varnish?

[lord marcus]

is it really important to varnish models or no?

[hairyyahoo]

depends on how much gaming you intend to do with them and weather or not you want them to look as good afterwards as they did before i'd say for gaming minis varnish is all but essential as it protects the paint job.

[Mart007]

I find, a good quality varnish like Dulcote gives your minis a nicer finish than no varnish. Sometimes I find GW paints can sometimes dry in a semi gloss satin finish, varnishing irons this out.

[Warmaster Romulas]

iiunderstand that they protect
do they really change the way a model look that much?
and do all varnishes dry shiney or is there a flat finish to some?

[SteveBerenyi]

there are flat varnishes, but i prefer the Satin finish. it is about mid between semi-gloss and matte.

[Mart007]

Wowser, yes, it can, you can get varnishes in flat. I varnish with dullcote gloss, then two layers of flat, gives a real solid seal and a lovely finish.

[munkey joe paints]

WOW something i can comment on!!!


I do coat ALL my minis in varnish. My choice is 2 coats of gloss (its harder) 1 coat matte (softer than gloss but it dulls it some) and the 1-2 coats testors dullcote/flatcoat. tha last stage makes if FLAT so it loks like no varnish is on it at all. NOW THAT BEING SAID.....seperate your models and do them in batches and finish one coat before starting another. once dullcote is on i cant tel the diff between a coated and uncoated model so i gloss all then matte all then flatcote all.

[lord marcus]

i've got flat varnish, how many layers should i use?

[Prince of the Night]

Originally Posted by Warmaster Romulas

iiunderstand that they protect
do they really change the way a model look that much?
and do all varnishes dry shiney or is there a flat finish to some?

Absolutely ,varnishes change the appearance of the model. I very seldom varnish any of my minis, because in my expierience the varnish "matte, flat, or semi-gloss" has always come out looking to sheen. I personally don't like that look, only because of my paint style. However , varnish can pull a painted mini together as to make the mini look complete and as well as protected.

I have also noticed when varnishing, that metal models would need it more than the plastics, because the metals have a tendancy to chip easier when handled.

[munkey joe paints]

well buddy I would use 2-3 THIN coats with 3-4 hours MIN between each coat.now dep on the brand flat isn't always FLAT. but 2-3 coats should protect your minis from chipping due to normal use.

[lord marcus]

thanks munkey. wow i'm gonna need a whole lotta varnish then.

[SteveBerenyi]

NOTE TO ALL, if you varnish, and later decide to strip your mini to re-paint it, it takes about 2x the time and effort to strip it.

[Dragoon King]

So how good is the Citadel matte varnish? I want a dull look on my CSM, not satiny or shiny. Good question, Lord Marcus, I was wondering the same thing about varnishes.

[munkey joe paints]

HA Steve is being nice 2X is if your lucky!!!

@DK i found GW matte varnish is not very MATTE at all. now i have used it but it has been a while (before the flip bottles). I like to use good ole WalMart clear gloss and Matte from the Spray paint isle. I order testors dullcote from the internet and that makes everything flat. TRUELY flat.

[Rellik]

i use a layer of matte varnish which turns out well enough for me.

[lord marcus]

1 layer on all other models of mine then.

[liveevil2000]

Varnishes are made with resins (thus the protective shell). I know,because I deal with varnishes at work. Gloss varnish is more resistant because there are less additives to the formula and thus you have a higher % of resin than a matte varnish.
A coat of gloss and a coat of matte is usually good for plastic models. As Night pointed out, metal figures tent to chip easier than plastic. Here is the fun fact on this one.
Plastics tent to absorb paint better than metal and thus have more "teeth"(industry term) than metal. Also, plastic tends to be lighter and more flexible. That means they tent to hit surfaces lighter and wont chip as easily. Chipping usually happens on sharp corners on metal for this reason.

There you go! All the fun facts you need to know about varnishes from somebody who formulates the stuff every single day.

[Rhaalidor]

I use different varnishes for different parts of the model. Sometimes, an overall flat varnish doesn't stand out much. Some items like Eldar Waystones need a gloss varnish to stand out from the rest of the model. I very often use a gloss coat to prepare an area for decaling. Most waterslide decals will silver (leave a whitish area under the decal and surrounding carrier) if you use a decal over a satin (matte) or flat area. The decals usualy won't silver when applied over a glossy area. Then, if you need the decaled area to be flat, just brush the Dull-Cote over the area.

If you use Testor's Gloss-cote or Dull-cote (or anything in a spray can), the you WILL have trouble stripping the model later. These are Lacquer based or Acrylic Enamel products, and won't turn loose with anything weaker than Lacquer Thinner. If you want gloss, use Johnson's Future Floor Wax. If you want flat, then thin the Future with Denatured Alcohol to kill the shine. Future Floor Wax is a water-based acrylic solution somewhat akin to GW paint. Simple Green or Super Clean will remove it with a little soaking and some scrubbing.

[liveevil2000]

Now all we need is a chemestry teacher to show us what all the free radicals do when we combine everything to make an atomic bomb McGyver style!

And if you know who McGyver is, you have just carbon dated yourself.

[Rhaalidor]

Originally Posted by liveevil2000

Now all we need is a chemestry teacher to show us what all the free radicals do when we combine everything to make an atomic bomb McGyver style!

And if you know who McGyver is, you have just carbon dated yourself.

McGyver rocks, and I AM A GEEZER! I know it, and I love it.

You don't need a Chem. teacher. I reckon some folks like myself and MJP might be able to conduct such a class. Will we, though? Not likely.

[munkey joe paints]

McGyver does rock!! got it on DVD and it brings back memories....

And yes the home made explosives stuff we could do Rhaalidor.....Dang I hate being called out for stuff like that......lol