Varnish recommendations

[Rybeast]

I'm looking to start varnishing my A380 before I put on my decals. Someone mentioned the Klear/Pledge wood varnish, but I'm having trouble locating it.

I'm looking for something that:

Will varnish over enamel paints,

Can be painted on by brush.

Any recommendations?

[4scourge7]

I`ve found Army Painter spray cans very good in a range of varnishing tasks.

http://shop.thearmypainter.com/products.php?ProductGroupId=15

I`ve used them on enamels and acrylics without bother, and none of the `frosting` or clogged nozzles of Humbrol types.

Cheers, Ian

[Alex Gordon]

Don't go for Humbrol enamels.They are not colourless in the tin and they tend to become less and less colourless with age resulting in a yellow outlook on the seemingly perfect finish.

I used to swear by Humbrol 49 Matt Varnish,lovely and pure matt.I tried Mattcote but,with the benefit of hindsight,I didn't use it properly.

Nowadays I use Vallejo Matt Varnish 70.520.It's acrylic,not quite got the hang of it yet,but it is colourless when it dries.

[XitanAhmar]

I am using Windsor & Newton acrylic varnishes, airbrushed straight from the bottle.

These varnishes dry clearly and are applied without the bother provided by airbrushing enamel varnishes, which incidentally I will never use again as long as I live.

From the Art shop I bought these varnishes I noticed that they had aerosol cans of these products, so maybe you should choose to go that way and use these aerosols.

On another note, I recently bought a bottle of Windsor & Newton varnish remover and it works wonders, just apply with a cotton bud and clean. I use enamel paints (Humbrol I am still old fashioned), this varnish remover doesn't attack the paint but only removes the varnish.

Ideal if you done a bad job when applying the varnish.

[Knight_Flyer]

At the moment I am using Humbrol Clear which does behave similarly to Klear. It appears to be working ok as the decals have been going on the model without a problem. Please note, Clear is not the same as Humbrol Gloss cote/varnish which comes either in a tin or a smaller bottle. Also as with everything else first time, I recommend you test the varnish you decided to buy on an old model or a painted piece of scrap plastic.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Knight_Flyer

[Rybeast]

I am using Windsor & Newton acrylic varnishes, airbrushed straight from the bottle.

These varnishes dry clearly and are applied without the bother provided by airbrushing enamel varnishes, which incidentally I will never use again as long as I live.

From the Art shop I bought these varnishes I noticed that they had aerosol cans of these products, so maybe you should choose to go that way and use these aerosols.

On another note, I recently bought a bottle of Windsor & Newton varnish remover and it works wonders, just apply with a cotton bud and clean. I use enamel paints (Humbrol I am still old fashioned), this varnish remover doesn't attack the paint but only removes the varnish.

Ideal if you done a bad job when applying the varnish.

Have you used the spray cans with the varnish? How would I apply it? Light costs as when priming? Or just a heavy press and spray all along?

[Rybeast]

I couldn't find any of the Windsor and Newton, but I managed to find daler and Rowney - would that be alright to use?

I'm scared that it's going to melt my model or something! It's an acrylic gloss varnish as recommended, just a different brand!

[Rybeast]

A quick update - going to be using enamel paints over the wing as it'll be varnished before and after decals hopefully.

It's an acrylic varnish, going over some enamel paint.

Are any issues likely to arise?

[Rybeast]

Please could a moderator delete this thread?