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I recently completed a Guardsman to give to my friend for his birthday. To ensure the paint job was sealed and protected, I sprayed on a Krylon matte finish. To my dismay, it made the model glossy! Yuck! I don't want glossy, I want a flat finish!!
Fortunately, my friend didn't seem to mind, but I'm a little peeved this would happen. Can you recommend any good sprays/paints to make a model more flat instead of glossy?

Testor's dullcote.

That is all.

Thanks!

A second vote for Testors Dullcote. Just be aware it will take the gloss off any metallics, but you can always get a brush-on gloss varnish and go over those parts.

Vallejo Matt Varnish works as well, I spray mine through an airbrush but you can brush it on as well

 Grimtuff wrote:
Testor's dullcote.

That is all.

Agreed. I started using it in my scale modeling days over 20 years ago, and still use it on all my minis.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 fenshysa wrote:
A second vote for Testors Dullcote. Just be aware it will take the gloss off any metallics, but you can always get a brush-on gloss varnish and go over those parts.

A bit of a note on that...you can use it intentionally. I painted all my Cygnar stuff in a base coat of bronze. The dullcote makes them look painted bronze, as opposed to the natural finish which made them look like they were made of bronze.

The Krylon matte has always worked very well for me. Did you shake the bejesus out of it first?

Shaking is crucial for any spray, but matte varnishes can be especially problematic if under-shaken, as the matting agent settles out of suspension rather quickly (same with brush-on versions and matte medium, actually). You may have a dud can or it may have been user error. On the plus side, you can always add another coat, should you find a new matte spray that you like or sort out the issue with your current can. The top layer determines the finish - spraying a final matte coat over one or more layers of gloss is a common practice.

Personally, I use Testors Dullcote and absolutely love the finish (have yet to have any issues with frosting or unexpected glossiness, either). Even without the added bonus of enhanced durability (it's a very resilient lacquer), the look more than justifies the somewhat more potent fumes and longer dry time, in my opinion. It's a tad pricier than the big cans of gloss spray, so I still use those to do the heavy lifting, but I always finish with Dullcote to get the finish I want.