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Hi, returning player (3rd Edition) here, and I'm almost done painting my first unit in 14 years which are 100% plastic, and am wondering if I should even bother with varnish after they're finished. In 3rd Ed. my army (which I no longer have ) were composed of models that were 100% metal and models that were mostly metal with some plastic parts. Back then I did varnish them as that was what was recommended to me by veteran gamers at the time for metal models. Whenever one of those models fell off the table though, arms and guns would fly off and the paint would chip like hell even with the varnish on.

So now I've already accidentally dropped a few of my newer plastic models while painting, and so far have had no broken parts and no visible paint chips that I'm aware of. To me they seem very durable and it sort of feels like a waste to buy varnish. What do you guys that have been playing with the newer models for awhile recommend? Varnish or no varnish for the 100% plastic kits?

If you're going to be handling your models, it protects from finger grease, and more importantly, other people's grody hands.

It stops paint from taking up skin oils, and gives a uniform appearance, protects your decals if you use them, and gives a restore point when painting if you mess up.

Short answer: Yes if you touch them a lot.

I've never found it necessary to varnish plastic stuff. Metal, always, resin, depends on the exact type as there are so many slight variations, but just plain plastic I've never bothered, and it's had no adverse effect over several years of constant use.

Yes!

really, yes, it helps protect them a lot. You don't want the paint wearing off with use, them banging into something or each other accidentally and chipping. Plus what Buttery said

I do these days, especially since I've gotten more into pin washing, most things get at least a coat of gloss and matt. If you airbrush your models I definitely would, as the coats are so thin.

So for those of you that do varnish, do you put it on before or after basing the miniature? Does it work with texture paints for the base, and what about the grass/plant material some people base with?

Sprays: After basing, before grass and weathering powders.
As long as everything has been dry for 24hrs, you can merrily varnish it all.

Brush on: More lenient regarding drying time, still don't varnish your grass.

"Worth it" is very subjective.


I would agree for the various reasons posted above that it can help over time to retain the appearance of your models.

How much worth is that to you?

I use an airbrush varnish - I use a matte for most of my armies, as it gives a nice even finish to them - also helps over decals.

For my tyranids (who are supposed to look...gooey) I use a very high gloss varnish.

On my tyranids I do the varnish before the base (as the bases are not supposed to look glossy).
For my other armies, I use the varnish AFTER basing, as with my specific color schemes and themes, it feel it looks better.

best of luck!!

For me, it depends on how much I intend to handle the model. A lot of my models don't get played very much, so I don't bother. For example, Mephiston will be lucky if he sees 2 games a year. Sanguinary Guard? Not even that. Land Raider? Not worth the effort.

On the other hand, tacticals, scouts, bikes, death company, drop pods, razorbacks, centurions, furiosos... I will give a clear coat to stuff even if it isn't a really good unit, so long as I'm going to play it regularly.

Oh, and strictly display models, very rarely.

Plastic models tend to chip a lot less than metal ones, partly because the paint adheres better, and partly because they're not as heavy, so the impact forces when they are dropped, or collide, is fairly negligible. It would still be recommended that you varnish them though.

Personally, my main incentive for varnishing is because it looks better. It also makes the miniatures easier to clean if they get dusty (like on a shelf), and less vulnerable to greasy fingers and stuff. If you don't varnish them, then probably not much will happen, at least not for ages. I've got plastic miniatures I painted decades ago which were never varnished, and they are still okay... Or they might have lost a bit of their lustre, but I painted them so long ago I can't really remember if they used to look better or not.

If you care about your paint job and you want to preserve it, then I would recommend you varnish. On the other hand, if your paint job resembles this little beauty that I found on ebay...
Then you're probably 'just fine' without it.

Honestly, the amount that really good, pro-painted models go for on ebay, especially when done in the classic chapter colours of imperial fists - if I could paint anywhere near that well I would do it in a heartbeat.

I mean, the way that the light is represented, the shadows and depth to the model, the fact that you can actually see the pain in the gunners face, as if to say "how the feth am I holding onto this gun when it is over there?"

Edit: Talys, is that one of yours? I thought you mainly did blood angels?

me I use a clear coat spray (usually water based Krylon crystal clear).

What matte varnish and what glossy varnish do you guys use then? Is anyone using the Purity Seal sold by GW?

I have used Krylon Krystal clear satin and matte ... I also tried one that was waterbased and ran it through my airbrush, but when I went to put the decal on a week later it softened up on me. I use that no more. Really happy with Krylon in the can. Oh and the purity seal ... just my opinion, but I think it is overpriced.

I varnish some of my plastics. Not all. Most of the time I varnish it's because it's part of the technique that I'm using (oil paints, decals and whatnot).

A lot of the time I don't varnish because it changes how a model looks.

If you have metallics, they'll get dulled down. If you went to the trouble of doing true natural metallics then it's pretty much impossible to varnish them without destroying the finish.

