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Hi Chaps,

I need to start protecting my mini's as they get utterly battered around and have started to chip paint! Is there a decent matt varnish in a spray can that I can get that is cheaper than the GW stuff? Don't want a shiny finish that my pot of GW varnish gives..!

Cheers,

Grady

I think Army Painter's aerosol varnishes are slightly cheaper, Vallejo's might be as well.

Vallejo's liquid varnishes are good value, though, although if you don't have an airbrush you'll need to brush them on, which I don't think is ideal for varnishing.

sorry I don't know your area, but have you investigated craft acrylic sealers? there are quite a lot on the market, I'd recommend checking them out at least, otherwise using something like Liquitex or other art acrylic sealer would work (if you have an airbrush, be a lot of painting on else). Anyway, worth checking out your local craft store anyway

Purity seal was actually satin finish.
Are you still looking for that?

 Alex Kolodotschko wrote:
Purity seal was actually satin finish.
Are you still looking for that?

It isn't intended to be, but to get a matt finish you need to shake the can for a full two minutes to mix in the matting agent, and assist the drying with a hairdryer (not essential but it helps), otherwise it dries satin.

I use Vallejo varnish through the airbrush. Minimal wastage and quick to do.

Cheap spray varnish will cause you problems, often they don't mix well even with a good shaking, frosting is more likely, nozzle blocks are commonplace. You will inevitably end up binning more than you use, and even at £5-6 a can, it'll add up quick.

If you want to be effiicent cost wise, get a simple airbrush or spray gun and cheap compressor. Full kit should be around £80.

You can then use artist's acrylic satin (I use W&N Galleria Satin) cut with airbrush thinner (Vallejo) and the vallejo primers.

The saving from not having to chuck cans when they get blocked, unclearable nozzles alone (not even considering the convenience / less reliance on weather / reliability) makes it worth it.

If you're worried about smell - the varnish I use doesn't smell, the vallejo airbrush cleaners and thinners don't smell bad. The primer can pong a bit, but it's not bad either.

winterdyne wrote:
Cheap spray varnish will cause you problems, often they don't mix well even with a good shaking, frosting is more likely, nozzle blocks are commonplace. You will inevitably end up binning more than you use, and even at £5-6 a can, it'll add up quick.

If you want to be effiicent cost wise, get a simple airbrush or spray gun and cheap compressor. Full kit should be around £80.

You can then use artist's acrylic satin (I use W&N Galleria Satin) cut with airbrush thinner (Vallejo) and the vallejo primers.

The saving from not having to chuck cans when they get blocked, unclearable nozzles alone (not even considering the convenience / less reliance on weather / reliability) makes it worth it.

If you're worried about smell - the varnish I use doesn't smell, the vallejo airbrush cleaners and thinners don't smell bad. The primer can pong a bit, but it's not bad either.

That's way more expensive than a $4USD pot of Lahmian Medium.

Lahmian Medium is matte. Give that a shot. It goes on very smoothly.

Lahmian Medium is, funnily enough, a medium rather than a varnish and will offer no more additional protection than another layers of paint.

Recently been recommended Belton Molotow varnish. It's cheap, and designed for outdoor graffiti use, so is unaffected by humidity and temperature.

It sprays nicely, and if you buy a few cans, works out very cheaply.

 sockwithaticket wrote:
Lahmian Medium is, funnily enough, a medium rather than a varnish and will offer no more additional protection than another layers of paint.

Please read below:

REVIEW: Lahmian Medium
By Luther, November 26, 2014
Little was known about this ‘technical paint’ from Games Workshop after it was released. Their own website doesn’t go into much detail about what it is or what it does. As to the former, a few Google searches brought up claims that it was the acrylic binder they mix with pigment to make their paints, or that it was a glaze medium (a substance used to thin acrylic paints and also reduce their drying time). At Warhammer Fest recently I asked Forge World’s Phil Stutcinskas what he used to gloss coat his models prior to using washes and applying decals. He said that he allows Lahmian Medium to separate and siphons the top layer (in lieu of the classic Jonhsons Klear which has become akin to gold dust). He went on to explain that Lahmian Medium is a gloss varnish with a matting agent. I am lucky enough to still have half a bottle of the original Jonhsons Klear so have no need of such shenanigans, but Lahmian Medium certainly works brilliantly as a clear matte varnish. And that’s not it’s only use…

Here's the link to the full article:
http://www.themightybrush.com/review-lahmian-medium/

Somebody has got their wires crossed there.

Firstly, all matte varnish is a gloss varnish with a matting agent, that's what makes matte varnish matte.

