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I've never tried varnish before but I have been painting Blood Rage models, and I wanted to protect the paint-job. I really wanted a matt finish rather than satin or gloss (which I might be more interested in if I was painting minis with lots of metallic armour). My local store stocks Army Painter so I used AP Spray Antishine but I'm disappointed that it has produced a glossy, wet look:

I made sure to follow advice: shook the can for 90 seconds, warmed the can to room temperature, sprayed in short bursts from 30cm away and not too much, let it dry in warm conditions, etc. I have even applied another two coats (leaving at least 12 hours between coats) but no change.

I am not sure if this is a result of the brand I am using (whether I should try Testors for instance) or if I am doing something wrong. Or is this inevitable with any varnish?

I would prefer to use spray on varnish rather than brush-on if possible, especially since I have based the minis using grass which is hard to brush on. I don't own an airbrush.

Any tips appreciated.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
firstly, you should save any basing material like flock, grass and also water effects etc. until you've finished the varnish layer.

.

Why apply grass etc after varnish? I thought the varnish would be a good way to keep it firmly stuck to the base.

Unfortunately I don't have an airbrush (or the budget to get one) so I'll stick with sprays. I've contacted AP to see if they have any advice, and I'll maybe try a very light spray next time in case the problem is over-spray. Otherwise I guess I'll pick up some Testors (but I see some people have bad experience of that too).



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Quasistellar wrote:
Krylon matte is my go-to. Easy to find and cheap. Hasn't frosted on me yet. A bit between satin and matte, but I find that my blacks are blacker and colors more vibrant when I use krylon vs Testors or vallejo, but still knocks down the shine sufficiently.

Unfortunately Krylon is super-expensive in the UK