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I was watching Uncle Atom and, as an aside, he mentioned that some modellers who don''t game actually skip using sealants, suggesting everyone else does.

I am new to all this, and haven't even played a game beyond SWA, but in learning to paint from YouTube tutiorials, it never came up as a necessary step. Do most players use a sealant? Does the paint just chip away with play and transport if you don't? What sealant do people use? I have read that Purity Seal is beyond bad...

Nope, I've rarely bothered, and in most cases where I have, it's been on display minis.

Acrylic paints are pretty durable. I have unsealed gaming miniatures that are more than 20 years old that are showing little if any sign of wear.



Having said that, I also look after my miniatures. They don't get dumped in piles in boxes, and they get handled carefully, with clean hands. If you're more the 'just chuck everything in a bucket' or the 'mini in one hand, fried chicken in the other' style of gamer, a sealer may be more worthwhile.

Always. Paint will chip off easily. Especially with how thin you apply it. You spend so much time making them look nice. Protect them. Just get a spray can of clear, water based, satin finish, urathane for indoor/outdoor furniture. 1 or 2 light coats of that and your models will break before the paint gets messed up.

I seal mine. I'm a lot more careful to seal the RPG minis, as they get handled a ton, can get dropped etc. I do seal my warhammer stuffs too, but a bit more lightly. I don't have a lot of good storage options for my minis and I worry about them getting knocked about.

Purity Seal has been all right for me, but I rarely use it any more because spray cans are not good in my weather anyway.

I mostly use Liquitex matte varnish to seal stuff - you can use it in an airbrush, or you can brush it on.

 Lance845 wrote:
...satin finish, ...

Good lord, no.

I mean, to each his own, but as a personal preference any amount of sheen on the sealer just looks wrong. The sealer needs to be flat, or at least very unshiny matte.



That's part of why I never bothered in the beginning... aside from the way sealers can alter your colours or kill your highlights, finding one that is actually flat that doesn't require you to mortgage a kidney to complete an army is hard.

I've never bothered sealing my minis, and few if any of them have had any damage to the paint so far. And I'm not the most careful person when storing/transporting them, either. Granted, I do better than just chucking them all in a shoebox, but sometimes I put multiple pieces in one large slot in a foam tray if necessary.

I generally use a matte varnish on anything metal, as that tends to chip without it (still does with it, but a lot less).

However I always use a gloss varnish on nurgle models. Adds that extra slime feel to the paintjob after the fact.

@ Insaniak: I live next to an arts college and still have my alumni discount card, so I can get high quality matte sprays pretty easily. Funny thing though, a cheap black primer is far harder to find here.

 insaniak wrote:
Nope, I've rarely bothered, and in most cases where I have, it's been on display minis.

Acrylic paints are pretty durable. I have unsealed gaming miniatures that are more than 20 years old that are showing little if any sign of wear.



Having said that, I also look after my miniatures. They don't get dumped in piles in boxes, and they get handled carefully, with clean hands. If you're more the 'just chuck everything in a bucket' or the 'mini in one hand, fried chicken in the other' style of gamer, a sealer may be more worthwhile.

All of this. Take care of your minis and it’s not required. I don’t bother sealing, and have some minis that are fine after decades of use. But I treat them with care. YMMV.

I find that even with simple handling that paint will rub off edges, so sealing is a good idea. Sometimes I have to touch up a paint job half way because of handling the mini during painting!

Spray varnishes bring on a host of problems, however, as you can get 'frosting' from them depending on a number of factors (temp, humidity, distance of spray, etc). Brush on (or airbrush) varnishing is more time consuming but produces more reliable results.

 insaniak wrote:

 Lance845 wrote:
...satin finish, ...

Good lord, no.

I mean, to each his own, but as a personal preference any amount of sheen on the sealer just looks wrong. The sealer needs to be flat, or at least very unshiny matte.



That's part of why I never bothered in the beginning... aside from the way sealers can alter your colours or kill your highlights, finding one that is actually flat that doesn't require you to mortgage a kidney to complete an army is hard.

Shine has a direct correlation to durability. Satin is very matte and the liwest shine available in those products. It looks like army painters matte varnish in terms of actual shine. Really. To get the most. You should gloss coat first then satin/matte/flat to dull it back down.

 Lance845 wrote:

Shine has a direct correlation to durability.

While that's technically true, it's true in the same way that while bullet-proof glass is more durable than regular laminated glass, it's overkill on your average house window...

