Problems with matte varnish

[Maschinenpriester]

Hey guys.

 

Today I finished a Daemon prince of slaanesh. It took me probably 14 hours in total to complete it (Did not finish the wings and the exchangable arms)

After i did some tests at some cultists with some airbrush matte varnish i recently bought i decided to use it on the daemon prince in order to make the paintjob more durable, because i am experiencing some chipping on spikes and other spiky stuff at other models.

 

Big mistake...

 

The matte varnish was doing weird things to the dakr purple and kida increased tha contrast between the wetblended purple colours and was dulling down the metallic paints. And everything did not look as sharp as before in general - Especially the highlights.

 

Did anyone else experience that problem?

I ended up repainting some areas over the matte varnish. The Skin and everything that is brigther looked fine though.

 

This pic does not show the problematic areas. It is a pic after i fixed everything.

[Kriegsmacht]

I stopped spraying varnish on minis a couple years ago because of frosting and such. I don't know if airbrushing it was the issue I never use one. I just brush it on now and use gloss for spots I want to keep shiny and matte for everywhere else.

 

Also matte varnish can dull the colour a bit but since most of the miniatures i paint is WW2 the drab dull colours doesn't bother me.

 

I'm not sure if this response is what you're looking for just my five cents.

[Maschinenpriester]

Thanks. Any response is welcome! I guess that kida supports the thoughts I had. ^^

Learend my lesson out of that...

Good to know that it does not seem to be a technical mistake i did. More like that this seems to be the way the varnish works when sprayed by airbrush. ^^

Glad though, that i could save the miniature, so that it does not look horrible now.

[Arkhanist]

Matte varnish will dull down the paint job a bit, it is the nature of it - it cuts down reflections to stop it being shiny, which affects metallics in particular, but also dulls out sharp highlights and shades.

 

There's a few options. As a general rule, sufficient matt over gloss will be as if the gloss layer isn't there; gloss over matt will mostly cancel the matt effect, but won't entirely eliminate it as the matting agent is still in there. Acrylic paint is naturally glossy, but most makers add some amount of matting agent to the paint, usually down to a somewhat satin finish.

 

One option is a thin gloss coat first, then a thin matt coat. That should reduce the overall matt effect compared to straight matt, which some prefer. Not all matt varnishes are the same either - some are more matt than others!

 

Another is to use a satin final varnish layer instead of a matt; I do this for models in armour, or anything I want to have a slightly glistening skin (but not as much as straight gloss!)

 

Either way you can brush touch up the model with a further varnish in places, which will mostly negate the previous layer. I.e. gloss varnish over metals or gems will restore that glossy look, and matt for areas you particularly want to look dulled, such as cloth or hair. For more weathered, oily or beaten metals, a satin coat works better IMO.

 

Or you can leave the final layer or two of your metallics until after the matt varnish, which is kinda what you did! Even if the top layer does wear, it will still have some metallic underneath protected by the varnish so it shouldn't be an obvious chip.

 

It's not an uncommon problem when you're trying to mix what should be different finishes for different materials - compare a cloth to say a leather of the same colour, and a big part of the difference is the glossiness, or lack thereof. This is why very high level painters don't varnish - but then, they don't have to survive the gaming table!

 

If you have a model with a lot of contrasting materials, particularly a centrepiece, it can be simpler not to spray the varnish at all, but do it all with a brush - then you can pick which areas get which type of finish, though it will take longer.

 

'Frosting' is mainly a problem with matt spray cans and temperature or humidity extremes - you literally end up with a white layer that looks awful. The matting agent separates and dries in an opaque layer instead of being evenly mixed in the varnish. The can should have safe conditions for use on it. Airbrushing is much less risky for that, not least as you're usually doing it inside, plus the spray is lower pressure and less likely to dry midspray. Hand brushing is safest of all, though.

 

In general, two thin coats is superior to one thick coat, not least as one thick coat runs the risk of an unsightly 'orange peel' effect.

[D3L]

The matte varnish was doing weird things to the dakr purple and kida increased tha contrast between the wetblended purple colours and was dulling down the metallic paints. And everything did not look as sharp as before in general - Especially the highlights.

hmm, that's exactly what it's supposed to do... which bit was unexpected?

[Maschinenpriester]

 

The matte varnish was doing weird things to the dakr purple and kida increased tha contrast between the wetblended purple colours and was dulling down the metallic paints. And everything did not look as sharp as before in general - Especially the highlights.

hmm, that's exactly what it's supposed to do... which bit was unexpected?

 

Uhhmm I did not expect it to dull down the highlights so drastically. =D

That it dulled down the metallics is something that made more sense to me.

I Just wanted something to seal my paintjob, while it is not altering it too much.

 

So I guess I have to experiment a bit with what Arkhanist (Thank you a lot for your detailled explanation!) said.

Using glossy varnish and then covering it with matte varnish.

I'd rather use a brush nex time and not ruin my paintjob. =D