Abstract: An article protected by a protective coating system is fabricated by providing an article substrate having a substrate surface; and thereafter producing a protective coating having a flattened, pre-oxidized protective-coating surface on the substrate surface by depositing a protective coating on the substrate surface, the protective coating having a protective-coating surface, processing the protective coating to achieve a flattened protective-coating surface, and controllably oxidizing the protective-coating surface. A thermal barrier coating may be deposited overlying the flattened, pre-oxidized protective coating.