Abstract: The invention provides compositions and methods for forming conductive-resistive coatings on non-conductive surfaces. A pre-conductive coating composition contains a lacquer base, including nitrocellulose as a base solid and butyl acetate as a solvent, and a conductive agent. The pre-conductive coating composition is applied to a surface to be coated and allowed to dry. After drying, the pre-conductive coating is exposed to a developer capable of developing the pre-conductive coating to yield a selected conductive-resistive capacity to a final, conductive-resistive coating. The resistance of this final coating can be finely selected for different applications, including a variety of application which employ the conductive-resistive coating as a self-heating surface coating.