Strengthening painted surfaces

[skeletoro]

So I've just about finished magnetising my first unit of grey hunters in a way that I'm happy with. I used strong magnets, but put a very thin layer of green stuff on top of the magnet (filed gently smooth/flat) so that once it's painted, it will be seemless.

 

My question is how can I ensure that the contact areas don't lose paint due to "rubbing"?

 

I'll be using an airbrush, so I can make sure to use several very thin coats, which should help a tad with strength. Is there anything else that I can do? An extra layer of varnish? Would matt or gloss varnish wear better in this case?

 

Cheers for any suggestions!

[Grimm.]

As far as comparative toughness between gloss and matt varnish, gloss is tougher. Small tip though; if I want to gloss varnish an area, for whatever reason, I use something I bought in the local supermarket. 

In the UK it's sold as Johnsons Klear and in the States it is sold as Johnsons Future. Either way it is a floor wax/polisher designed to protect tiled kitchen floors. It acts like an acrylic paint, can be loaded in an airbrush, diluted with water and to strip it you can just use itself with water. It dries fast and well you get a big bottle for cheap. Bottle I have is 7 years old and still good. It's ridiculous stuff, dries to a gloss finish and then you can fire anything down on top, decals, matt varnish whatever.

[S.k.i.t.t.l.e]

Definitely varnish them. I've read in several places that Gloss has a better protective value, but I'm not 100% on that. I've magnetised some things on my DW and they'll be getting a layer of Gloss (to help with washes for shading) and then Matt (to get rid of the shininess of the previous varnish), so uber protected, I hope. :D