Using Liquitex Acrylic Varnish

Used the varnish on a few other small items today (accessories).

What the varnish does is create a slick barrier on the paint, protecting it from everyday handling. It keeps out water and grease, it makes the figure much easier and safer to clean with a quick wipe down or wash. It definitely offers more protection for paints that aren't inherently durable, like Citadel or Formula P3. You can gingerly scratch on it with your fingernail and it'll just glide over the surface. It makes it feel about as durable as Testors paints. I can use straight Testors Deep Sea Blue (a semi-gloss paint) and it has the same finish.

However, the varnish doesn't offer any more protection than any of the usual spray sealers out there. I've used Krylon's cheap clear sealer and it has all the same properties, except it only costs like $7 and you get more product. Plus, you can spray it.

I don't recommend this stuff if you're looking for a rock hard top coat that'll deflect everything you throw at it, because it won't. It will however protect the paint from the random scratch and dirt. If you gouge or scratch too hard you'll still damage the paint. It'll still scrape off if a joint is too tight, I'd rather stick with superglue for protection. I still wouldn't feel good about throwing the varnished figure into a drawer to tumble around with other figs.

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That said, this stuff has its place in the old toolbox. Because you can brush it on, you have a lot more control over where you apply it and how much you use. Also, you don't have to worry about humidity and temperature as much as with spray sealers, which can cause a white haze effect on the surface.

Try brushing the varnish on eyes and lips to make the figure more life-like.

Apply it more heavily on high points of the figure for extra protection against handling, especially useful for miniatures gaming.

Mix the different finishes (matte/gloss) to get a custom finish.

Etc.

If you can get this stuff on sale, try it out. It's nice being able to handle a figure without worrying about rubbing off all your careful drybrushing.

I picked up the satin and the matte on Jin's recommendation and I agree with you the satin is a bit too glossy for me. I mixed some of the two together and got it to where I liked it better. The matte on the other hand is great as is. I don't wanna use anything else.

Yep, wish I had known about satin being too glossy sooner, I can't return this thing now

I tried some of the varnish on a figure im working on.

-It has a thin consistency, like watered down glue. Give it a swish in the bottle to stir it. Don't shake the bottle because you don't want it to form a bunch of annoying bubbles.

-You don't have to worry about leaving ugly brushstrokes as long as you do a few swipes and wick away any excess that may have pooled up. It'll self-level on it's own because it's so watery.

-The bottle recommends 2 thin coats first, so that's what I did. First coat went on with a few quick swipes, then I let it dry for like 5 minutes. At this point it's dry enough to add another light coat. I let it dry and then went with a final coat, a little heavier than those two.

That was like at 2pm, Now I'm waiting about 5 hours to see what kind of durability it offers.

Also, the bottle says it has a Satin finish, but it's still too glossy for my liking. They also sell Gloss and Matte versions though.

Well, let us know if it works or not..

Yep, will do

Haven't used the varnish yet, but I also bought and tried Liquitex's Airbrush Medium. It's basically thin acrylic paint without the color. I think you're supposed to buy pigment and make your own airbrush colors with it, but you can use it to thin your existing paints without losing durability, and even even revive your old acrylic paints. I splashed some of the stuff into some 10 year old orange Testors paint that was turning into mud and now it works great again. Also used it on Tamiya's Clear Red and P3's Thamar Black, it's a good all around acrylic paint thinner.