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Does anyone have any experience with matte paint? For whatever reason my Nulin Oil wash has made my models glossy as hell and when standing next to the rest of my army it looks like a few of my dudes decided to have oil baths before they went to war. If I spray them with matte paint will the models stop being so damn glossy? And will it affect the color of the rest of the paint?

I guess what I'm getting at is if I'm looking for consistency between my old and new models would it be better to matte the new ones to get rid of the glossiness, or would it be better to just let them be and suck it up?

And does anyone have any suggestions on matte paint or would any brand do the trick?

I always top coat my models with matte lacquer, and so should everyone. Get a can of Testors Dull Cote. A couple of very light coats and your models will lose their shine, and gain a layer of protection. It will also give your models a uniform sheen, which will bring out more detail, as well as get rid of glare. A protective top coat is just as essential as priming.

I varnish all of my models, as well. For gaming models, it greatly increases the durability of the paintjob. For both gaming and display models, where durability is less of an issue, it evens out the finish. I swear by Testors Dullcote, primarily for the quality of the finish (as an added bonus, lacquers are pretty robust, compared to acrylics - the only downsides are the fumes and longer dry time). I'd suggest giving all of them a dusting of matte varnish to leave a more uniform finish.

As a point of clarification, most folks will use the term "varnish" in this instance, as "paint" implies color and you can get spray paints in different lusters, as well (e.g. gloss or flat/matte black). Varnishes are assumed to be clear (some are slightly yellow, but that's nitpicking, aside from the fact that they're generally avoided by modelers).

The GW matte varnish isn't terrible either. Unless they have recently changed the formulation, Testor's Dul-cote will yellow over time, especially if exposed to direct sunlight.

The best stuff ever was Floquil Figure Flat which was made for historics. It would knock the shine off of anything, would never yellow and gave a nice even coat. Sadly it was difficult to find even when in production.

I use Windsor and Newton matte varnish thinned with Tamiya X20A, sprayed through an airbrush.

 AG. wrote:
I use Windsor and Newton matte varnish thinned with Tamiya X20A, sprayed through an airbrush.

I think air brushing varnishes is the way forward, as spray cans need to be used in the right temperature and can ruin models if not used correctly. In saying that, air brushes and compressors are a big investment!

One small tip though, have you tried shaking your pots before you use them? I find that the washes go horribly shiny unless you give them a good shake

Mike Mee wrote:
I think air brushing varnishes is the way forward, as spray cans need to be used in the right temperature and can ruin models if not used correctly.

Airbrushing varnish is far from foolproof. I've never had an issue with a spray can, but had terrible frosting after trying to shoot matte varnish through my airbrush (still a neophyte with a generally troublesome brush, so no surprise there). Not advising against it, by any means, but it's no guarantee of good results.

Also, note that spray cans need to be used at the right temperature, not necessarily in it. I've sprayed just fine in sub-freezing weather by spending a minute or two shaking the can between bouts running it under a hot tap. Hot is fine, too, if it's not overly humid.

Mike Mee wrote:
One small tip though, have you tried shaking your pots before you use them? I find that the washes go horribly shiny unless you give them a good shake

I have not. I shake my other paints before I use them but never considered shaking my washes. I guess I figured they were so watery that I didn't need to.

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

Matting agents are generally the first thing to fall out of suspension with paints...if you want to maintain a matte finish from the pot or bottle...shake or stir well. It is even more of a problem with thin fluids, as there is less body to hold the relatively large matting particles in suspension.

 oadie wrote:

Mike Mee wrote:
I think air brushing varnishes is the way forward, as spray cans need to be used in the right temperature and can ruin models if not used correctly.

Airbrushing varnish is far from foolproof. I've never had an issue with a spray can, but had terrible frosting after trying to shoot matte varnish through my airbrush (still a neophyte with a generally troublesome brush, so no surprise there). Not advising against it, by any means, but it's no guarantee of good results.

Also, note that spray cans need to be used at the right temperature, not necessarily in it. I've sprayed just fine in sub-freezing weather by spending a minute or two shaking the can between bouts running it under a hot tap. Hot is fine, too, if it's not overly humid.

Ah right, I've never had any issues airbrushing varnishes, I suppose both ways have there pro's and con's though. I think it's more about finding the method that works best for you and sticking to it, as long as it produces good results then that's all that matters :-)

Good luck with your washes Jim

I've been using the Testors Dullcote as well, and I've been very pleased with it. My only issue has been that it will take the sheen out of anything metallic, but I plan on getting some brush-on gloss varnish to go back over the metallic parts.

I'm just about finished with my Dark Eldar Venom and haven't painted a model with clear plastic yet. Does anyone know if Dullcote will etch/frost clear plastic? I used the full canopy on the Venom and would like to varnish the painted portions (the edge and the two parts the divide the canopy into 3 windows), but I don't want to ruin the transparency of the glass.

 fenshysa wrote:
I've been using the Testors Dullcote as well, and I've been very pleased with it. My only issue has been that it will take the sheen out of anything metallic, but I plan on getting some brush-on gloss varnish to go back over the metallic parts.

I'm just about finished with my Dark Eldar Venom and haven't painted a model with clear plastic yet. Does anyone know if Dullcote will etch/frost clear plastic? I used the full canopy on the Venom and would like to varnish the painted portions (the edge and the two parts the divide the canopy into 3 windows), but I don't want to ruin the transparency of the glass.

Never use varnishes on clear plastic!