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Hi guys! New to the forum, would love some help with this frustrating problem... I bought Vallejo Gloss and Matt polyurethane varnish (you can see them here a bit down the page) to seal my Eldar. The problem is... it doesn't seem to work as I would like. After one coat of gloss, and one coat of matt after that, my guy was still pretty glossy. I painted another layer of matt, and to my horror, he became glossier! I've used this on a wave serpent previously and that didn't become very matt either after one gloss/one matt. Here is the little guy, with an un-varnished guy on the right:

Welcome to dakka! Maybe you should just use the gloss varnish only on spots which you want to be glossy. I usually seal my minis with satin varnish(with an airbrush) and paint some gloss varnish directly on gems, ligths, etc. with a paintbrush.

I would suggest shaking the bottle A LOT. The pigment or whatever it is that causes the matte look has probably just settled so your just getting varnish.

Make sure that the bottle is properly mixed. I have noticed that, especially with matte varnish, the contents can settle in the bottom of the bottle. Hold the bottle up to a bright light and see if it has settled in the bottom (sometimes it's hard to tell just by looking at because everything is the same color). If it has, use a long stir stick and gently stir the bottle.

I'm not sure what the Vallejo bottle recommends, but the varnishes produced by Liquitex recommend not shaking the bottle vigorously. Whether or not this has any effect on the final outcome, I am unsure, but I generally follow the suggestions of the manufacturer.

Good luck!

Mymearan wrote:
Hi guys! New to the forum, would love some help with this frustrating problem... I bought Vallejo Gloss and Matt polyurethane varnish (you can see them here a bit down the page) to seal my Eldar. The problem is... it doesn't seem to work as I would like. After one coat of gloss, and one coat of matt after that, my guy was still pretty glossy. I painted another layer of matt, and to my horror, he became glossier! I've used this on a wave serpent previously and that didn't become very matt either after one gloss/one matt. Here is the little guy, with an un-varnished guy on the right:

Weird... I've done that same method with the GW paint-on gloss, followed by spraying Testors Dullcote (matte finish) on afterwards, and there was no glossy appearance remaining at all afterwards.

It is nothing to do with varnishing over gloss.

Matt varnish has a lot of matting agent in it that needs to be dissolved and mixed thoroughly to enable the matt effect to come about.

Shake the can well, then let it stand a while in warm water, to help the matting agent dissolve, then give it another shake before spraying.

Don't make the water hot as you could over-pressurise the can.

It's the painting equivalent of "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" "Have you tried shaking the living feth out of it, and if that still doesn't work have you given it a good stir?"