Slitherine

Ive seen from early posts that dullcote seems to be the matt varnish of choce. Now Ive used this extensively on my medievals and overall i like the results. However I have some reservations about continuing to use it.

Firstly you need a coat of normal varnish before you apply the dullcoat. This seems twice as much work as stricltly necessary and can, if your not careful, make the figure look glazed.
Secondly despite this first coat of varnish some colours still occasionally run, ruining a perfect figure.
Finally it seems to sap the vitality out of some colours, especially silver bronze etc.

So to get to the point, could anyone recomend another matt varnish? I have tried vallejio, which I dont like and coat d'arms which is not bad, but not matt enough.

Any advice appreciated.

Matthew

I finish my figs with 1 coat of gloss varnish followed by 2 coats of Satin varnish as do some of my friends.
The Full gloss seals the main painting and the 2 Satins give protection from handling. When the figs start to shine, from constant use or poor handling you know to hit them with another layer of Satin. Thw satin also gives the figs the sweaty look that people exsirting themselves in combat/ labour get.

John Mc

I have always just used Testors matt spray myself. 1 coat and off I go. I use artist acrylics exclusively and have never had any paint wear off so far. Works great on lead, soft plastic and hard plastic figures. A primer is necessary on the lead and hard plastic though.

Thanks all. I will experiment (mad cackle).

I have always gone with a gloss varnish first, then a matt varnish. I read somewhere once that gloss varnishes are much tougher than matt varnishes so using that first provides protection.

deadtorius wrote:I have always just used Testors matt spray myself. 1 coat and off I go. I use artist acrylics exclusively and have never had any paint wear off so far. Works great on lead, soft plastic and hard plastic figures. A primer is necessary on the lead and hard plastic though.

This is pretty much what I do, but I do go in and touch up the larger metal areas will brush applied glosscote. This tends to perk the figures up a bit.

In the end it is what procedures and effects satisfy you, and no one else.

As I understand it, gloss is no thinker or more protective than matt varnish. It is just that matt varnish contains anti-shine properties. It should make no difference what is used under the final matt layer.

Paul

I'd recommend Humbrol Matt Cote. Before stiring it for the first time pour away half of the clear fluid from the top of the jar. Then mix, when brushed on and dry the result is a dead flat matt. Marvellous - never gone wrong for me.
P.

Before stiring it for the first time pour away half of the clear fluid from the top of the jar

Always been very impressed with your armies Paul, so will try this one first. So you buy something and then chuck half of it away. i wonder who thought of that first.

Thanks all for the input.

Matthew

My recipe is an initial coat of Klear/Future (an acrylic floor polish for those who havent come across it before) with a small amount of Winsor & Newton Peat artists ink added - a good gloss coat, dries quickly and the ink creates a degree of shading and seems to make reds a bit more vibrant. I then follow this with brush-on Winsor & Newton Galeria artists matt varnish - a good flat matt varnish readily found in many hobby/art stores (in the UK, Hobbycraft stock both the ink & the varnish; Klear/Future comes from the supermarket cleaning aisle!)

Phil

MatthewP wrote:

Before stiring it for the first time pour away half of the clear fluid from the top of the jar

Always been very impressed with your armies Paul, so will try this one first. So you buy something and then chuck half of it away. i wonder who thought of that first.

Thanks all for the input.

Matthew

Not quite as bad as that... initially the jar should be 1/3 cloudy varnish stuff (technical speak alert!) and 2/3 clear other stuff.. pour away half of the clear stuff, not half of the jar in total. Not sure why i started to do it this way, might have read it somewhere - works a treat anyway, either as a single coat or as a second coat over gloss