hay all,
i was playing a few games of warmachine the other day and noticed the paint on my talon was 'scraping off' a little and got a bit confused why however when talking to my dad he said i should try a varnish to seal the paint.After hearing this i searched online and found there are many different kind types of varinsh, so i was just wondering which one wound be best to not effect the coulor of my model but seal the paint.Also if it helps they are metal models.

Thank you all fo the help

Varnishing is generally a matter of taste. You basically have two choices of type - paint on, or spray, and 3 choices of finish - gloss, satin or matt. I'll briefly go through each, and give some pointers doing it carefully:

Paint on - Messy, time consuming and generally more gloopy on the model if you aren't careful with your brushwork. Brushing on can sometimes dissolve the paint if you aren't careful and so 'smears' the model. Sounds crap huh? Why mention it then? Well mainly 'cuz u can use it to pick out details - for instance if you only wanted certain parts of the models varnished - gloss on gems etc.

Spray - Quick, easy, even finish if done carefully, but generally more expensive than buying a huge tub of liquid varnish. I personally use either GW satin spray or Army Painter Matt spray and have found both of these to be excellent, if a little pricey. Maybe others out there can recommend alternatives?

Satin - Generally a slight sheen to the model, but not unpleasently shiny compared to gloss. I do 90% of my models with this.
Matt - Great for mutes schemes, a must if you have painted by using the dipping method. Leaves models with a matt finish.
Gloss - Leaves models shiny with a glass like surface finish. Generally hideous in terms of whole model varnishing, IMHO unless that is the finish U are looking for. It is great for finishes on shiny armour, gems, glass etc.

Care -
Ive already warned above of the dangers of over zealous brushing - just a couple of words about sprays. You need to spray in an even temperature. If it is too hot, or too cold the varnish may go 'white' and spoil the finish of your model. This happens most with 'matt' vanish. The same can be said if the environment is too damp. Also - if you can't spray outdoors, and need to do it in a shed or garage (i don't recommend the bedroom, kitchen etc unless you want a fine coating of varnish dust over everything) then keep the room as well ventilated as possible and maybe wear a mask.

Finally don't hold the spray too close to the model. It will get a dusty, whitish finish if you do. Best thing to do is put the models into a large box lid, lie them on one side, then use several short bursts from different angles, moving the can quickly from side to side so as not to spend too much time coating too much of one part of the model. When it's dry, flip over n spray from the other side. Once dry again, pick up the model and check it from all angles to see if you've got even coverage. Generally spray from about 12" away. I often finish by putting a plastic bag over my hand, grasping the base of the model and giving short quick bursts into all the awkward angles, and hard to reach spots.

Hope the advice was useful.

I've found it doesn't matter if you varnish or not, acryllic paint will still rub off on metal, especially on the edges. If you use spray varnish, such as GW Purity Seal, you have to be very careful to make sure that the can is well shaken and both the model and the can are at room tempetature otherwise it will go white. I personally I have stopped using varnish after some bad exleriences with it. I've found that if you leave the model to harden for around 6 weeks after you have painted it, i.e. you don't handle it at all, then it will somewhat alleviate the problem but won't get rid of it totally.

WOW thank you for the quick reply just two questions.
Whats the dipping method?
also do you think matt will work with a royal purple couor scheme?

niteterror wrote:WOW thank you for the quick reply just two questions.
Whats the dipping method?

Dipping is where a model is painted by hand painting flat colours on the model first. (imagine orks - paint skin goblin green, paint cloth brown, paint armour silver.) then the whole model is dipped into a pigment varnish, such as wood stain, or in the case of recent development 'army painter' model dip. (basically woodstain....) The model is then shaken to remove the excess, or a large brush can be used to remove most of the excess. It's then left to dry. Usually this is very shiny, but with a coat of matt varnish is clears the model right up. The method is quick and great for painting whole armies and looks great of done carefully. Great for horde armies like nids n orks. Somewhere on the site MattJ has a great thread on his army which he's dipped a lot of. Here's an example of my dipped bloodletters:

niteterror wrote: also do you think matt will work with a royal purple couor scheme?

There's no reason why not - Matt leaves the colour exactly as you paint it with no shine. In fact it may even dull down any shine that may occur naturally in the paint.

You can get dips, such as by Army Painter, which you litterally dip a basic painted model in and it provides a shade on the model.

It should work with that scheme. Also be aware that varnishing tends to tone down highlights so if you only have subtle highlighting then the varnish may kill it.