"Matt Finish" Topic

I'm going out of my mind………….

No matter what I do with this Vallejo Matt Varnish it always appears to dry to a sheen.
I've tried diluting, applying it straight, waited a few days before giving it another coat, shaking the bottle till my arm came off……sheen, sheen blooming sheen. Have I a dodgy bottle or is anyone experiencing the same?

I've an old tin of Humbrol Enamel Matt Varnish which I'm considering using….will it damage or attack the Acrylic paint on the figure in any way?

Any advice gratefully received.

Use Testor's Dullcoat instead?

Marabu is very good also with the army painter metod
Good luck.

In UK get some of this link

Daler and Rowney Matt Varnish – it works brilliantly.

I've found a product – Valspar, Krystal Flat. It was a little scary at first but the results are very good. There are some tricks to using it. First the scary part – the first time I used it, it covered the figures in what appeared to be a milky white coat. But when it dried it was clear and flat. It even flattened out some gloss paint I had used.
It is a water based product, which means you have to be careful using it on figures painted with water based paint and inks. I sometimes use artist water colors as highlights, this will wash them away. So I have taken to first coating the figure with a Krylon clear matt, once that has dried I use the Valspar and then regloss anything requiring a gloss finish.
Comes in a 12 oz. spray and is a lot cheaper than the Testor's(even using the Krylon). This double coating also makes for a harder more durable finish.

My personal method is a coat of gloss followed by Vallejo Matt spray and then Army Painter Matt spray. The latter is very matt and gives a great finish. Do not use more than one coat or too much or you get a dusty finish.

Krylon Matte $3.00 USD at Walmart…

Vallejo Matt Varnish is fine, I use it with a brush, you just need to put two or three coats on dark colours.

Just get a bottle of Windsor & Newton Galleria Matt Acrylic Varnish. Let it settle, pour off 1/2" of clear 'carrier fluid', shake, and brush on. Job done. Don't muck about with sprays, humidity, and temperature variables 'whiting out' your brushwork.

I second Testors Dullcote. Nothing else comes close to being as dull as this! It is the best!

But you cannot get Dullcote in the UK and we don't have Walmart :-)

I use Vallejo matt with no ill problems, iffy bottle maybe?

@ getback, Testors Dullcote has been sold in UK for several years; I usually buy mine here: link

I've always had trouble with Vallejo Matt Varnish, I tried several bottles, which were the same, so I went back to my failsafe varnish, as long as you give it a long shake, Miniature Paints Matt Varnish No3, in the UK you can get it from Redoubt Miniatures, here's a link

link

Mind you if you don't mind the price I find the GW varnishes to be very hard wearing.

Testors Dullcote works well and can be found in most Hobby shops here in the U.S. link

Must also cast my vote for Testors dullcote.

* I usually spray my figures with Krylon gloss enamel first ( to make them really tough), then finish them with one layer of the dullcote.

Definitely Testors Dull Coat for me too.
VMC matt varnish is the only Vallejo ‘colour' I ever threw away (and I have the complete VMC range)
I have been using Testors for ages. I even paint in on in between finishing a figure, like when I finish the upper part of the body I give it a coat of Dull Coat before starting the trousers an the boots etc…just to avoid rubbing of paint while holding on to the painted parts of a figure.
I finish of with Army painter Matt spray. Fantastic matte finish here without any spray problems

I second Winsor & Newton Galeria matt varnish as suggested by greystreak above. I havent needed to pour off the carrier fluid, only a good shake. I get mine from a local Hobbycraft but theyre not all over the UK, alternatively online art supply websites should do the trick

To answer Modish62 regarding Humbrol Matt varnish, it will work fine over acrylic paint. I used to use it all the time as it was the best brush matt varnish.

It dose not attack the paint below in any way, it will dull colours and needs to be mixed well but neither is more of a problem than in acrylic varnishes.

I've also had problems with the Vallejo Matt; it's simply not flat enough (for me).

So, I've started to gloss varnish first, wait 24 hours to dry and then 'hit them with the Flat.

Regards,

J. P. Kelly

Pick up some matt spray from a local art store. It is really good on figures and you get far more for your money. The tins for wargames figures are small and expensive.
The art sprays come in gloss or matt, are very fine and as they are designed to protect artworks they will certainly do the same for your figures.

Oh…and it is about the flattest flat flat you'll ever see!

Here's one for the economically challenged. I use it on 1/72 plastic because they require a coating that remains flexible and will not crack when bent.

It's half and half white glue with water. I had a hard time getting used to it. I kept using more glue than water, or re-coating because the first coat looked like I had not even applied it.

But that was the whole point.

If you dilute the white glue with water 50-50, and aren't too sloppy with the coating, you CANNOT EVEN TELL IT'S THERE. But it is. And it dries completely flat.

Just give it a try. Certainly you have some of the glue around, as well as access to water. Give it a shot and let us know how it works for you. It costs almost nothing, and the white glue is available in any general store, Walgreens, whatever. No need to go on line, search for special products, or pay for shipping.

Best,

Bill

Testor's gets a thumbs up from me as well, however, I recently discovered Golden's Polymer Matte Varnish with UVLS. It's acrylic, thins with water, brushes on, is very economical, and has the added bonus of UV protection for your paint job. I get mine online from Dick Blick art supplies.

I've been using an old tinlet of Revell Enamel Matt Varnish on my models and have had no ill effects when it's applied over Acrylic paints, it just needs a small amount of thinners to keep it brushable. I can't see that using Humbrol varnish would be any different but if unsure I'd try it out on a test figure first.

Testors dullcote gets my vote.

Krylon Matte. Been using it for years and it never fails.

WHAT?

Ditto on the Krylon, better than the Warhammer stuff which dried a little on the shinny side for me.

Winsor & Newton Galeria is great but will `bleed` inks trick is to add a little varnish to the ink, that`s for winter painting. army painter anti-shine is my favourite.

Yes i have used Vallejo Matt Varnish and it does definitely dry with a bit of a sheen to it. This doesn't bother me unduly but i can see if you're after a perfectly flat finish it might annoy you. It's not anything you are doing with the application so try some of the other suggestions above rather than keep experimenting with the Vallejo.

I agree the WH stuff is e, dried too glossy and it wiped out my dry brushing on the micro armor I painted.
I'm going to try some Testors next (keep the hobby stores in business not WALMART)

Krylon Matte Finish for my painted minis, Tide for finishing my matts. ;-}~

I have used Krylon Matte for a number of years with no bad results.

Just tried some testors dullcoat-came out fine.