Varnish for colourcoats recommendations?

[Ships doc]

Hi everyone

 

I was just wondering if anyone had recommendations for a good matt varnish to use over colourcoats paint? I have some Humbrol spray cans (enamel 49). For a working RC model so want something to protect the paint. 

 

I know this has been discussed before but some things are not produced any more (eg testors dullcote seems tricky to get hold of)

 

Thanks in advance!

James

[Adm Lord De Univers]

This might be one that @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies is most ideally placed to answer (sorry for interrupting your holiday/leave), but I use Alcad's range over Colourcoats. Seems to work well for me. I also use Vallejo, but that is primarily over their own paint range, and on the very rare occassion I'm not working on a RN subject.

 

David

[Graham Boak]

Winsor and Newton do a fine range of varnishes.  I've used them over Colourcoats.

[Ships doc]

Thanks both for those suggestions - I will check them out! Will try to update this with the results.

[jackroadkill]

I can second @Graham Boak's suggestion of W+N's Galleria varnish.

[Ships doc]

Thanks again. Do you brush on the W&N Galleria varnish? Have you used the W&N spray cans eg. 'professional matt varnish'?

[Graham Boak]

I brush them on.  Decades ago I used a W&N spray varnish from a can, with very good results.  

[Stephen Allen]

I used the Revell enamel varnishes on my RC model of HMS Conn, over various Colourcoats. You might find the matt a bit too matt for an operating model, and I used a 2:1 mix of matt to gloss to give it a bit of wipeability without making it shiny. They spray very nicely mixed 50:50 with the colourcoats thinner, and didn’t change the underlying colour to any extent discernable with my poor eyes.

 

cheers

 

Steve

[jackroadkill]

4 hours ago, Ships doc said:

Do you brush on the W&N Galleria varnish?

 

That, or airbrushed when thinned with IPA.

[Norseman 3:16]

I have successfully airbrushed W&N Galleria Matt varnish straight from the bottle at about 25 psi.  You may find that hard to believe as it is quite gloopy but, it works.

 

It is a superb matt varnish and I have never had any issues.  

[lasermonkey]

For those of you who use the Galleria varnish, is it durable and does it stand up to things such as decal solvents, water and the like?

[PhantomBigStu]

W&N is Fine with water once dried, not the most resistant to physical damage in that can be picked off with a cocktail stick (which is extremely handy when it comes to canopies) but hardly fragile, as for solvents I don’t use them 

Edited July 24, 2022 by PhantomBigStu

[Stephen Allen]

As a final word to the wise, don’t experiment with the finish on your lovely RC vessel. If you can, buy a common white bathroom tile from your local hardware store. Paint half of the tile with your colourcoats, then overcoat with your chosen varnish, or alternative varnishes, in strips. The advantage of this is you can then see the effect of the varnish on your paints and also undertake scratch tests etc to see how tough the varnish is, so you can decide without committing paint to the boat. Leaving half of the tile unpainted will also help you assess more readily whether the varnish imbues any sort of tint to the underlying paint, essential if you are using white or other light colours. 

 

happy boating!

 

Steve

[Ships doc]

Thanks everyone for the very helpful replies!

 

Yes I think some testing is in order. I have some squares of styrene which I've airbrushed at the same time as the boat, but I might need a couple more! 

[jackroadkill]

17 hours ago, lasermonkey said:

For those of you who use the Galleria varnish, is it durable and does it stand up to things such as decal solvents, water and the like?

 

I've never had any trouble with it, and have done weathering, decalling etc over the top without any drama.

[Ships doc]

Some feedback on results! 

 

This is 'what I did' not 'what to do'!

 

After some test pieces I opted for the Windsor & Newton professional Matt varnish. The reasons for choosing this were: available from the art shop near me, likely to have best non yellowing properties as artist material, ease of use as spray can. 

 

It gave good results on test pieces of styrene airbrushed with colourcoats. Consistent flat finish. Seems more forgiving than Humbrol spray which went streaky/ patchy. 

 

On to the ship:

I did the decks first; great results: dead flat finish, even, unified the paintwork - happy modelling.

 

Then did the hull: problems started.

Had the bright idea of undercoating the hull in the gloss version for hard wearing layer/ as a base for decals. Applied what I thought was a light coat (one overlapping pass over whole hull), but got lots of runs and streaks on the vertical surfaces - huge mess, oh dear.

 

Fortunately the varnish is formulated to be removed (as artist use). So an evening with the turpentine substitute - was able to clean off the affected areas with a sponge quite quickly, leaving the underlying enamel unharmed. 

 

Then re-applied the gloss very lightly, 2 coats, then Matt varnish very lightly in 2 coats and it's looking much better. I also turned the ship and sprayed in stages, with the target area horizontal, which also helps (the instructions recommend this).

 

So to summarise:

W&N professional Matt/gloss varnish:

Pros: great flat and even finish when applied properly. Follow the instructions on the can to the letter. 30cm distance, very light coats, ideally have the surface horizontal.

As advertised it's very much an artist's quality material. So if you are doing a pristine 'museum piece' to go on a shelf I would recommend.

 

Cons:

Can run if applied too heavily (which is true of any varnish)

Easily cleaned with solvents: I would not be confident putting an oil based wash over this for weathering.

Quite expensive online, but can be found cheaper (eg £16 on Amazon but £9 in my local shop)

 

Photos of the build on Instagram @beagleshipmodels

 

Edited September 2, 2022 by Ships doc

[DaddyO]

I'll add that I've used W&N Galleria gloss for a decal coat over acrylics (recent Nieuport build) and there was a marked darkening of the colours.😬

 

This was a sprayed finish thinned with a little distilled water and only a single coat. Having seen the amount of colour change after the first coat I decided a little carrier film showing up was better than more darkening of the colours. (I found this really annoying given the care I mixed the original colours with🤨 )

I've since managed to lighten them again slightly when weathering with oils over the top, but I wasn't impressed and definitely won't be using again

 

Paul