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yeah,
my models are dusty to the touch so I think later today I'll wash them down again like MM says and see how that goes... think about stripping them after that!

It seems that while wet they look good, so like GMM Studios says you need to cover them with something that will lock this look in. I'm thinking of taking them to Arbitor Ians house tommorrow and painting them with some of his army painter dip... that should seal in the white mess, and be dry for saturday.

Or? The tourney is at a games convetion so there maybe a hobby stall in attendance with some spray on zip Kicker! last minute fix!

Panic...

if the water wash fails, try to hit it again with the Purity Seal.. I would urge at least to TRY that before stripping..

DO NOT spray with Purity seal while the model is actually wet.. (at least that is what I think you are saying that in paragraph 2)..

yeah,
I tried the water meathod to some success.
Next morning when dry, I tried the varnish respray outdoors and then brought the models straight indoors, this didnt work, it brought me straight back to square one as in the photo.

I'm going to test the spray on some old minis, I've sprayed indoors and got white mess, and outdoors and got white mess... I think my can of varnish is no good.

Panic...

what color did you initially paint them? when i've had the varnish problem, it's turned foggy grey on my black primer/base coated marines but not gritty (which it sounds like you're describing). you may have a bad batch of sealer. flat sealer has some particles in it to take away the gloss and yours might have too much from the description. the only time i've gotten sandpaper like texture was when i used a 6 year old can of armory primer.

I've had the same problems when using Testor's Dullcoate - when researching it, I found out that alot of the matte varnish sprays "collect" small amounts on the spray nozzle. I almost cried a couple times when some really nice Tau battlesuits and Nurgle rhinos ended up looking like I had sprinkled snow over them after sealing them in. If you use the spray, try cleaning off the nozzle with a bit of water and a Q-tip immediately afterwards. As well, when you get ready to use the spray can again, spray it a couple times out away from your model to clean out any particulates that were left from the last time you did it. Since I started doing that, I've never had any problems since.

I'm not usually one for riviving old / dead threads, but, to be honest, my entire reason for joining these forums is to solve a huge issue I'm having relating to this very topic. (though I'm sure I'll find lot's more useful information floating around here.)

Anyway, on with the issue.

I've recently rekindled my love of wargaming, thanks in part to some extra time and a house with a finished basement (the "war room") and have dug out the old Necromunda game (started playing it when it first came out and haven't touched it in quite a few years).
I decided to expand my gangs by creating a gang based on the Imperial Guard (still writing some of the rules) and picked up some of the newer IG figs to fill the ranks.

I've spent the last few months painting these lil' buggers and wanted to protect what I've come to consider the best paint jobs I've ever done... so I picked up some Citadel Purity Seal.

Now, apparently, I'm some kinda genius (read; idiot) and decided to just use it as I would any other spray-on lacquer; shake, spray, wait... and didn't really research the possible issues that could come of using this product in various environments... so, now I have some hazy white film covered minis and I need some help.

Here's how the lil' guys started... note the detail, 'cause they're about to dissapear. (note: these are the guys who weren't quite ready to be "protected")

Sorry if the Picture Quality isn't that great.

Now, here's some after pics... Keep in mind, these guys were painted similarly to the ones above;


And here's a comparison... note the canteens... both were beastial brown with light brown highlights and boltgun metal detailing... not so much any more for the troop on the right;


So, as I stated, I came here for some help... I read through some of the posts and tried some of the remedies;

MagickalMemories wrote:Okay, Porky... YMMV...
So, when I had this problem, here's how I fixed it: Water.

I got a clean cup full of clean tap water, a paper towel (folded into quarters) and a VERY VERY soft bristled brush. I just used a cheapo brush that was about half the size of a tank brush.

Dip the brush into the water, then lightly touch it to the quartered paper towel to leech some of the water out of the brush. The brush should be wet enough that, if you run it across a surface, it will leave a little water behind but not so much that it drips or leaves large droplets behind.
Then, you simply "paint" the model with the water.

I had to do each model three times to get all of the grayish haze off of them, but it worked for me.

I gave this one a try... it kinda worked, but not really;

This was the result of about 5 'rinses' with water. But then again, I have a felling that my problem may just be too, well, messy for this fix.

