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So living in Egypt I can find most of what I need and order most from overseas.

But I can't get aerosol sealer. Any recommendations for sealing models if aerosol cans are out of the question?

Do you have access to artist supplies? The brush-on acrylic varnishes also work on minis. The Winsor and Newton Galeria range has gloss, satin and matt varnishes that are very good. They can be run through an airbrush too.

Vallejo has acrylic and polyurethane varnishes that are also very good.

I currently use clear acrylic car lacquer spray for a tough gloss coat that won't yellow over time, then airbrush on Vallejo acrylic matt varnish to dull it down.

Plenty of other brush-on varnishes suitable for minis - AK, Testors, Tamiya (I think).

GW sells Ard Coat and Stormshield in paint pots, but you get more for your money with other brands.

Paint them on nice and thin. Matt varnish needs lots of shaking first, to agitate the matting agent.

I would test the matt varnish first, to see if is too satin. If it is, leave the bottle to settle and pour out some of the clear liquid. Most of the miniature-specific brands should be fine though.

One brand to avoid is Humbrol matt. Too much matting agent, it often leaves white streaks.

Thanks, art supplies are available but not mini supplies. Liquids can usually be mail ordered but not spray cans.

I've been working on my old Mordians and already see paint rubbing off the edges...

Old school hobbyists used to use (and I think still do) Future Floor Wax to seal models. It creates a tough hard shell over the models, but dries fairly glossy, so you'd need to knock it back.

I'm not sure if its diluteable at all, never having used it. But you might be able to find something like that.

The above brush on sealers work very well, I use brush ons from Polly S, GW, Vallejo, Cote D'Arms, and even Americana Gloss Varnish from Deco Art (Joann's, Michaels). They all work pretty much the same for me.

The weather where I live precludes spray cans several months out of the year, so I often use Vallejo brush-on varnish. The gloss varnish is easy to use. The matte is a bit trickier; avoid diluting it and wipe off the excess from your brush so it doesn't settle into crevices and cloud up.

I've used vallejo matte and satin varnishes via hairy brush and they came out okay. Paint up a bit of sprue while you're painting the model to test it out first though, as painting varnish by hand gives a different finish to painting it via airbrush or spray can, so it's worth testing a bit to see which ones you like.

And definitely agree with Pariah, light applications focusing on raised surfaces works better than slopping on a coat and letting it settle in the recesses.

Thanks, I'll see about getting Vallejo brush on varnish.

I been using Vallejo varnish for years. It's good stuff and has protected my metal WW2 Italians flawlessly. No paint rubbing off from handling the miniatures. I'd recommend two (thin) layers on metal models due to their weight (while I find one is plenty for plastic or resin). The varnish is a little flexible and protects well against knocks, but I like to be careful because of the aforementioned weight dropping a metal model can develop a good bit of force.

Generally you want matte varnish because satin varnish is pretty glossy. That's nice for polished armor and metals, but you'll most often find matte varnish is what you want.

About slopping it on, you should give the whole model a coat and make sure it enters recesses so it produces an uninterrupted, sturdy layer. But, yes, be careful not to have much excess varnish pooling in recesses. Vallejo's varnish is pretty user friendly in this regard and you can be a little careless, but if you apply it too thickly it can look cloudy or produce white stains as it dries. I find it best to apply a moderate amount on an area to get it to cover everything and run into recesses, then to use the brush to wipe excess varnish off (preferably towards the next area so as to keep your work flowing).

 Geifer wrote:

About slopping it on

I see you are familiar with my painting technique.

Takes one to know one, eh?