Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So, I just picked up a VMC paint kit thingee, and there are little bottles of paint on varnish..

Matt varnish, satin varnish, and gloss varnish. I've never seen matt / satin varnish in anything aside from a spray can before, and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with using these items? Heck, I don't even know what satin varnish IS. QQ

I'm particularly interested in knowing if I could use the liquid matt varnish to varnish a piece of a model that I've already completed so that it doesn't chip while I'm painting the rest of the model. Also, I'd very much like to know if it gives the same effect as a spray on varnish.

Thanks!

Yep the paint on stuff is pretty good or at least works good for me. When I do my nids I use spray gloss varnish but it doesn't always hit the whole model, so I'll go back over it with brush on varnish in some of the spots it missed, and also more on the head to make it even shinier.

But, I tried a flat varnish once and it kind of made the dry paint wet again and the colors ran a little.. so do some tests first before you paint the whole model with it

I've used the matte varnish from VMC before. It's good, still shinier than Testors dullcote but not any shinier than, say, Krylon's matte. Probably on par with GW's old 'ardcoat, if you used that.

Yeah, I've actually got a pot of 'ardcoat sitting around somewhere, I think. I always found it too shiny, though =/

Blast the Gloss Coat with a spray of GW Matte Varnish. That should solve your shine issue. It also stops the hard clear plastic (cockpits and necron green bitz) from fogging up.



The tank on the left is totally unvarnished. The tank on the right is fully varnished with the cockpits sealed with 'ardcoat beforehand.

Selestine wrote:So, I just picked up a VMC paint kit thingee, and there are little bottles of paint on varnish..

Matt varnish, satin varnish, and gloss varnish. I've never seen matt / satin varnish in anything aside from a spray can before, and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with using these items? Heck, I don't even know what satin varnish IS. QQ

I'm particularly interested in knowing if I could use the liquid matt varnish to varnish a piece of a model that I've already completed so that it doesn't chip while I'm painting the rest of the model. Also, I'd very much like to know if it gives the same effect as a spray on varnish.

Thanks!

Satin Varnish is basically in between Matt and Gloss.

Im planing on using some acrylic satin varnish on my models, so will post some results when I'm done

Graysen wrote:
Satin Varnish is basically in between Matt and Gloss.

Im planing on using some acrylic satin varnish on my models, so will post some results when I'm done

I'd be very interested to see your results, thanks. And thank you, Eldra, for posting yours as well.

Back in the day ( when I was but a boy ), it was , and maybe still comman practice to use a gloss varnish on a figure first . as its harder than the matt and will protect better , then use matt , because it makes the model look better. After long use the mat might rub off and the model get a bit shiney , so all you had to do was another quick spray of matt.
I also read somewhere of painters who work on military vehicles to varnish between paint coats, or washes. Decals stick better to gloss varnish so its a good idea to paint areas where thay are to be placed gloss , then varnish over them gloss and finally matt.
I think thats just about my entire knowledge of varnish , I hope this helps.

vodski wrote:Back in the day ( when I was but a boy ), it was , and maybe still comman practice to use a gloss varnish on a figure first . as its harder than the matt and will protect better , then use matt , because it makes the model look better. After long use the mat might rub off and the model get a bit shiney , so all you had to do was another quick spray of matt.
I also read somewhere of painters who work on military vehicles to varnish between paint coats, or washes. Decals stick better to gloss varnish so its a good idea to paint areas where thay are to be placed gloss , then varnish over them gloss and finally matt.
I think thats just about my entire knowledge of varnish , I hope this helps.

That's certainly still common practice among hobby modelers. Testors Dullcote solves all shiny issues.

Hey Selestine if you get that exited by new paints , what do you do when you get a new model!!
And looking good by the way.

I use the VMC varnishes quite a lot, especially for decals (one gloss coat under them, one over them, one matte coat over that) and I've found them to be pretty good. My main means of protecting minis is my ancient blue can of GW matte that still gives a decent coverage unmessily, by some stroke of mad luck.

vodski wrote:Hey Selestine if you get that exited by new paints , what do you do when you get a new model!!
And looking good by the way.

Dude.
Don't be TFG.
Douchebaggery of that mangitude gets threads locked FAST.

Selestine wrote:I'm particularly interested in knowing if I could use the liquid matt varnish to varnish a piece of a model that I've already completed so that it doesn't chip while I'm painting the rest of the model.

That is exactly what I do with them. The satin is the best for that, simply because it's the most useless of the 3. There will be times when you'll want it matte, and times you'll want to use the gloss (Testors Matte, followed by brush on gloss on armor returns some armor shine... it works well on liquids -water, blood, etc- as well as eyes and Nurglesque guts).

Eric

MagickalMemories wrote:
That is exactly what I do with them. The satin is the best for that, simply because it's the most useless of the 3. There will be times when you'll want it matte, and times you'll want to use the gloss (Testors Matte, followed by brush on gloss on armor returns some armor shine... it works well on liquids -water, blood, etc- as well as eyes and Nurglesque guts).

Eric

Thanks, I think I'll give it a shot on my Varghulf wings, then. I keep having nightmares about them chipping all to pieces while I spend the next twelve years trying to come up with wing bones that don't look like crap.