So, then I tried this one;

GMMStudios wrote:Dont use zip kicker on a freshly painted model, I wouldnt want to risk messing it up.

Just spray it again very heavily and then bring it in.

The effect isnt changing color, its fog. Its because the surface gets so rough it distorts the light bouncing off of it. Its sort of like how a car gets dull. The color didnt change the surface changed. It gets rough and light reflects in every direction. When you wax a car it makes it perfectly smooth and light reflects true again.

So, like I said, a heavy second coat will go over it and dry smooth, on top of the bad coat. You will actually see an instant result as the wet varnish is very slick and smooth.

Hope it helps!

PS, your minis look great, and I can tell you put a lot of time and effort into them, however if you would like to make the metals look ten times better in about five minutes hit them with straight from the pot Badab Black for the silver and Sepia for the gold. Devlan Mud will make a higher contrast but darker gold. Its up to you. Its easy and fun!

This made things significantly worse... by significantly, I mean the only way I foresee fixing this is with fire.

Notice that this poor lad now looks like he's been playing in the snow.

So, now I'm down to ZIP Kick... unfortunately, I have absolutly no idea where to get this stuff in Canada... or if it will even help. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

Cheers.

Hi!

OP here..

I do not think you are gonna get any luck with the ZipKicker on this.. it looks, from your pictures, that the spray is "pebbling" up instead of making the mini cloudy.

Yours looks a TON worse than the models I was working on back then.. (apologies for the harsh)

First, take that can back to the store if you can! It is looking bad.. maybe spray some on a scrap painted flat wood piece to show them what happened..

Second, I have converted totally to Krylon Matte and Satin sealer.. do you think you can find that locally? It may not help THESE figures, but it will help the next batch you seal up..

3rd.. quickly invent some fluff about how your gang fights in the snow.. (I keeed, I keeed)

porkuslime wrote:Hi!

OP here..

I do not think you are gonna get any luck with the ZipKicker on this.. it looks, from your pictures, that the spray is "pebbling" up instead of making the mini cloudy.

Yours looks a TON worse than the models I was working on back then.. (apologies for the harsh)

First, take that can back to the store if you can! It is looking bad.. maybe spray some on a scrap painted flat wood piece to show them what happened..

Second, I have converted totally to Krylon Matte and Satin sealer.. do you think you can find that locally? It may not help THESE figures, but it will help the next batch you seal up..

3rd.. quickly invent some fluff about how your gang fights in the snow.. (I keeed, I keeed)

Thanks for the quick reply. Yeah... I somehow doubt the place will give me a refund, they're marking down all their GW stuff, which kinda hints at loss of interest in selling it anymore.

Besides that, I think I've learned my lesson here... If I ever decide to top coat anything again, I sure as hell won't use citadel crap... and I'll definitely test it before dousing a whole squad.

I guess my next resort is to try to strip the paint and finish off these plastics with some simple green. Otherwise it's into the bin for these poor troops.

Pretty costly mistake on my part; in both time and money.

Thanks again for the response.

Do NOT apologize for the threadromancy. This is precisely the type of thread that should keep coming back, in my opinion.

Yeah, from my own experience and what I have heard around the forum Purity Seal is a disgusting waste. Find another product.

Worst case for the Zip Kicker, you can find someone over here who can ship the stuff to you, or go to an online vendor like www.thewarstore.com. They should be able to send you something. If time is sensitive, you may be takin it in the pooper.

I would try to take off the worst of the pebbling with a dry toothbrush first off. then I would try the ZK.

This probably happened because it was too hot or too humid outside when you sprayed.

Try hitting them with a coat of gloss sealer, then a coat of matte sealer. That should work for you. Might even fix them all. :shrugs:

Just don't spray in high heat or humidity. If you've got a basement space where you can spray, that would be best.

Eric

Once_... I see that you live in Ontario, according to my son the humidity capitol of Canada (a good buddy was a paramedic in London and still curses the summers!) You should be able to get CA kicker in any hobby shop near you. The surface looks very rough and may be impossible to 'flatten', you may have to strip and repaint. We can still get Testors sprays in Canada and I would suggest those or the Army Painter brand if your local shop carries it.

FYI, while I have tried the zip kicker trick on sealer and had it come out good, the same trick does not work with Army Painter spreay primers, just in case anyone was wondering.