I use a matte wash on the "skin" of my tyranids, a gloss ink on the exposed fleshy bits and nothing on the weapons/claws. That means the skin looks matte, the weapons look satin and the exposed flesh looks glossy. If I varnished it, it'd destroy the effect.

On the other hand, my IG, using a varnish kind of dulls down the contrast which I sort of like.

So it depends on the model.

I have found Vallejo's Polyurethane Satin (not their acrylic resin satin) sprayed through an airbrush to be the least "intrusive" varnish, as it tends to match the natural sheen of many paints. However that's only going to work if you have an airbrush, I don't know about rattle can varnishes. Army Painter's Satin is much closer to a matte for my likings.

It depends what effect you are after, and if you want to spray or brush on the varnish. I use W&N varnish, as you can mix it yourself to get different gloss/matte effects. Usually, I go for 5 parts gloss and 1 part matte, which gives a medium "satin" look (matte tends to dominate gloss quite quickly when they mix). I generally brush it on, but it will also go through the airbrush.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
I use a matte wash on the "skin" of my tyranids, a gloss ink on the exposed fleshy bits and nothing on the weapons/claws. That means the skin looks matte, the weapons look satin and the exposed flesh looks glossy. If I varnished it, it'd destroy the effect.

You could still varnish it if you wanted to. I use different varnishes for different areas quite a lot.

If you have something that is carefully highlighted (like NMM) then I will hit it with matte because you don't want the gloss adding its own highlights. But for things like slime and blood, gloss varnish can look really cool.

I also use a layer of gloss varnish before I apply a wash, as it tends to make it sit much smoother, and dry darker, and it is much easier to clean it off raised areas. That kind of necessitates that I varnish again afterwards with matte, else it would stay glossy.

Vallejo matt varnish, brushed on, for me. I always varnish my finished models, plastic or otherwise. Never, ever GW Purity Seal. Used it twice, both times I got frosting, despite new cans and shaking the hell out of it for ages. Nothing more frustrating than spending hours on a paint job and then the varnish gakking it up.

 tyrannosaurus wrote:
Vallejo matt varnish, brushed on, for me. I always varnish my finished models, plastic or otherwise. Never, ever GW Purity Seal. Used it twice, both times I got frosting, despite new cans and shaking the hell out of it for ages. Nothing more frustrating than spending hours on a paint job and then the varnish gakking it up.

For purity seal, you need to shake it vigorously for a full two minutes (and it does have to be two minutes), then quickly dry it with a hairdryer to get good results, aka too much effort. I use Vallejo matt, with some thinner through the airbrush.

I do not like the texture result I got from Purity Seal. I think you should test it on something that isn't a model before using it if you go with it.

I didn't frost my model, but I got a grainy surface that I was very disappointed by. I kept my can in the living room and shook really well, so it's probably personal taste.

 Smacks wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
I use a matte wash on the "skin" of my tyranids, a gloss ink on the exposed fleshy bits and nothing on the weapons/claws. That means the skin looks matte, the weapons look satin and the exposed flesh looks glossy. If I varnished it, it'd destroy the effect.

You could still varnish it if you wanted to. I use different varnishes for different areas quite a lot.

"could", yes, but it'd be very time consuming. Airbrush a matte, go back with a satin over the claws and then a gloss over the flesh, but for a horde army it'd add a lot of time to the painting process and isn't really worth it.

Ah, regarding specific varnish uses...

Gloss varnish - liquitex high gloss varnish. Depending upon how precise I need to be or how thick I want it, I sometimes thin it with a bit of 91% alcohol. I use it in a badger patriot 105.

Matte varnish - testors acryl clear matte. Amazing stuff. Thin with a bit of 91% alcohol, and spray in either a badger patriot 105 (for larger areas) or an iwata hp-cs (for a bit more control). It gives a finish that meets my needs.

A lot of good info in this thread, thanks to all who are posting. I may have some new methods and materials to try.

Apologies if I derail the thread, but can i apply Vallejo Matt Varnish using a Hairbrush? All the tutorials are with airbrush.

I use polyurethane spray varnish (MinWax brand). They have a nice satin (semi-gloss) or a glass, depending on your preferences, and I find that the polyurethane provides a noticeably harder varnish than the standard types. Also, in over ten years, I've not had any fogging issues due to high humidity.

I use Purity Seal.
Though it is true, you have to really give it a good shake before using it, I never evers used a hairdryer or something else and the results were always great.
You just neet to make sure, that the air is dry and not too cold.
I would never use it below 15°C. That pretty much also explains why over in the UK everybody hates that stuff

Another question:
I often read that you can use varnish to protect previous painting steps when starting your weathering process.
How would I acutally revert to the last step? Dropping it in alcohol is obviously not the way to go.

Once the varnish goes on, there really is no way to go backwards. Any stripping agent will strip everything.

Also, Testor's Dullcote is the go to for tons of painters as a matte varnish.