Sealer v. Matt Varnish v. Flat Coat

[WintersKnight]

Could someone point me to a good thread about sealing a mini with flat coat (or matt sealer)? My main concern is putting on my final coat without causing the mini to chalk or fog up. Is there a science to sealing a mini, or do I need to play around with it by thinning out the final coat? Any advice would be great.

 

[Webmonkey]

I suggest aerosol sealer,.. matte is usually preferred by most people. Testors Dullcote is the overall winner.

 

[Josh The Stampede]

Testor's Dullcote (in the spray can) is the best, in my opinion, followed by airbrushed Liquitex matte or satin varnish (I actually use a mix of the two). Brush on varnishes are a bit of a tossup, in my experience.

This is assuming you are sealing for display or to even out the glossiness across a mini, and aren't worried about durability for gaming or other models that get handled a lot. If you are, I would suggest using a gloss varnish first, letting it dry for a day, and then using any of the above mentioned matte varnishes to kill the shine.

 

[Quantra]

I've ruined minis with aerosol varnish in the past so I've always been in the cautious camp when it comes to varnish but recently I have turned this around and found a nice safe way of doing it.

I'm sure there are other products and methods that will work but for me...

Everything is painted with a dedicated brush which has only ever had varnish on it (no paint ever).
Thin GW 'ardcoat so it paints without brush marks (it normally needs a lot of water IMO).
Paint 2 coats of 'ardcoat with 30-60mins in between and a few hours for the 2nd coat to fully cure.
1 coat of army painter anti shine brush on. I try and hit everything in one go as the first coat of this is dead matte, the second makes it satin.

Then i find the trick is don't let either varnish pool any where but do apply a decent amount such that you have time to paint an area without going over semi dried varnish and making it rough. Always varnish an area and move on.

 

[Josh The Stampede]

Spray varnish is even more picky about temperature and humidity than spray paint, so the same rules apply. Don't do it if it's too wet out, or too cold, etc. Varnishing and priming in the humid/cold/hot wilds of Maryland was like 75% of the reason I bought an airbrush, honestly.

But, an important thing to know is that when you accidentally frost/dust a mini, that's not game over. You can apply gloss varnish, which will get rid of the clouding. Then after that dries you can try again to matte it however you want.

 

[WintersKnight]

Thanks for the advice. I might try the Testors Dulcote and will try and your approach too, Quantra. I paint on gloss in between my basecoat and highlights/shadows. It works out well, but I've never really played around with the matt sealers. Spraying it makes me nervous, but will give it a try on some test subjects.

 

[airhead]

If these are gaming minis, put a couple of coats of gloss on first. (Testors, Krylon Klear Kote, etc.) Followed by a final coat of matt.

Don't work from too far back. Giving the varnish a chance to dry in the air before it hits the mini is a recipe for disaster.

Quick passes across the mini. Rotate the mini & repeat.