Safest and Easiest Varnish?

[Jator]

Hi all.
I'm planning my next painting project after months without touching a brush. I will use mostly contrast, which has a reputation of chipping if you stare intensely at the miniatures.

 I'm a slow painter and sometimes find the process frustrating. The idea of ruining a finished miniature in the varnishing step gives me shudders.

  So as the title suggests I'm looking for a foolproof way to do it.

  I have a can of Army painter's Anti-shine spray, but I bought it 5 years ago, has endured some really hot summers, and doesn't have the best reputation around.

  Could you help a fellow hobbyist with moderate skill and more moderate frustration tolerance?

[Lior'Lec]

     If you have an airbrush grab a bottle of Velejo’s brush on matte varnish. It isn’t an actual varnish but water based so less finicky about the weather. It can be applied with a brush or airbrush (preferred) and gives you one layer or protection already if you decide to apply anti-shine later. One thing of note is the finish isn’t as dull as anti-shine and looks more like a satin finish. 

[Tommy]

I’ve had lots of frosting over the years (before I even knew what it was), it’s an awful feeling. 😕

If you prefer Citadel/don’t have an airbrush there are Citadel brush-on varnishes too - Stormshield (matt) and Ardcoat (gloss), there’s a short GW video about using them on YouTube.

I’m just beginning to look at them myself, it’s pretty humid here in Ireland so spraying’s often risky. Since I’m a slow painter anyway I reckon the extra varnish time won’t add up to much! 😅

 

 

[Jator]

21 hours ago, Lior'Lec said:

     If you have an airbrush grab a bottle of Velejo’s brush on matte varnish. It isn’t an actual varnish but water based so less finicky about the weather. It can be applied with a brush or airbrush (preferred) and gives you one layer or protection already if you decide to apply anti-shine later. One thing of note is the finish isn’t as dull as anti-shine and looks more like a satin finish. 

Seems like mate varnish could be a very wrong choice for contrast. Today I read this on reddit from a guy called Catgutt:

 

Quote

Because the Contrast is a semi-transparent ink with a satin finish, that 'depth' is from the light reflecting off the primer coat through the ink, and matte varnish kills that by scattering the light to 'flatten' the finish. It does the same thing to conventional paints too, but since they tend to be fairly matte to begin with the change is less pronounced.

Something to keep in mind!

 

 

10 hours ago, Tommy said:

I’ve had lots of frosting over the years (before I even knew what it was), it’s an awful feeling. 😕

If you prefer Citadel/don’t have an airbrush there are Citadel brush-on varnishes too - Stormshield (matt) and Ardcoat (gloss), there’s a short GW video about using them on YouTube.

I’m just beginning to look at them myself, it’s pretty humid here in Ireland so spraying’s often risky. Since I’m a slow painter anyway I reckon the extra varnish time won’t add up to much! 😅

 

GW products are usually as noob-friendly as they can made them, so that's probably a good recomendation. If you try them, please share the experience. I'm still making up my mind.

Thanks for the responses so far!

[Yeknomious]

Winsor and Newton Professional Varnish. It's incredible. I've had a lot of frosting with GW varnish spray (yes, I did shake the can and warm it). I will never buy it again after using the the W&N varnish. I was so impressed with it I even tried it on some frosted models and the spray actually restored most of the vibrancy and contrast of the models. My attention was brought to the W&N spray via the Necron YouTuber IDICBeer.

[Jator]

On 8/27/2020 at 10:45 PM, Yeknomious said:

Winsor and Newton Professional Varnish. It's incredible. I've had a lot of frosting with GW varnish spray (yes, I did shake the can and warm it). I will never buy it again after using the the W&N varnish. I was so impressed with it I even tried it on some frosted models and the spray actually restored most of the vibrancy and contrast of the models. My attention was brought to the W&N spray via the Necron YouTuber IDICBeer.

Interesting! Not easy to find in my country, but I can look if there's a way to get them at good price.

[Kamose]

Not sure if you can find this where you live but I've used Testor's Dullcote Varnish for years. Works great in a variety of weather conditions, protects paint well, and has never frosted on me. 

https://tangibleday.com/recommended-varnishes-for-miniatures-best-practice-and-use/

[Kadmon]

I use Pinty Plus - Evolution matte spray varnishes and Pentart brush-on glossy varnishes. I've never had any frosting with either of these.

However, if you take care of your models, you don't need to use varnish. I haven't used contrast paints yet, but I can imagine that matte varnish could dull the effect. A friend of mine uses only Citadel paints, and never varnishes his models, but they look fine (although he doesn't play with them daily).

Here's my article with where I've collected varnishes recommended by others: How to use miniature varnish - Miniature hobby guide

[zilberfrid]

I have used Vallejo matte with contrast, and works just fine. I have even used a really cheap art acrylic matte varnish, and it also works (but it has less flow and matting agent).

You do really want to use a well biting primer though.