheers, so thinning is doable!

 

So that just leaves whether my technique idea is valid and if the thinned paint will let the highlights shine through whilst retaining the matte look.