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Hi

Does anyone else have this issue I find when I've highlighted or used very watered down paints when I gloss my minis I seem to loose the effects.

I apply two coats of Vallejo matt varnish via paint brush straight out of the bottle.

Thanks in advance for any help.

A common problem, and to a certain point unavoidable. The best models are often not varnished, though they usually sit in a display cabinet instead of getting played with. It is a necessary evil of having table-top usable mini's.

That being said, 2 coats of varnish via brush? I'm guessing way too much. I only put on 1 or 2 layer of vallejo varnish via AIRBRUSH, which is going to be much thinner. I would use a spray varnish instead of brush on, or cut back to a single layer.

Finally, a gloss varnish is going to preserve your colors better, but obviously you then have a shiny mini. I know some people do a layer of gloss then a layer of matt. The gloss actually protects better, and looks better, and the matt gets rid of the shine.

riplikash wrote: It is a necessary evil of having table-top usable mini's.

It's really not. I've never varnished any of my gaming minis. I've been using some of them for more than 15 years now, and they still look fine.

The gloss actually protects better,

This is a myth.

Thanks for the advice at this point in time I'm considering not varnishing my minis any more.

I only play with them one weekend in every three months.

It's really not. I've never varnished any of my gaming minis. I've been using some of them for more than 15 years now, and they still look fine.

I think this depends heavily on the mini. Brush painted plastic models seem to do fine without varnish, even though occasional dropped or something that happens.

But I think anything airbrushed or metal minies in general do need varnish to stay safe.

MakeH wrote: But I think anything airbrushed or metal minies in general do need varnish to stay safe.

That's very true - you only need to look sharply at an airbrushed model and it starts chipping... The coat is just so very thin, that a protective layer is a must.

Cheers,


IK-Painter

nice interesting post you got going guys, always wondered about seal minis or not...

I use dullcote, which is sprayed on, but get the same effect, it seems to increase the transparency of lighter colors. Some tutorials I have seen recommend a light varnish after each layer, this would let you know what each layer will look like after varnish before you move on in addition to protecting your previous work if you make a mistake. (I never actually do this, but it sounds like a good idea.)

that is useful and indeed allows you to fix mistakes, but it adds a lot of time to a model which might be an issue especially when painting regiments. Also, you need an airbrush for this since brushing a layer of varnish for layer of paint will get thick fast. I tend to do this when airbrushing tanks though.

insaniak wrote:

riplikash wrote:The gloss actually protects better,

This is a myth.

Not really, you have to understand what the differences are between a gloss coat and a flat coat. Typically when you lay down a gloss coat it self levels and provides a smooth finish, this smooth finish is what creates the gloss and provides the shine, if you could imagine, the little "gloss coat" particles when applied line up like so;

----------------------------------------


Creating a straight even surface that can reflect light.

Dull coats do not operate the same way, they line up in a fashion that directly reflects the surface it is being applied to , so you get something more like this;

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

This creates a much more uneven surface, meaning that when something is dragged across of a surface with a dull coat, the dull coat actually provides something to be bitten into, creating the chip in the paint. If you were to take 2 colors and apply even amounts of them on the same surface, then put even amounts of clear coat(gloss on one, dull on the other), let them dry the same amount of time, and then drag your finger across them,the dull coat surface will break down much faster than the gloss coat.

This is why primer is flat, it gives a tooth for paint to bite into.

Ashton

**Not sure why my response is showing up in quotes.... no /quote is any where in my response ** - Too many quote tags... fixed. - insaniak

The colour i'm having the most issue is with the watered down vallejo game color verdigri on my khorne Berserers it looks like I havent put any on after two coats of varnish. The rest of the mini is fine although the highlights on the head are now hard to see (grey helmets). The red of the armour is lovely though, it looks better than before.

I have some before pictures, I'll take some after ones later and post them both so you can see.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here's the image the top pic is before varnish





Maybe its just me but it looks the same just has a bit more of a sine to it lol

Have you tried a coat or two of gloss with a final coat of flat? The last coat of flat tends to remove most of the gloss (but not all) and doesn't dull the colors as much as multiple coats of flat. As always, try it on a test fig first.

I'll give it a try Warboss, cheers

Something I've done a time or two is actually add another layer of paint over the final coat of varnish. Just final highlight level, not an entire repaint.

It only works on some figures, of course. But things like metal knights/iron warrior CSM it works out fine, and gives a little bit more "pop" to the figures in the end, and they're well protected.