Tamiya matte varnish - the bane of pigments?

[shakes]

Hey all, I finished a mini a while back and had her on a display base. Much of the work on the display base was done with pigments: rich, earthy, browns and oranges. When I went to seal her I used tamiya matte varnish, it completed de-saturated the colours of the base making it dull and lifeless. Having limited use of pigments I had never experienced this, has anyone else had this happen?

I thought it might just be a bad batch so re-applied the pigments and sealed again with the same results.

Does anyone have recommendations on how to seal a mini after pigment is applied without ruining the effect?

Any help is greatly appreciated, Shakes

p.s. I believe a large reason behind the de-saturation is because I used a lot of dry pigment. When I hit it with matte varnish I think it soaked all the moisture right up killing the effect. Might hitting it with gloss varnish first help? Or do I have to apply my pigments mixed with a binding agent to avoid this?

 

[Zab]

The sealer will always knock the effect back down. At best if you want, seal your mini, apply the pigment and then hit them with a binder to keep them in place, but do that last if you want to keep the effect. I know how frustrating it is. I went through the same thing when I fell in love with powders. "Wow that's perfect! ~SPSHHSHHHHhhh~ Ahh! What happened to my nice weathering and natural looking dirt!?"

 

[RuneBrush]

Are you airbrushing the varnish on or using a brush? I've found airbrushing it on is just enough to seal it but doesn't mess up the finish. That said I use Daler Rowney varnish so it might be different with Tamiya.