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How does matte varnish affect water effects? How can I avoid any fuzzing or ruining of the muddy look I'm going for? Should I seal before adding them?

Thanks!

Well if you use a matte varnish I'm quiet sure the water effects will loose there shine.

That's precisely what I was thinking

I wonder if going back over it with a gloss varnish would work? I'm mostly curious, I've decided I need to seal them before water effects are applied. The thing is, I'm pretty sure that I'll want to add the the paint job. In this case, I guess I'd just put putty over the water effects bits, but it's going to be complicated.

I honestly don't know, but I'd think if you re-varnish with gloss then you should get back to the original look, though I'd test it on something first.

Whether something appears glossy or matte is usually just a property of the surface either directly reflecting/transmitting light or diffusing/absorbing light, I know the resins I typically work with go on clear and glossy, but as you sand them they get all scratched and stuff and you can no longer clearly see the carbon fibre underneath, but then if you give it a coat of clear or even just wet it, it looks glossy again and you can once again see the carbon finish below the resin.

Whether the same applies to varnish, I dunno, I think it would.

You are best off to apply the water effects last after sealing the model.

They won't have that water effect shine if you seal them with matte varnish, after applying the water effects.

IF you do think you need to do it that way, just cover the water effects with some Blu-Tac or something of the sort, and it should be fine.

Thanks for the feedback guys!