Matt Varnish

You might be laughing, but nonetheless...

I got a bottle of matt varnish recently, as I heard it's good to keep the paint on your minis save from damage. So.. I just brush it on and then the paint wont chip off that easily? Is there anything important I should heed?

Spray it on!

hero wrote:

Spray it on!

What he said.

Testors Dull Cote works quite well. I have never tried the brushed on type, but the thought of it scares me!

Maybe test it on a mini you dont mind getting messed up to see how it works.

Buy the spray, as HornedRat said Testors Dull Cote is meant to be one of the best, GW Purity Seal (may be satin?) is good too but I have heard of quiet a few people having 'issues' with it (as in the mini gets coered in a white, specy mist).

I've tried 'paint on' varnish and TBH am not really a fan. It has it's uses yes, for example getting the gloss one to make a part of a matte varnished mini look shiny, but for the most part spray varnish is in my experience better.

If you do decide to stick with the 'paint-on' matte stuff then my advice is to water it down (3 Water/1 Varnish max) and tehn use an old, but clean, brush to apply it as it will ruin the bristles.

Hope this is of some help.

I prefer the painted on varnish.

And sometimes use tinted varnish too, applied with a brush.

I feel it gives me more control, and I can reach all parts an spray varnish can't.

And for some minis I prefer the gloss finish over satin or mate.

But in the end, it's all a matter of taste and/or comodity/convenience, so it's up to you.

About GW purity seal, I've never used it, but heard several rantings about it tuning "yellow" over time.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the advice! As I now have a bottle of paint on varnish and no GW store or other hobby supply anywhere nearby, I will just paint it on, I think.

Caveat: make ABSOLUTELY certain your brush is clean before applying the protective coat. If it's a decent brush also clean it thoroughly after applying the coat; re, the protective coat can do a real number on a brush if allowed to dry on the bristle &/or the ferrule.

I will just take an old GW brush, as I recently switched to another company (Pegasus, if anyone knows) and now have some brushes spare