I just found this video on YT, demonstrating how to dress up plastic plants for tabletop gaming use. I knew, immediately, that the best option for dulling the plastic would be spray matte varnish. That much was obvious.
I liked his washes, as I've done similar, brushing on Minwax urethane stain to some plastic plants and trees I have in my terrain collection. I agree, though, that a coating of matte varnish will create a superior surface for applying both washes and urethane stain.
What had never occurred to me was to use either a heir dryer, or a heat gun, to "wilt" the plants, to create variations in the leaves and branches. He demonstrated only a hair dryer, but a heat gun would achieve similar results -- just be careful not to melt the plastic plants too much! Remember that thermo-plastics typically melt between 300 F – 400 F.
My two take-away's from the linked video are: matte clear coat as a dulling coating, and as a primer layer for paints to achieve better adherence to the plastic; and, the heat gun/hair dryer to randomly alter the plants to make them look more realistic. Cheers!