Gloss sealer is arguably more durable (I say arguably because I've heard varying opinions from people who actually work with paint), but the difference is at best fairly negligible for miniature applications.

Satin is very matte and the liwest shine available in those products. It looks like army painters matte varnish in terms of actual shine. Really. To get the most. You should gloss coat first then satin/matte/flat to dull it back down.

I'm not sure which 'those products' you mean.

Satin and matte can be the same thing, but that's because matte is a really loosely defined term, and can apply to anything from flat to satin, depending on the brand.

The gloss-then-matte thing is a common convention, but I've never been convinced that it's actually worth the bother.

I do seal all my minis, to finish or also between major steps, such as establishing the hull or armour colour with shading. I use a gloss coat, but apply only a very thin coat so the shine is minimal.

Gloss coats are definitely the way to go - regardless of aestetical preference - for intermediary coats. If a matte finish is wanted, that is accomplished with the final coat.

I actually sealed my Necrons, but not because of any durability issues but because I "dipped" them and the dip has a shiny finish. Had horrible frosting issues a couple of times so I don't think it's really worth the hassle. I seal my transfers nowadays though (with a brush), because they are quite delicate.

Never had any issues with paint chipping on plastic or resin models. Just keep your hands dry and free of excess grease and you should be fine. I don't even handle them extra carefully, I mostly transport them without foam etc. I actually think that sticking minis into foam slots might damage the paint edges more than just foregoing foam altogether...

I basecoat/prime with flat enamel, so the paint sticks much better and I really do not get many chips. However, my war armies do not get handled a ton, since I play KoW, which does not require removal of individual pieces.

On my RPG and boardgame minis (Dungeon Saga, etc.) these I absolutely seal with a matte coat. They are handled a lot and the bendy plastic just begs to have paint chip off. I use an acrylic matte spray from the local craft store, as it seems to have the flattest coat. Some other 'matte' sprays I have used came out too shiny for my tastes. After tons of playing and being all thrown into a bag together, no chips at all that I notice.

Depends, i try to seal all of them, but the only ones i really make a point to seal are characters or models i used my none GW paints on since they chip easier.

This stuff though
https://www.amazon.com/Testors-Aerosol-Spray-Lacquer-Paint/dp/B009FF6DN4

Seriously get it its awesome, also if you want a super secret squirrel hack for easy shading. Seal your model in this stuff then hit it was a gloss shade. It runs right off the surfaces into the cracks.

Started to over the last couple years.

I am using Liquitex Matte Varnish and am satisfied with the results. It's taken a lot of experimenting, I have had a few paint jobs ruined due to clouding and it's very hard to use with an airbrush.

That said, when you get the hang of multiple thin layers, it does wonders for preventing chipping and keeping fine details from wearing off. I have some Rhinos that would lose the edge highlighting after each game, that's not really an issue any more.

Every single model that is "complete" to my satisfaction gets sealed.
Hard gloss coat is good prior to adding washes as well for them to flow right (just thought I would add that).
After gloss, then apply a "matt" coat since excessive shine masks your painting work.
Many of my models are metal and chips are brutal with those so protection is needed.
If you use decals, it helps make their border all the more invisible.
Many a time a model has hit the cement/tiled floor and come away undamaged (I pin every metal to metal or metal to plastic join).
I only want to paint or assemble a model once (it is too much work otherwise).

I would note that if I was submitting a model for judging, I would keep it to bare paint since any shine to a non-shiny surface (like furs) would go against you.

 techsoldaten wrote:
Started to over the last couple years.

I am using Liquitex Matte Varnish and am satisfied with the results. It's taken a lot of experimenting, I have had a few paint jobs ruined due to clouding and it's very hard to use with an airbrush.

That said, when you get the hang of multiple thin layers, it does wonders for preventing chipping and keeping fine details from wearing off. I have some Rhinos that would lose the edge highlighting after each game, that's not really an issue any more.

Huh

I haven't had any problems with Liquitex varnish through my airbrush, but I use the "big needle and tip" (not sure of measurement, the largest Paashce size)

I do "bullet proofing", which is a layer of gloss then a layer of matte. To the OP, on all finished minis, and sometimes before a wash. Gloss varnish makes washes work on overdrive.

4zero6 wrote:

 techsoldaten wrote:
Started to over the last couple years.

I am using Liquitex Matte Varnish and am satisfied with the results. It's taken a lot of experimenting, I have had a few paint jobs ruined due to clouding and it's very hard to use with an airbrush.

