Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hello everyone

I have just finished airbrushing my emperors children and quite happy with the result so far. However i can see that the color can and will fall off if i dont do anything about it soon. for that reason i am considering using the vallejo matt varnish (unless you guys have a better idea) to keep the paint protected. my questions are:

1) is there a big difference (in the result) between airbrushing and brushing the varnish? or is it minimal?

2) can i paint ontop of the varnish? i dont want to matt down the metalic colors and i just want to protect the airbrush colors.

3) Does the tone color "change" when applying varnish?

4) should the varnish be thinned down? or just apply directly from the bottle?


thanks in advanced

I absolutely love the Vallejo Air Matt varnish and I'm not even a big fan of their Vallejo Air paints.

1) Yes, you don't want brush strokes with varnish, like anything else I guess, but the brush on varnishes dry faster and are trickier to thin (some) than regular paints. AB is the way to go.

2) Yes, in fact this is what I always do. Base coat, gloss gloss gloss, do all washes and decals, then Matt varnish and finish highlights and metallics.

3) No, but it flattens all of the different sheen varieties across the model to a beautiful affect.

4) I always add a small amount of Liquitex AB medium or Vallejo Air thinner even with the Air paints, and I do definitely do it with the varnishes.

Best of luck!

Hi! I used to use Vallejo matt and still do sporadically. I don't think it's that useful - the paint falls off with varnish or without it, probably because of bad handling and because I wouldn't wash my minis and touch them a lot during painting.

1. I never tried airbrush.

2. You can - Privateer Press even encourages that in their tutorials.

3. Colours become a bit less vivid, when you mishandle the varnish, like I did, they become cloudy and much less impressive :(

4. I thinned down a bit water (it didn't work out very well, but I think without thinning down it would be even worse).