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So, I was recently able to buy one GW's ArdCoat because I liked the results in different websites (DakkaDakka included!) but I'm curious about the technique involved. Shall I use water to make it a bit more liquid before applying? Can I put it in a thin coat after painting and it's enough with that?

Thanks in advance!!

wait til your paint's dry and apply directly

that's what I've done

Definitely don't thin it! I don't think it takes to thinning well, but I could be wrong.

'Ardcoat is basically just a gloss top coat afaik

 Guildenstern wrote:
Definitely don't thin it! I don't think it takes to thinning well, but I could be wrong.

I found it doesn't thin well with water as it throws off the surface tension and spreadability, but it thins nicely with Vallejo Flow Improver, so that's what I use.

I just apply it with a brush, how heavily I apply it depends whether I'm just trying to protect the paint or get a specific effect. Before I discovered Vallejo Flow Improver I just used it out of the bottle, after discovering the Flow Improver I thin it more often than not now.

I'm thinning it tho. Some water or Lahmian Medium. It just makes the 'Ard Coat go on smoother. I find that it's way to thick and lumpy straight from the pot.

I've thinned Ardcoat a few times, if I'm trying to get a slightly less glossy finish, on stuff like Stormtrooper armour. Sorastro said it was okay to do so in his guides, and I tend to do whatever Sorastro tells me to do! I've used it straight out of the pot too.

I'm interested in what you're trying to do, Ryuhoshi. Personally, I'll only use it on select areas of a mini, such as a glassy lens on a robot. A glossy look isn't what you want on a miniature generally. If you want to protect the mini, then you might want to paint some matte medium over the top of the Ardcoat to take away the shine.

Thanks for all the fast answers! I'll do a first try and then i'll try to thin it a bit. As I'm looking for a glossy effect, I dont mind if it shines a lot

 feltmonkey wrote:

I'm interested in what you're trying to do, Ryuhoshi. Personally, I'll only use it on select areas of a mini, such as a glassy lens on a robot. A glossy look isn't what you want on a miniature generally. If you want to protect the mini, then you might want to paint some matte medium over the top of the Ardcoat to take away the shine.

I'm planning to use it in Crystal-like gems (like the necrontyr ones) and specially polished marble. I've already done the base painting, but it's totally matte and does not look realistic. So a coat of shine will do the trick Imo. I did an small super-lame try with white glue and painted marble in a piece of the matrix (just to see if it actually looked better with a shiny effect) and looked solid, but afaik white glue gets a yellow effect after a time and gets sticky, so I'd like to use a good shiny barnish. That's why I took ArdCoat instead.

Again, thanks for the advices!

I find Future much easier to work with, and it's super cheap!

http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html

 Ryuhoshi wrote:
Thanks for all the fast answers! I'll do a first try and then i'll try to thin it a bit. As I'm looking for a glossy effect, I dont mind if it shines a lot

 feltmonkey wrote:

I'm interested in what you're trying to do, Ryuhoshi. Personally, I'll only use it on select areas of a mini, such as a glassy lens on a robot. A glossy look isn't what you want on a miniature generally. If you want to protect the mini, then you might want to paint some matte medium over the top of the Ardcoat to take away the shine.

I'm planning to use it in Crystal-like gems (like the necrontyr ones) and specially polished marble. I've already done the base painting, but it's totally matte and does not look realistic. So a coat of shine will do the trick Imo. I did an small super-lame try with white glue and painted marble in a piece of the matrix (just to see if it actually looked better with a shiny effect) and looked solid, but afaik white glue gets a yellow effect after a time and gets sticky, so I'd like to use a good shiny barnish. That's why I took ArdCoat instead.

Again, thanks for the advices!

Oh, that sounds pretty cool. Great idea for the marble.

Make sure you use a very soft brush, which you only use for applying varnish.

Mordian2016 wrote:
Make sure you use a very soft brush, which you only use for applying varnish.

I'll keep that in mind, thanks a lot for the tip! XD