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So, when I varnish my minis, this is what I usually do:

1. Spray them with a coat of gloss varnish, as I hear it protects a bit better.
2. Spray them again with a coat of matte varnish, to get rid of the glossy shine.


Does anyone do more than two coats? How many do you do, and is there actually any advantage to doing more than two coats?


My other question is, I have a few older minis that when I varnished them, I only sprayed them with a coat of matte varnish. I really want to protect my minis as much as possible, so I have been considering spraying them again, with a coat of gloss varnish and then a third coat of matte varnish to get rid of the shine, so they'd end up with three coats total. Is this a bad idea? What are the possible negative consequences to this? Should I take care to spray them particularly lightly, if I do this, or should I just forget the idea completely?

There are a few things that you should consider:

If you ever plan on selling your models, the paint will be harder to strip. Maybe not a big deal.

If you have a bunch of varnish on a model, the paint will start to take on a cloudy look because of the varnish on top. So yes, you can have too much varnish.

I'm not planning on ever selling any of what I'm currently working on, so that's not really an issue.

At what point do you think I'd start to get the cloudy effect? Three coats? Four? I've heard that some people use several coats of varnish (i.e. more than two) but I'm not sure what is more excessive as opposed to effective.

Unless using decals I spray gloss, then matt, or satin for vehicles.

Finally I touch in the jewels and eyes with gloss.

Matt and satin varnish is the most likely to go cloudy if sprayed too thick. The key is to mix it well, and spray several light coats rather than one heavy coat.

Also, only spray within the recommended environmental parameters. If it is too hot, cold, humid or dry, you will have trouble with sprays.

IMO two coats of varnish is enough.

I use brush on matte varnish (basically drybrush it on) then a far away spray with matte spray just to take the shine off (thanks for the tip Harms66)

Works a treat.

2 final coats should work.

I will sometimes do a clear as a mid-coat (certain airbrush paints require a mid-coat clear) with acrylics if I really want to protect a pre-existing paint job.

Like lets say I do the most awesome highlighting and shadowing of my life on a beasties flesh. I'll clear it with a matte varnish (matte has tooth for successive layers to stick too), let it dry for several hours and then I'll proceed from there. If I botch up I can take a qtip or brush, wet it down, erase my screwup and because rattle can clears are normally oil based I won't harm the underlying "OMFG it's awesome" paintjob.

So I'd also recommend a clear coat (matte) over anything you want to preserve in case you screw up. Water won't rub an lacquer or enamel clear away so look at it as like a dry erase board.

With vehicles, do people paint, gloss varnish, apply decals, do oil weathering, then satin topcoat?

Always do decals over a gloss coat. If it must be flat flat get some Testors dullcote in a spray can. It dulls so well that it will even make a matte varnish appear duller than it naturally is.

Paint, gloss, wash, gloss again, decal, then dull or satin.

Kilkrazy wrote:Unless using decals I spray gloss, then matt, or satin for vehicles.

What does satin do for vehicles?

Some people want vehicles that are dull (IG obviously). Satin is a nice middle between glossy and dull. It won't blind you like gloss will but it makes colors "pop" a little more than dull.

Eldar would be more suited to satin and not high gloss or dull.

So for the unit I have that has been sprayed with only one coat of matte varnish, would it be overkill to spray it lightly with gloss, then a final coat of matte varnish? That would be three coats total.

I honestly would not worry about "over-clearing". 3 coats won't hurt the look. If you get problems it'll be due to various other factors, not the amount of coats of clear.

Custom car paint jobs typically have 4-6 coats of clear (8+ if you count the mid-coats clears).

I did a BT that I cleared in between every layer of glaze that I did + 2 final clears. I did 12 layers of glaze. That's 14 coats of clear (13 matte and 1 gloss). I didn't notice any negative side effects.

Of course the quality of clear plays a part. I'd avoid GW clear like the plague. Not saying it's bad but it's overpriced. I use Krylon for clear and nothing else. $3.50/can at Walmart and Krylon has made a name for itself so I trust it to work like it supposed to when used properly.

Thanks Fateweaver, I'll probably go for it then, and gloss coat them when I varnish my next finished platoon.

I usually use Testors Glosscote and Dullcote. I've never had any problems with either.

LunaHound wrote:

Kilkrazy wrote:Unless using decals I spray gloss, then matt, or satin for vehicles.

What does satin do for vehicles?

It is more realistic compared to real vehicles, I think.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-299-1140_Tank%20Pictures.html

Kilkrazy, not wishing to throw flies in ointment but those tanks are in museums and have been repainted. We painted our tanks in very matt paint (infared reflective). Thelast thing you need is a shiny tank.

Having said that, up to the individual realy, whatever looks good to you, let's face it - camo is not a stong point in 40k, just look at the Eldar!

Those are second world war tanks which have been preserved by the Tank Museum at Bovington.

Vehicles 'in the wild' tend to accumulate oil, grime, wear and so on which changes the factory paint job.

Like you say, it is about the look. Models need to look like our idea of what they should look like, not be realistic. I like my tanks to be a satin finish.

Cool, each to their own mate.

Million wrote:With vehicles, do people paint, gloss varnish, apply decals, do oil weathering, then satin topcoat?

The short answer is…Kinda. It all depends on how involved your weathering process is, and what techniques you are using.

Gloss coat is for the hard long lasting protection.
Matt helps the fig look a bit more real and does protect your paint though not nearly as well as gloss. Matt can be re coated on older figs as it will rub off over time on well handeled figs. Just insure you get the fig clean and dust free before adding another coat.

Metal figs - gloss coat ( enough to insure its covered ) then matt coat.

Plastics figs- (I do gloss first) Matt is probably enough as the figs rarely have enough weight to scratch a matt coat no matter what you do to them in the normal way of gaming.

Armor and large figs gloss then matt. Coats are really to your liking.

As for decals, I use the brush on sealers for decals.
gloss the section to aply decal'
use decal solution
apply decal
use decal solution over decal until its how you want it
gloss coat over the dry decal. ( this erases the "halo")
Matt varnish over the whole thing to blend it back in

if your using satin coat you would use satin as your final coat vs matt.

I use WalMart Color place for the gloss and GW Matt and or Testors Dull coat.