How many Coats?

[Cesar]

I don\'t mean to waste your time, but I worry that if I do a search on Varnish, I will be confronted with a million odd threads. Today I simply do not have the time for that.

I have finished a piece for a paint contest/competitions for tomorow, and unfortunately I am unfamiliar with \"conventional\" finishing products. I have here a paint container of GW\'s clear Matt Varnish (to be applied with brush, as there was no spray avaliable). I am not sure how many coats to apply. I would rather not have the mini glossy, or lose it\'s detail.

I also have a second question, I hope you do not mind. I have heard that a thinned down Matt Medium can be used as a gloss, is this true?

Any suggestions will help. Thankyou

Cesar.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

How many coat\'s? Enough to dull and protect. Not so much that it looks \'encased\'. With brush on be careful to not scrub the medium in as this can leave tiny air bubbles that will dry that way.

Watering down to make glossy - havent a clue. Try it and see.

 

[Marmoset]

GW matt varnish is good for protection, but generally even a thin layer will give a slightly satiny finish, not a true dull finish. Really the only product for this is Testor\'s Dullcote available cheapest at horsingaround.

Happy painting, and good luck!

~Bill

 

[GreenOne]

I read on one of those related odd threads something that really made sense to me:
Take your varnish can, dont shake it, take the top half apart, and keep only the lower half, then shake it like there is no tomorrow.
The top half will be only varnish, you can use it for the first two coats, the matting agent will be more concentrated in the lower half, use it for the last coat or two. I would thin it down a bit and apply really thin coats. Give it at least 24h between the coats and a good week before the final matte coat.
Most matt varnish will take a few days to bocme really dull, so don\'t despair if you see it\'s glossy at first.

Hope that helps, sure did for me.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

get a clear satin spray varnish from your local diy store. it is cheeper than a lot of other model varnishes and also as tough as old boots.

then give two coats of testors dull coat and the mini looks as tho it was never varnished at all.

just remember to do grass after varnishing, otherwise you end up with lots of varnish droplets all over your grass.

 

[vincegamer]

Originally posted by GreenOne keep only the lower half, then shake it like there is no tomorrow.

This is a fascinating idea. I learned not long ago that the matt agent settles to the bottom. I never thought of draining off some of the varnish.
I don\'t know that it is necessary though, as I am satisfied with the Armory matt finish I have been using.
Oh, my experience with thinning is that if you just thin with water you get a more matt finish.

 

[GreenOne]

VinceGamer:
This is a fascinating idea. I learned not long ago that the matt agent settles to the bottom. I never thought of draining off some of the varnish.
I don\'t know that it is necessary though, as I am satisfied with the Armory matt finish I have been using

Yeah, it really gives those cheap varnishes a boost!
What\'s better, you can stir some white or black paint in the upper half, thin it a bit, and use it as a very, very light primer, tried that this week end and it works a charm

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Cesar
I also have a second question, I hope you do not mind. I have heard that a thinned down Matt Medium can be used as a gloss, is this true?

No, that shouldn\'t work as a rule. You can apply a gloss medium thinly for a less-glossy result and if you apply a thin coat of a matt medium or varnish you\'ll generally get a less-matt result but simply thinning one should not give you an outright gloss result.

Einion

 

[Cesar]

Ok, thanks for all the tips, luckily the contest had been posponed, due to warband league. Which is lame in my opinion, but gives me time for 2 more entries i\'ve been meaning to do.
The winged nightmare\'s wings are the nightmare. I *finished* them 5 miniutes after I should have left the house. I have until the 30th of april now.

Einion, thankyou, but I mean the Matt medium, I think that is in glue? I could be mistaken.

I\'ll keep in mind suggestions about finishing though, as currently I dont have enough funding to go out and get more supplies.
I drained a bit of my matt varnish, and my miniature looks pretty matt. I even managed some layering/blending on Melkhiors cloak, not wet blending.
Thanks everyone.

 

[Einion]

Oh okay, can you use acrylic medium as a glue? Certainly, it\'s quite a good adhesive (for lighter stuff) so it can work well for scatter materials on groundwork for instance.

Einion