"How long do you wait before varnishing?" Topic

Been asked a million times, but I wanted to lean on your experiences.

For all the terrain I've been building, I've been waiting like a day, give or take, before doing any varnishing. Is that overkill?

Should there be a minimum drying time for miniatures?

12 hrs.? 24 hrs.? Within an hour of finishing the miniature?

Thanks in advance.

Good temperate weather: 24 hours.

Unusually Cold / Hot weather: 48 hours.

Humbrol metallic paints – two years!

If they are kept inside before varnishing 24 hours.

1 hour. Never had a problem.

Lol Olicana – back in the day many, many messed up paint jobs because I had not left the Humbrol paint for long enough…which as you quite rightly point out is typically 104 weeks after applying the paint.

I don't use varnish. Haven't done so for many years. None of my figures have suffered any ill effects as a result. IMHO varnishing is a waste of time unless you really want the "shiny toy soldier" look!

Olicana,are these Humbrols the acrylics, or the old enamels? I wanted a reflective effect when I painted the windows on some Armorcast resin buildings,so I used some Humbrol Silver Enamel I've had for decades,really bright silver. I followed with thinned Liquitex Basic Pthalo Blue for glazing. Never had a problem with drying.I'm wondering what to use when that's gone.

I generally wait 24 hours, but for finishing something up just before a convention, I've done 8 hours with never a problem.

At least 24 hours for acrylics to let the chemicals in the paint escape. Varnish seals them in and might cause discoloration years later. It's one of those warnings I've been following for 40 years, so I forget the details.

~1hr. I use acrylics.

Wow, thanks for all the quick replies!

So, my second question is, for those who only wait an hour or so before varnishing – you've had no problems as far as discoloring?

I do understand the principle of letting all the chemicals be released before varnishing so that they are not sealed in by the varnish.

I guess I'll just take the safe road and put anything I paint aside for 24 hours before varnishing. Not like I can't wait, the miniatures aren't going anywhere!

Major B, you bring another great point though. I'm wondering how truly necessary varnishing is in the first place? I handled my terrain quite a bit after I painted it and before I varnished it, and no paint ever wore off, not even slightly. This was acrylic craft paints on foam, resin, and plastic terrain pieces. I held a lot of the terrain by the corners where my fingers were on the model for a good amount of time. Not a bit of paint wore off after the paint had dried for a few hours.

I wonder if plastics would need varnishing less than metals? Most of what I'm going to be painting are fantasy plastics, but also some character metals, as well as some metal historicals mixed with plastics.

I would think that above all else, varnishing's most useful feature would be to keep finger oil and grease from getting on the paint job.

But I wonder how much varnishing actually protects against chipping or flaking. From my memory, the only time any of my minis actually experienced paint being chipped or flaked off was when I accidentally dropped them on the floor! But dropping a mini – there isn't any varnish out there that I know of that's going to prevent paint damage if a figure is dropped from several feet in the air.

I have (and still use) used Humbrol enamel paints for many years, including metallic, and have not had any problems with varnishing using Army painter Quick Shades.

However, I always let the paint dry for at least 48hrs and usually 72 hours or more; any less and the pigment of the metallic paint will be drawn over the rest of the figure.

Re chipping; in addition to the above I use a final coat of Testor's dull cote and I have not had any chipping despite the dropping of many figures.

24 hours even though I use acrylics – why take a risk.

24 hours is a good idea. I've been in a hurry and have varnished after just an hour with varying results. Testors ate through one coat of paint. Krylon did OK.

Depends on the varnish. I glosscote my minis with Future Floor Polish, and I do so as soon as my paintjobs are done. However, I usually wait around a week before I dullcote. Simply, if the mini still "smells" than it is not done curing/outgassing. Usually a week does the trick. I also wait around a week from priming to putting paint on the mini. So yes, we're usually looking at a 3-week to 1-month turn around from bare metal to fully painted, varnished and based. THis is a big reason why I do assembly line painting, in groups.

Damon.

1 hour, use acrylics, never had a problem….

I start shaking the can of Dullcote as soon as I rinse my brush of the last application. While doing this, I put the figures into a carry tray. By the time I get outside wirh it all, the Dullcote is ready to spray and the figures are ready to be sprayed.

Ah, the joys of living in 10% humidity…

As long as it takes to walk downstairs to do it.

The problems with metallics explain why I've always painted them over the outer, matt varnish coat. I've never lost any paint from the finished surfaces this way because metallics are inherently tough.

Figures I painted 15 years ago were sometimes varnished almost immediately after the final details dried and look as good as new now.

Sorry, no idea what they'll look like in 25 years….if I make it that long….

I paint mainly with Vallejo. I wait a minimum of 72 hours before varnishing. Often a lot longer. At around 48 hours I can see an increased matt occur to the paint.

As soon as the paint has dried, in some cases, and never any mishaps.

I try to wait overnight or longer.

I find if I varnish when only touch dry, some of the paint underneath is still not cured, and the varnish can make the paint run a little, to the point where my highlights melt and blend and somewhat disappear.

For terrain I generally use fewer layers so this bothers me less and I am more likely to varnish terrain in a hurry than miniatures.

Reasons for varnishing? I usually apply an ink wash after painting and it flows better over a gloss varnish. I then leave that an hour or so and overpay with Army Painter matt. If you are going to apply decals then gloss varnish is essential before and after application to ensure that they sit right and stay in place – leave at least 12 hours after applying the decals before the 2nd coat of varnish, then matt varnish over that if you don't want a shiny finish. I also use different varnishes to get different effects for equipment, cloth or leather, animal skin or flesh tones.