Ovidius Incertus Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 I've tried Vallejo's satin and matte varnishes through an airbrush with awful results, including lots of frosting. I have run Liquitex gloss varnish through the airbrush with much better results, but it specifically says not to thin, which I'm not too keen on. Any suggestions? I'm not looking for rattle can varnishes because they're too hard to control on small minis and leave gaps in coverage, in my experience. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainblow Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 What do you thin your vallejo varnish with? I use water in a 60:40 (varnish:water) ratio, never had an issue using gloss or matt. This is with the acrylic fast drying varnish, they also have a PU long drying varnish, which I have yet to try. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4361342 Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterdyne Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 I've had consistently good results with Winsor & Newton Galleria Satin, thinned with around 30% vallejo airbrush thinner. Occasionally you get a white speck or 2 of matting agent, which is ordinarily invisible to the eye but sometimes shows up in a well-lit photo. This is like 1 pixel, even in a high res image so when I say speck, I mean really really tiny. Not enough trouble for me not to use it as the finish is excellent. Pretty much every model I take photos of is varnished in this way. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4361429 Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffTibbetts Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Believe it or not, I've been running Lahmian Medium with a tiny bit of 'Ard Coat, thinned with plain water, and the effects are great. I like to use Future floor polish (thinned with just a bit of water) to give it a hard shell, but I don't want high gloss, so I use this mixture to give it a mostly matte finish with a touch of satin. It may be expensive, but the results are reliable. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4361432 Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteySödes Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 I frosted the crap out of my latest batch using straight Liquitex Matte Varnish through the AB. The previous was totally fine though so I'm very curious how other people have been doing it. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4361449 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ovidius Incertus Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 I thinned the Vallejo with regular water around 50:50. I do believe this is the PU Varnish, but I don't have the bottle to hand to check. @Tibbets: I've got Lahmian and Ard Coat, but needing to use a pipette for those just annoys me (guess I could just pour them into a dropper, but I'm sooooo lazy!). I may use Future, since I have a bottle sitting around and the gloss or satin coat I'm trying to lay down is just in advance of applying oils. You just spray the Future straight with no dilution? My only purpose in going with a satin varnish here was I didn't want that slippery a surface before working with the oils. I was intending to coat with Testors Dullcoat afterwards just to knock everything back down. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4361743 Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffTibbetts Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Good questions. You can shoot Future straight at a higher PSI, as it's pretty thin, but I usually dilute it with just a bit of water. I love that it's water-soluble. I do use a pipette for the Lahmian Medium, but for the 'Ard Coat I just dip a brush in it and use that brush to mix them in the bowl, along with a few drops of water. It works pretty well for me. That's the method I use just as a final sealer on the model, though. If you're looking to seal before working with oils, Future is the one to use. It will change the properties of the wash layer a bit, so you might need to get used to it, but it allows you to filter, shade, streak and weather without worrying about the acrylic layer below. If you're looking for a matte/satin finish, because that's what you're used to, I guess I don't have a great solution but I'd be curious to hear about one. I did use Testors Dullcote before weathering my Knight, but frankly that's because I wasn't sure what I was doing. It worked really well, but I think it may have been a waste of money. Future is what all the military/scale model community uses before working with oils and I trust their collective wisdom. They've been doing this for ages. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4361813 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ovidius Incertus Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 I was readying the Knight's kneepads for transfers and I decided to give your Lahmian Medium/Ard Coat mix a try (no water) since it was a small area that could be easily brushed, and it gave really favorable results! Still a really expensive solution for a big project, but works well for small areas and one-offs that need varnishing, I think. I'll add it to the repertoire. Finishing my pre-weathering and then I'll blast the big armor plates with Future. What Future are you using? Do you have a picture of the bottle, Jeff? I found the Pledge brand acrylic floor polish, which I think, based on the blog that's dedicated to Future's use in modelling, is the right stuff, but figure I should double check before I go spraying willy-nilly. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4362543 Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainblow Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Give the regular vallejo varnishes a whirl as well, gloss 70.510, matt 70.520 have yet to fail me. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4362551 Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Wolf Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Try Ammo by Mig Jiminez, I use the gloss, satin and Matt straight from the bottle and they're really good. ATB WW Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4365416 Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffTibbetts Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 I was readying the Knight's kneepads for transfers and I decided to give your Lahmian Medium/Ard Coat mix a try (no water) since it was a small area that could be easily brushed, and it gave really favorable results! Still a really expensive solution for a big project, but works well for small areas and one-offs that need varnishing, I think. I'll add it to the repertoire. Finishing my pre-weathering and then I'll blast the big armor plates with Future. What Future are you using? Do you have a picture of the bottle, Jeff? I found the Pledge brand acrylic floor polish, which I think, based on the blog that's dedicated to Future's use in modelling, is the right stuff, but figure I should double check before I go spraying willy-nilly. Yeah, this is what I use. I don't know if the different formulas work the same way. I think there I saw a chart on some scale modeling forum one time. Also, for decals I use straight Future with a brush before and after the decal. The other mix is what I use to knock out the gloss afterwards, actually. Just about anything that evens out the surface will help, but I just like how self-leveling Future is. It's fantastic for decal work. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4365420 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ovidius Incertus Posted April 15, 2016 Author Share Posted April 15, 2016 My bottle doesn't look like that, but I just checked Swanny's page dedicated to Future has a gif that shows the changing labels over time and, according to that, the bottle I have (Pledge Floor Care Finish) is the same product, but they don't have the Future label on there anymore. Cursed mercurial chemical companies and their changing labels! They seem to have changed labels 4 times in 7 years. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4365676 Share on other sites More sharing options...
infyrana Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 Did you try the Vallejo varnishes with Vallejo thinners ? Last time I used mine with thinners through an airbrush they came out great. Could also be a temperature thing or pressure thing etc. My local tap water would be useless as it'd likely paint the mini white even before adding the varnish! You could test out the thinners with a brush on similar surfaces first, if there's nothing wrong with it that way, including when adding water, then try adjusting your airbrush pressure, distance to model, as well as checking the temperature in the room (both when spraying and during the drying process). Shake well before use ! GL :) Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4365702 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dantay VI Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 @ Winterdyne: Glad to hear the W&N galleria works well, as I have a ton of the matte stuff at home which I hand brush on. I have been diluting it with a little water when spraying bare resin which has helped give my paint a good adhesion, now I feel more comfortable using it to seal my models after painting. I'll use the thinner at that stage though, as if that is what you do, then it is what I will do :) Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4365863 Share on other sites More sharing options...
SickSix Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 I use the Vallejo varnishes with their brand thinner through my airbrush and they work great. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4366041 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloody Legionnaire Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 I just finished shooting a mini with Model Masters Acrylic Gloss & Flat coat. I am really happy with the results and definitely recommend it. I thinned mine 3 parts vallejo airbrush thinner, 1 part my own medium thinner mix (vallejo medium thinner, 2:3 distilled water, and a few drops of vallejo medium retarder), 12 parts Acryl and it shot really easily. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321339-best-varnishes-to-spray-through-an-airbrush/#findComment-4367367 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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