Package tray touch up or repaint

[Verne_Frantz]

I think part of the problem is that the cardboard is porus to begin with and the first coat soaks into it, barely leaving some low sheen color on the surface. The second coat now lays on that sealed surface and builds up.
I wonder if sanding off the original color down to raw cardboard, then giving it a light thinned coat would produce more of an original sheen.

Verne