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Ok, looking for recommendations on the best varnishes out there. I currently use Vallejo Mecha. I love my paints to be matte, but this matt varnish I have (really the only one I have tried) slightly dulls the colors, especially in making the blacks look more like a dark gray. I know the nature of matt varnishes makes this effect nearly unavoidable, but I was looking to see if anyone had good luck with a matt varnish without it doing much to the colors/depth.

The GW and Army Painter ones I had both found to be good.
AP is what I currently have.
Do GW still do a spray version for Matt? I know they have a pot of it, Stormshield maybe? I’ve got that and it’s also good.

gw mat varnish is good but depents on temp and moister

Krylon 1311, and it's not been close for me. I've tried pretty much everything I can get my hands on in the USA. That includes all the usual hobby store brands like vallejo, citadel, testors, and so on.

It's worked perfectly every time with no hazing or frosting. Hundreds of models now without a single problem--half of them done in the winter.

It typically is not *quite* as flat or matte as something like Dulcote, but in my experience that flatness comes at a cost such as you've mentioned: color vibrancy.

In the USA you can get Krylon 1311 at Hobby Lobby and Amazon for <$10 a can.

**EDIT: as with any rattlecan paint, SHAKE and then SHAKE SOME MORE. Seriously--especially with varnish, it cannot be emphasized enough. If the can says shake for 5 minutes, shake it for the ENTIRE 5 minutes. Take shortcuts at your own peril. Spend 5 minutes now or spend hours repainting your model.

Anyone tried AK ultra matte thru an airbrush? I might be looking for an impossible to find holy grail of matte varnish since it seems almost impossible for the way matte works to not lighten darks and dull colors.

I'm fond of Liquitex varnishes.

They have a matte varnish, they have a gloss varnish, and you get a pretty good satin varnish when you mix both together in equal parts.

To avoid color distortion, I thin the matte varnish about 5:1 with acrylic thinner and apply it using a brush. This keeps the hues true to what they were originally and edge highlights looking right. Where it fails is with deep shadows, which never seem to look as dark. I will often use Mr. Weathering Black after sealing a model to get extremely dark shadows.

100% Windsor Newton Matt Varnish. Best thing I've ever bought and I've tried a lot...

 Freya wrote:
100% Windsor Newton Matt Varnish. Best thing I've ever bought and I've tried a lot...

I'm with you there.

Hasn't gone wrong on me, yet. Admittedly, there's still time; but so far, so good.

Just need to make sure that I can get a regular supply, because I just picked it up on a whim from the Range...

Edit: Holy poo! Amazon has the stuff for £30! Get lost. I know Amazon does stupid things now and then, but that definitely doesn't constitute a source for a regular supply.

By the nature of a Matt varnish it will always dull the colour of any satin or gloss paint.

If you want to limit the change then you'll need to paint in Matt shades so you get the saturation you want.

 Sentineil wrote:
By the nature of a Matt varnish it will always dull the colour of any satin or gloss paint.

If you want to limit the change then you'll need to paint in Matt shades so you get the saturation you want.

Does this mean if I'm painting with Scale 75 scalecolor range and then use Vallejo matte varnish afterwards I'll get less of the dulling of colours and lightening of shadows that using a matte varnish can cause? I'm wanting to go for quite a monochromatic, high contrast paint job for my undead / Vampire Counts.

If you intend for matte finish to models paint with matte paints. Most hobby paints though fall into more of a satin finish but yes, if you can get "matte" versions of Scale 75 then do so.

If your model comes out too matte just use a satin clear on the parts you want more shiny.

You can dull a shine, you can gloss up a dull paint job as well.

Montana rattle can Matte or satin varnish.

Always works for my minis and resin/vinyl toy customs. With no real dulling of paint finish.