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Ok, so I have seen on occasion people mention using spray varnishes and sealer type products to protect their paint-jobs and bases from general wear and tear. Now at first this seemed like a really good idea, but now I have no idea where to start. I read a little about Testor's dullcote, which is incredibly expensive to get where I am. I did however stumble upon The Army Painter Anti Shine Matt Varnish spray. Now while this is much more accessible and inexpensive, I don't know exactly what it will do to my paint jobs. I have heard good things about the army painter spray if I were using quick-shade, which I am not. I have been making Necrons in a dark silver colour (see This forum), and I am just concerned as to weather it will ruin the silver and end up ruining my paint job instead.

Has anybody used this product for non-quick shade miniatures? If so, how was the result? Most google results are either vague or regarding quick-shaded miniatures.

Thanks

Personally I use whatever sealer I can get my hands on. I've used Motip glossy and dupli-color matte and they've worked just fine for me

I use krylon gloss. i like the glossy stuff because its easier to see where its been applied and where it isn't. i then hit it with dullcote because it only takes a little bit to make the gloss flat, and its an extra layer of protection.

Thanks guys. I might pick it up and test it on one of my models. If I don't like the effect I might give chaos0xomega's strategy.

I also use the two-types varnishing approach, in no small part due to the monetary savings (gloss varnishes are less finicky than matte, in my experience, so I can buy something reasonably cheap to do the heavy lifting, protection-wise, without sacrificing quality) garnered by limiting the amount of Dullcote necessary.

Quickshade is, if I understand correctly, essentially a tinted varnish, hence it's durability and shine. If that's the case, using it over a cheap gloss coat should give you similar results. I can't speak from experience, though, so experiment on scrap if you choose to test the theory.

Generally speaking, matte varnishes, regardless of brand, will mute colors and dull metallic finishes, somewhat. I don't find that it ruins the effect, but I also don't paint particularly bright, polished metals. YMMV.

I am never again using spray on varnish.

You have to shake the bottle a few minutes before you actually varnish. I've had years of practice doing that. I've still had a few figures over the years end up with the varnish dying opaque which means the colors/details underneath were completely ruined.

I did not mind it so much back then, but lately when I take 15+ hours to paint a mini, I don't want to have to restart from scratch due to the varnish messing up with me.

I've bought a bottle of Liquitex matte varnish. While it has to be applied with a brush, it's not very hard or time consuming, you waste a lot less compared to a spray and it's dried clear every single time.

A single bottle of 237ml will cost you maybe 12$ and will last for easily over a hundred minis if you're not willfully wasting it.

Iv been using the Army painter matt varnish for quite a while, these DE of mine give a bit of an idea to the finish you get.



Iv found that how good the varnish comes out depends on whether your spraying at the right distance or not.

Its always better to do thin coats as well, if you over spray its going to go opaque.

The main thing I like about the varnish is that it gives the model an even finish, which works especially well when you do alot of washing.

Thanks for the advice guys. I went and picked up a can of Army Painter matt varnish today, and proceeded to spray just one model. While it may have dulled the metallic colours slightly, I honestly can't tell. It is still clearly insanely similar to the other models, so I guess that's a job well done for The Army Painter. My Necrons, being quite heavily washed, have a decent level of variation as it is in exact colour tone, so the tiniest difference will be no problem at all.