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Does anyone use this to seal their models? I tried using it and it just did not look good. When you spend a lot of time painting I would rather just repair them as they get marred by use. Am I missing something?

Are you using a flat lacquer/varnish? Glossy miniatures do look a bit off.

There are many about testors dullcoat being the most well known.

The good news is that you can apply a flat coat over the top of gloss to gain the benefits of both types.

I like Vallejo Satin Varnish... its a nice semigloss, and provides a really smooth finish when airbrushed on.

I actually use it between a few different layers in my paint... after basecoating, after highlighting, and again after detailing.

They came out with a speckled look. I am using the testors dullcoat. Do I need to use several layers? if you get them to come out perfect how do you do it? I also want to play with my army... so would it be better to use it for added protection?

HONAW wrote:They came out with a speckled look. I am using the testors dullcoat. Do I need to use several layers? if you get them to come out perfect how do you do it? I also want to play with my army... so would it be better to use it for added protection?

Speckled? hmm I've never had that. Perhaps you're holding the paint can too close to the models, it needs to be a good 8-12 inches away. I know that seems like a lot and there will be a lot of overspray, but any closer and you're just going to saturate the figure.


And yeah Testors Dullcoat is the way to go. I had a really bad experience with a Krylon clearcoat absolutely ruining several of my models and I'm wary to try anything different at this point.
Testors also makes a high gloss clearcoat too, it just depends on how you want them to look.

Ideally, you would spray them once with a high gloss clearcoat. It's a lot thicker than the Dullcoat and better for protecting the model.
And then spray over that with the Dullcoat if you don't want them to be glossy.
Clearcoating gives the models an excellent looking finish and really improves the overall appearance - just be really careful after all that work getting up to a finished product.


Also, if you've already sprayed your guys with the Testors Dullcoat - it's probably not a good idea to spray over that with high gloss, and then again with Dullcoat. It's just too much, I've never done this before but it seems like it would be just too much.
If you've already sprayed them with the Testors Dullcoat - leave it alone, it will be good enough really.

I will follow your advice. Its better to have them protected.


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I found if you shine them in light you can see a speckled look. I don't know if I should as I am picky on how they look.
Do you think you could upload a pic of the gloss coat then with dullcoat. I want to see what it looks like before I spend anymore money on it.

Sounds like you might have sprayed in the wrong conditions. There's an article here on Dakka somewhere that covers this. IIRC he re sprayed under the correct conditions (Temp, clear nozzle, shaken can) and it seemed to fix the issue

Are the speckles you're talking about white, cloudy areas? If so, the condition is usually referred to as "frosting" and is a common issue with aerosol matte varnish sprays. The most common fix is a coat of gloss varnish over the top, which essentially fills in the surface imperfections causing the whitish appearance, followed by a more carefully applied topcoat of matte, to achieve the desired finish. If you don't douse the models, you can actually apply quite a few coats of varnish before they get a visibly thick "shell," so don't worry too much about coating and re-coating.

HONAW wrote:Do you think you could upload a pic of the gloss coat then with dullcoat.

Later today I'll get home later and get a shot of one. I imagine it's not going to be too great of an example, some things just don't show up in photography or aren't a good comparison.
Also my models are pretty good, but nothing to brag about
I'll be able to do that later though, no prob

optimusprime14 wrote:Sounds like you might have sprayed in the wrong conditions.

Yeah humidity, temperature, and other stuff is a big deal when spraying a clearcoat. Unfortunately, I think the best for me is to spray indoors. I spray my models in my laundry room and I usually do get kind of messed up from the fumes. It's probably not good at all, but I've not had any luck at all spraying outside.
Maybe I just don't live in a good place for it

[quote=The_Juggler

optimusprime14 wrote:Sounds like you might have sprayed in the wrong conditions.

Yeah humidity, temperature, and other stuff is a big deal when spraying a clearcoat. Unfortunately, I think the best for me is to spray indoors. I spray my models in my laundry room and I usually do get kind of messed up from the fumes. It's probably not good at all, but I've not had any luck at all spraying outside.
Maybe I just don't live in a good place for it

Vallejo Matt is nice, though it leaves it a tad shiny.

HONAW wrote:Do you think you could upload a pic of the gloss coat then with dullcoat. I want to see what it looks like before I spend anymore money on it.

Here's one of my better models.
Honestly I think there isn't much to see here.
And in fact, I think that's the idea - you're not supposed to see the clearcoat very much.
The figure has kind of a satin-like finish with a very matte sort of shine to it, it looks more realistic and not shiny like a typical clearcoat.

****
Also, the grainy and rough look is from a bad basecoat and because I wasn't thinning my paints enough.
Slather it on really thick and it won't turn out so great.

Now, with just the high gloss, it looks very shiny and glossy, almost like it's wet.
In fact for some applications you might actually want that.

Also, the Dullcote makes my bases look a lot better, in fact I do the clearcoat on them separately.
I'm using a sheet of cork painted black with white highlights - it's supposed to look like black rock.
The high gloss makes it look shiny, kind of like asphault. But the Dullcote makes it look completely *not* shiny like real rock.



So good luck - be careful with it

You seem to have it down. I will wait to do my coating in the summer as it is winter here.

There is no problem with spraying in the winter...the high now a days outside is in the teens and I prime and clear coat all the time...that "textured" finish your getting is called orange peel. Means your spraying from too far away, and not allowing sufficient dry time.

What is happening is the particles are mostly dry before hitting the surface, so instead of laying flat, they clump up. Spray closer, and with shorter "bursts" of lacquer. Give about 20min between coats and you will be fine.

Ashton

personally i put 2+ coats of clear gloss over my figures, then i follow up with a matte. always seems to give me a better protection than straight matte.