Vallejo Matte Varnish
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Vallejo Matte Varnish

Posted in Custom Workstation

Anyone have experience with this stuff? Any tips for how best to apply it?

I got some today (in the small eyedropper bottle) and tried it on a custom I'm making. It brushes on as a pale milky-blue liquid, but quickly dries clear and flat. Had the same experience applying it as I did with the Liquitex Satin Varnish ( http://www.figurerealm.com/topic?topicid=9368 ). I'm on the third light coat now for extra protection, but it reaches the full flat effect with just one coat.

I read that matte varnish offers less protection than gloss/satin varnish, but I don't think it's true...but...

The thing is that gloss varnish is glossy because it gives you a slick protective shell, you drag your fingernail on it and it glides. This is how my Satin varnish behaves, it gives the impression of protection.

Matte varnish is matte because the surface is microscopically "rougher", to scatter light. When you drag your fingernail across it it feels like it will snag and rip up the varnish/paint, lowering confidence that it will protect the paint. However, it offers about as much protection as the satin varnish, meaning it makes the figure easier to clean and handle safely. If I were to gouge the matte varnish, it would fail just as much as the Satin would.

Posted by Henchmen4Hire
on Monday, November 14, 2016 - Updated on Sunday, July 16, 2017
User Comments
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Henchmen4Hire -
Sunday, July 16, 2017
As a follow-up...

I got into the habit of giving my customs a few coats of the Liquitex Satin and following it up with a once-over of this Vallejo Matte to kill the shine.

I'm noticing that a major benefit of applying a few (2 to 4) coats of sealer is that it smooths the surface of the paint. What happens is that the sealer will build up in any faint brushstrokes and other imperfections and create a smooth surface, making the painjob look a lot nicer. I wish I had done this to my recent Fishman custom to smooth the yellow parts some more!

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Ivory Towers -
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Ya know I used to be rushed like that when I paint and I noticed better results when I waited at least a day for paint to cure. That is with acrylic paints as well as whatever I use to seal it. I am totally impatient and am hurried to want to get a project done but it is pretty worth it to let the paints not only dry but to completely cure. If you put wet upon something that isn't 100% dry it will just get it wet again and have better chance of rubbing off. But these are just my findings through my experiences. I am not nearly as skilled as a lot of other members in the realm.
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Ivory Towers -
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Yeah I use it. I like it. Helps un-glossify stuff you want less glossified (to be scientifically accurate). Though I have noticed it does not protect as well as something like decoupage stuff does(Modge Podge brand) but that stuff does indeed glossify.
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Henchmen4Hire -
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
How long do you wait between coats of the Vallejo varnish? I see people saying they wait 24 hours between coats, which sounds insane to me lol. I do a quick light coat, wait a few minutes for it to dry, then add another light coat. The results are good enough, but I'm wondering if I'm doing it wrong, or if there's a way to make it more durable.
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antithetical -
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
DrN... My experience with drying times is pretty much the same, I've definitely noticed better adhesion after the paint has been allowed to dry a day or two (not intentionally done that way, more a case of painting pieces and then not being able to get back to them for a while). There have been a couple times I got into a rush with painting multiple layers and used the hair dryer to speed things up and that almost always ended up making the finish more prone to chipping and flaking.
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