Secondly, why on earth would anyone siphon out an element of a product when there's plenty of perfectly adequate gloss varnishes out there in the first place? (I suspect maybe because at the time Citadel didn't have a gloss varnish?)

Thirdly, there's a world of difference between laying down a gloss coat for decals or washes and applying something that's going to be hard wearing and protective.

Finally it is an acrylic binder/glaze medium, and they're the same thing.

If you have an airbrush Vallejo makes a good matte varnish.

As much as I want an airbrush for painting (I utterly despise base coating so just eliminating this step would be a god send), but I've always read that you should be looking to spend £120+ and get a decent airbrush... which is £120+ that I can't afford to spend (especially when I don't actually play any miniature games, and just paint models for DnD).

I just need a matt finish that is going to protect the paint from people picking up and moving their miniature all the time. 100% looking for a spray can as I want it to be a quick 30 second spray as I have maybe 30 models to do.

You can get decent Acrylic varnish in any artist supply stores in all shapes or forms. Before i started with Mini-gaming i painted with acrylic paint & got my matte varnish from those stores.

o/

For 30 models and for stuff that's going to handled, and potentially handled roughly by people who didn't paint the models and with dice flying around I'd hand/brush varnish.
A couple of coats of GW Ard Coat followed by a couple of coats of Vallejo Matt Varnish.
Sure it'll take an evening but for relatively few models that need good protection that's the way I'd go.
If an evening sounds like a big job the just do models as you need them for each session.
Also the work isn't massively skilled or fun so if the models aren't surprises for the players then you could all get them done together during a D+D session.

Or a single brush coat of Testors Dullcoat would do it although it's solvent based and a little trickier to use.

Here is a way to protect your minis. Start with a few light coats of Rustoleum Clear Gloss(to protect the minis). It's about $3 US. Then after that drys, use Testors Dullcote(this will dull the paint down) for a few passes. These products should be available where you are. If not you should be able to get them online.

Hope this helps.

gradyhawks wrote:
As much as I want an airbrush for painting (I utterly despise base coating so just eliminating this step would be a god send), but I've always read that you should be looking to spend £120+ and get a decent airbrush... which is £120+ that I can't afford to spend (especially when I don't actually play any miniature games, and just paint models for DnD).

I just need a matt finish that is going to protect the paint from people picking up and moving their miniature all the time. 100% looking for a spray can as I want it to be a quick 30 second spray as I have maybe 30 models to do.

Belton is a spray, and about 1/3 the cost of Purity Seal.

Forgeworld have been told off in the past (many times) by GW main for using / advocating products that are not sold by GW.

Given his decades of military modelling, I can guarantee that Phil has an arsenal of products not made by GW that he uses on a regular basis - he's just not allowed to tell you, in the same way that painting guides are hacked down to absolute minimums to make them accessible to folks looking to buy product right off the shelf.

Curiously the FW Modelling Masterclass books recommend Klear and W&G galleria varnishes (as well as GW) all in different scenarios.

I use a mix of Humbrol spray cans (got them very cheap) and W&N Galleria through an airbrush. No issues for me.

gradyhawks wrote:
As much as I want an airbrush for painting (I utterly despise base coating so just eliminating this step would be a god send), but I've always read that you should be looking to spend £120+ and get a decent airbrush... which is £120+ that I can't afford to spend (especially when I don't actually play any miniature games, and just paint models for DnD).

I just need a matt finish that is going to protect the paint from people picking up and moving their miniature all the time. 100% looking for a spray can as I want it to be a quick 30 second spray as I have maybe 30 models to do.

If you're just gonna use your airbrush for basecoating, priming, and varnishing and save detail work for brushes then a cheap setup is perfectly fine. Get a $40 Masters kit with compressor and airbrush off eBay, and if something breaks down the line you spend 10 bucks on a new brush.

I don't know much about spray on varnish but for brushing I'd reccomend Daler Rowney Soluble gloss varnish followed by a coat of their matt varnish.

I use this myself, but make sure you give it a good shake first. Also test it on something besides a model and make sure you don't have a can that has a frosting effect. I have had only a couple over the years, and when I do (no amount of shaking the can would help) I just take them back to the store and exchange them.

Most of the models in my gallery have a coat of this on them.

I've used both Testor's glosscoat and dullcoat (in rattle can form) with wonderful success. For figurines, I typically use a brush on gloss varnish on the areas to receive decals (I play IG), and with vehicles I have used Testor's glosscoat to prep the models for decals and washes. Depending on the level of detail/progress on the vehicle, I may apply a second coat of glosscoat to help preserve and protect existing work. Finally, I apply a coat of Testor's dullcoat when all of my models are complete as I prefer them with a matte finish - I think they look more grimdark and realistic that way.