That said, when you get the hang of multiple thin layers, it does wonders for preventing chipping and keeping fine details from wearing off. I have some Rhinos that would lose the edge highlighting after each game, that's not really an issue any more.

Huh

I haven't had any problems with Liquitex varnish through my airbrush, but I use the "big needle and tip" (not sure of measurement, the largest Paashce size)

I do "bullet proofing", which is a layer of gloss then a layer of matte. To the OP, on all finished minis, and sometimes before a wash. Gloss varnish makes washes work on overdrive.

Yeah, I am not sure the size of my needle. The primary problem I have is with applying it, I can't always tell where I sprayed before (because it's clear) and tend to overdo it.

Any tips for achieving a thin, transparent layer that doesn't dull the colors? Would love to cut down on the time it takes to brush this one.

 insaniak wrote:

 Lance845 wrote:
...satin finish, ...

Good lord, no.

I mean, to each his own, but as a personal preference any amount of sheen on the sealer just looks wrong. The sealer needs to be flat, or at least very unshiny matte.



That's part of why I never bothered in the beginning... aside from the way sealers can alter your colours or kill your highlights, finding one that is actually flat that doesn't require you to mortgage a kidney to complete an army is hard.

I agree with Insaniak, I never seal any miniatures and have no problems whatsoever.

Always, but it's not like you really have a choice. Transfers/washes/etc involve various degrees of gloss coats, shiny inks, etc, that need to get brought down to a matte finish anyway. The final sealing layer is just a side effect of getting that nice uniform matte finish, but hey, free durability increase I guess.

 Peregrine wrote:
Always, but it's not like you really have a choice. Transfers/washes/etc involve various degrees of gloss coats, shiny inks, etc, that need to get brought down to a matte finish anyway. The final sealing layer is just a side effect of getting that nice uniform matte finish, but hey, free durability increase I guess.

This. A matte varnish after using Microset and Microsol make decals look really good.

Yup
I use Gloss Aerosol from testors, Apply transfers then use Vellejo Matt Varnish through is the best
You could also use testors Dullcoat, its pretty good, and they are lachohol bases so not gonna gunk up your minis

I only seal the metal ones. And then brush another layer onto any sharp corners where wear generally appears first.

I don't seal any of my minis, even though my young kids and their friends play with them and toss them around. The paint chips off the metal guys, but never from plastic ones. Nearly all my minis are GWl and all are painted with citadel paints.

I seal all my crap with semi clear coat varnish

right on top of a nice gloss coat varnish

both laqure based

but i also oil wash so its kinda needed.

I only seal metal parts/models, because they tend to chip easily. I apply a layer of 'Ard Coat and then a layer of Lhamian Medium to bring down the shine. Seems to work pretty well.

For an example of the finished product, take a look at the Thousand Sons in my gallery:
The heads, torsos/tabbards and TS-specific shoulder pads are pewter and thus sealed; the rest of the parts on the minis are plastic and received no such treatment. I can't tell the finish apart, myself.

As you may have guessed, I don't seal plastic models, typically. I find they rarely need it.
One exception is my Necrons; a few models began showing some wear on the edges of their shoulders over time. After touching them up I used the same sealing method described previously, but for plastic models I only do this on a case-by-case basis.

I always seal finished models. Two reasons.
1) Once I seal it, it's done. Move on to the next thing. It's the only way I'll ever get anything accomplished.
2) In my opinion, it's a simple cost vs benefit deal. Sealing is relatively easy and quick. Painting the model and trying to do touch ups to match the original isn't.

Varies, metal models always get sealed, usually Vallejo gloss via an airbrush, left overnight to cure then matt which goes very flat. Done this for all my FoW infantry and metal/resin vehicles.

Plastics.. depends on the model, some get it, typically where the colours used have a wide range of gloss levels just to get them all the same then get them all matt.

Metal stuff is as much about protection as anything as it really does help, for smaller stuff and plastics its all about the finish, frankly since I have an airbrush a couple of 200ml bottles of gloss and matt were good investments and easy to apply in batches

I was just thinking of starting a thread asking pretty much the same question but as there's already one, I'll ask here: I'm just going to be displaying my minis, they'll pretty much never be touched, will the paint ever naturally peel or flake off, even with little to no handling? I've used Testors dullcote before and it took off some of the finer detail from the model so I vowed never to use it again.