I am new putting figures together & painting them for my 1/35 scale armor models and I'm having some difficulties. I need tips on painting them and even more so, I need tips on making them seem "not so glossy" even though I'm using flat paints. I'd appreciate all input. Thanks!

HI welcome to the best site on the net for military modeling.
ok when u are done with with the figues.
paint a clear flat coat over the clothers and gear. but make sure the paint is dy for a day or so,
i use model master clear flat arylice coat..
and this will take the glossy away, .
i hope this helps and good luck

Hello to a Johnny Reb from a Billy Yank.
Painting figures is one of the more challenging segments of this hobby. I've been doing it since the early 80's at least and I'm still learning. As Tazz says, to get rid of the gloss a final coat of clear flat (WARNING: DO NOT USE TAMIYA FLAT FOR THIS) of your choice will correct any gloss. I prefer Dullcote laquer with an airbrush.
As to specifics of painting figures, you can search the articles here and at Missing Lynks for some good pointers. If you can pick up a copy of the Andrea CD-Rom, that's a full tutorial on using acrylics. There's a book out on Painting Civil War FIgures that really is more of a figure painting book, since it deals with one figure throughout.

Welcome to Armorama SSGBruce ,
you can use the Figure Forum section of this page to get in contact with figure modellers. They will certainly provide a lot of help and techniques that you can apply for painting figures in 1/35 scale.

You could as well check the following websites:

Missing lynx - Articles
http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/articles_figures.htm

Article on Painting faces uploaded by Petro
http://petro.i8.com/miscellaneous/Model%20pics/research/model%20citizen.jpg

Some useful articles on painting figures for beginners
http://www.ww2modelmaker.com/articles.htm

Finescale modellers forums
http://www.finescale.com/

Vince Wai's Page
http://www.alphaimagemodelworkshop.com

I hope it helps out m8!

Smrt Fasizmu, Sloboda Narodu!