W&N Galeria varnish limitations?

[Mountain goat]

Hi,

I've read a couple of times on this site that Winsor & Newton Galeria varnishes are the best out there afa arcylics go. A local art shop is closing its doors and sold everything for half price so I picked up a few bottles. So as a test, I sprayed some Matt varnish over a Gunze Mr Hobby paint job on spare plastic (GuineaHasePig MiG-17 actually). Result: wrinkling, crumpling of the underlying paint and a mottled finish on the varnish. Tested satin varnish later on, on a different piece, on dried and cured gloss Mr Hobby paint and there it wouldn't even dry for a couple of hours, and in the end it stayed exactly as glossy as before - without the wrinkles though.

I bought two containing matt and they differ in thickness. All of 'em looked as if they'd seen the Millenium change.

Have I bought a bad batch or is this a common thing - that Gunze and W&N layers bite each other?

(Sorry, no pics as the wrinkling doesn't show up on photos well)

Jay

[viscount806x]

I've used this but not over keen although it has it's uses being water based and quick drying. The major drawback for me is that they redissolve if you get water near them, e.g. when decalling.

For me, the better artists varnishes and those which I have used for over 40 years now are the Rowney (now Daler Rowney) 'Cryla' varnishes which being turps / white Spirit based are more permanent. Available in matt or gloss.

If you want a water based varnish go for Klear (or equivalent) which dries permanently unless more Klear goes onto it. It can be made satin or matt by adding artists acrylic matting agents.

Nige B

[Watcher]

I use the matt and have had no problems at all. As far as the gloss for decaling then I tend to use Tamiya gloss as it dries very hard and is resistant to things like Microset/Sol. The Galeria varnish works well although curiously the more you thin it (with water and flow enhancer) the more semi-gloss it becomes? The one advantage is that, if it all goes wrong for any reason, you can wash it all off and start again.

[CedB]

Hi Jay

I'd also seen the recommendations elsewhere here on BM so I've also bought matt, satin and gloss. I've only used the satin so far on my Meteor builds but that worked fine, over Gunze Aqueous and thinned with Tamiya X-20A about 50/50 and airbrushed at 20psi with a 0.4mm nozzle.

[colin]

same here, used the matt thinned with Tamiya x-20a and got a lovely finish, although they take a little longer to fully dry than other acrylic varnishes I've used.

Tend with the matt to use thin coats not too close the the model with a fairly high psi, above 20.

Never tried to see if it redissolves after it has dried when in contact with water though

[PhantomBigStu]

W@N doesn't dissolve under water, same as all the water based acrylic paints, once it's dry it's dry....the fact it's water based is only partnofnthe story, the main thing is how it drys chemically, concrete is water based, and I'm sure your patio washed away during the last shower...

Edited November 25, 2015 by PhantomBigStu

[Mountain goat]

Thanks all

thinned with Tamiya X-20A about 50/50 and airbrushed at 20psi with a 0.4mm nozzle.

same here, used the matt thinned with Tamiya x-20a and got a lovely finish, although they take a little longer to fully dry than other acrylic varnishes I've used.

Tend with the matt to use thin coats not too close the the model with a fairly high psi, above 20.

- I used tap water and a little WN Flow Improver, but yes, I'll experiment with X-20A, along with the airbrush settings you both mention. I'll try a little above 20 and see how that goes.

By the way, when I try to dilute varnish with tap water from one of the bottles, it gets all flaky on the surface. I'm going to put that down to either bad water quality or bad varnish.

Jay