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Alright, so I'm more than an hour drive from the nearest model shop, and I just painted up my first Reaper mini. I've painted MANY 40k minis before, but I just recently got into D&D minis and had to get myself a few. Anyways, I had never painted on metal before and neglected to wash the model off before priming it and painting it. I have a BEAUTIFUL paintjob done, but the paint seems to come off like goddamn crayons. Anyways, the only varnishes we have at my house are in gloss, but I very much want this mini to be matte. Is it possible to paint Lahmian Medium over a gloss varnish to get a matte varnish? I'm not turning back and stripping this mini, and I really need a good varnish to keep this thing looking beautiful.

Absolutely, just let one layer dry before you add the next, standard advice is two gloss layers followes by a matte, assuming lahmian is a matte finish. Other option would be to go on amazon and pick up the vallejo (or other, such as golden or dick blick) matte varnish. Washing supposedly helps, but generally I find waiting for a day or two after priming to paint and using a handle like a pinned on cork or blutack'd on gw paint bottle seems to prevent it for me.

tbh, i dont know if lahmian can be used that way.

On my first test model applying lahmian over 1 thin layer of gloss spray it melted right true the gloss and started to mess up the paintjob.

If it is ment to remove the shine then it is da,n potent straight from the pot.

Haven't used lahmian, figured from what everybody says about it it was basicslly gw mix matte medium when i said that. Assuming the paint job and gloss coat were fully dry, dissolving acrylic layers like that is just plain weird...

 FrozenDwarf wrote:
tbh, i dont know if lahmian can be used that way.

On my first test model applying lahmian over 1 thin layer of gloss spray it melted right true the gloss and started to mess up the paintjob.

If it is ment to remove the shine then it is da,n potent straight from the pot.

I find that odd. I dont know how lahmian medium could "melt" through anything. It is paint....without pigment basically.

After glossing your mini's, use Testor's Dullcoat. That stuff will take the shine off glass. I've use this method for years with great success.

Good luck

I use Lahmian Medium sometimes to varnish my minis since I don't trust rattle-can varnish, and it gives like a satin finish. It isn't completely matt, but it isn't overly shiny like a gloss finish would give. It looks very good on Deathwatch Marines, but especially on skin/cloth.