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I forgot I had the Ardcoat and varnish pots from GW. I know when my paints dry I can add water to them and stir and they are salvageable . My Ardcoats and varnishes have become gelly, really thick and I tried to use them but can't remember if this is how they are suppose to be or they are no good. If they are no good, should I add a bit of water to them? What is the consistency they are suppose to be?

I don't have the luxury to buy new ones right now, so I am hoping I can salvage them or wait about a month till I can go to the store and get some.

I wouldn't dare personally mate! I am sure your miniatures can survive without a gloss coating while you wait for a new pot.

 Bottle wrote:
I wouldn't dare personally mate! I am sure your miniatures can survive without a gloss coating while you wait for a new pot.

Sadly my Silver Tower minis are chipping now and they are not even being used yet lol. That is why I thought they needed the varnish. I guess I will have to wait. Just a question Bottle. What would happen if I did try?

How do you get your models to chip (real question here, no rebuk intended) ?

It might cloud the miniature or something but I wouldn't know for sure. You wouldn't want to cover a miniature in 'Ardcoat anyway as its glossy (unless you were going to dull it afterwards).

I would just put them on a high shelf and not touch them :-)

 godardc wrote:
How do you get your models to chip (real question here, no rebuk intended) ?

I guess I am not good at painting yet, basically relearning how to paint after quitting all the time and getting upset at not being good. So now really trying not to quit and learn from my mistakes. Not sure if it was the humidity or what. I used an air brush, but don't think that would make a difference. I even primed it, and only thing I can think of is something banged into it and I didn't notice.

A good primer is one of the most important things in stopping miniatures from chipping. Are the chips chipping down to the primer (primer visible), or are they removing the primer as well (plastic visible)?

As for reviving Ardcoat, I've never tried, I probably wouldn't use water but rather a thinning medium. When I'm actually painting Artcoat I'll sometimes thin it using a bit of Vallejo Flow Improver.

Primer was gone as well. I can see the grey plastic AllSeeingSkink. I am upset because I thought I did a good job on it with my air gun. I really took my time making this mini, so not sure how to touch it up.

If I can, will try and post a pic.

Honestly, if the pot's dead otherwise, might as well try adding some water...I've brought several pots of paint back to life just fine that way...I also thin ardcoat with water for various painting effects, and I haven't had any disasters...give it a go....ad a few drops of water, shake, test, repeat until it seems good

Yeah I'd just set that pot aside. Had the exactly the same thing and the best use I have found for is as water effects on terrain, the thickness was quite good and could be dragged out and thinned/mixed with paint/water so made for an excellent pond water. Where it dried thick it was cloudy, so I wouldn't put this any where near a miniature.

Davor wrote:
Primer was gone as well. I can see the grey plastic AllSeeingSkink. I am upset because I thought I did a good job on it with my air gun. I really took my time making this mini, so not sure how to touch it up.

If I can, will try and post a pic.

So the primer isn't sticking to the model.

Varnish will help protect the paint jobs you've already done, but in future work on getting the primer to stick to the models better.

Wash models in warm soapy water (dish soap) before priming them, I use an old toothbrush with some dish washing detergent on it and scrub them off and the leave them to dry (if you're impatient you can use the airbrush on higher pressure to blow water off).

If you can fix parts to something while airbrushing them to avoid touching them, that'll help as well. For various reasons, one being that oils off your fingers will reduce paint adhesion, secondly because airbrushed paint dries to the touch very quickly but remains delicate for at least a day or two and is very easy to accidentally wipe off.

What primer did you use? They're not all created equal, some are tougher than others. Vallejo PU primer is common but it's pretty weak compared to rattle can primers, it also takes a couple of days to reach its full strength.

Paint a bit of sprue and test your varnish on that.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

Davor wrote:
Primer was gone as well. I can see the grey plastic AllSeeingSkink. I am upset because I thought I did a good job on it with my air gun. I really took my time making this mini, so not sure how to touch it up.

If I can, will try and post a pic.

So the primer isn't sticking to the model.

Varnish will help protect the paint jobs you've already done, but in future work on getting the primer to stick to the models better.

Wash models in warm soapy water (dish soap) before priming them, I use an old toothbrush with some dish washing detergent on it and scrub them off and the leave them to dry (if you're impatient you can use the airbrush on higher pressure to blow water off).

If you can fix parts to something while airbrushing them to avoid touching them, that'll help as well. For various reasons, one being that oils off your fingers will reduce paint adhesion, secondly because airbrushed paint dries to the touch very quickly but remains delicate for at least a day or two and is very easy to accidentally wipe off.

What primer did you use? They're not all created equal, some are tougher than others. Vallejo PU primer is common but it's pretty weak compared to rattle can primers, it also takes a couple of days to reach its full strength.

Thanks, I never did wash them since I thought plastic you don't wash. Will keep that in mind. I didn't know about the air brush being delicate for a day or two. Learnt something new today. Thank you very much.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

nareik wrote:
Paint a bit of sprue and test your varnish on that.

Great idea. Will do.