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I use Liquitex brush-on matte varnish, and am very happy with it, except that it really dulls shiny metallics. The color stays the same, but there's none of the shine. Is there anything I can do about this for models I've already painted? Would painting over the metallic bits with high-gloss varnish bring the shine back? Also, for the future, does it make more sense to leave the metal bits unvarnished (easier) or to get some high-gloss varnish for those?

(Spray varnish is unfortunately not an option for me at the moment.)

Generally all it takes to solve this is some planning on the paint scheme.

What I do is paint everything that is going to be matte finish first.
Then I apply the varnish (Usually spray, but also would be the step to brush it on).
After that dries, I will paint any parts of the model that need to be metallic or glossy.

Having different parts be matte/glossy can look bad, but done right it can be very effective. A female "cheesecake" model in fake leather boots, for example. Paint the body/legs with the matte varnish, then paint the boots the glossy black/whatever.
It really makes the metal/glossy parts of the model pop.

You can brush on a gloss varnish over them to get a shine back.
You should really look at it and think about it and take it on a case-by-case basis, though. Some metallics really do look better dull.

Eric

MagickalMemories wrote:You can brush on a gloss varnish over them to get a shine back.
You should really look at it and think about it and take it on a case-by-case basis, though. Some metallics really do look better dull.

Eric

That's what I do when I want a high gloss sparkle on metallics, jewels, eyes and so on.

Me, too, as i LOVE my Testors matte finish.

On eyes and water, I actually prefer a dab of Water Effects over gloss varnish.


Eric

Thanks, I'll! I'll follow that advice about planning it out so the shiny bits go on after the varnish. It's mostly the gold trim on some marines that was bugging me.