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I've been painting some crisis suits in the scheme of Chaos Black primer, Fenrisian Grey undercoat, then Russ Grey, then finishing the basecoat with The Fang. I noticed some hard-to-get-at nooks on the model and used some The Fang spray to fill them up. Now that I look at the suits, and compare them to a commander, I noticed something: the pot-painted commander looks a good bit shinier in the light, whereas the crisis suits have a much duller, less reflective look to them. Does anyone know why?

And could anyone weigh in on the pros and cons of using spray paint vs potted paint for this kind of scenario? I kind of like the end result on my crisis suits, to be honest.

A surface's shine depends on its roughness. A very smooth surface is a lot more reflective than a rough one. Spraying a color creates a different surface finish than brushing it on, even if you use exactly the same paint (through an airbursh and via a paintbrush for instance). Usually sprayed colors are more matte.
The only way to get the same shine at the end is to use a varnish or a clear medium. I think it's a good idea to varnish miniatures once they're painted, to protect the paintjob. If you do that, you'll get the same shine on all your minis.

fresus wrote:
A surface's shine depends on its roughness. A very smooth surface is a lot more reflective than a rough one. Spraying a color creates a different surface finish than brushing it on, even if you use exactly the same paint (through an airbursh and via a paintbrush for instance). Usually sprayed colors are more matte.
The only way to get the same shine at the end is to use a varnish or a clear medium. I think it's a good idea to varnish miniatures once they're painted, to protect the paintjob. If you do that, you'll get the same shine on all your minis.

I figured it was something like that, but I didn't know for sure.

Varnish, like say Purity Seal?

I like Testors Dullcote for a matte varnish (though I'd describe it more as a satin than a matte). Army painter also make one, as do a lot of companies.