Army Painter Matte

[brownpants]

I've just completed my first batch of Musketeers using the Army painter strong dip. They have turned out really nice, but the matte spray has been a bit inconsistent. out of the 12 sprayed 3 have got some slight checking or cracking in the varnish. Nothing too bad though. I'm actually really pleased with how awsome the miniatures look with the matte coat.

I also painted up a few GW minis and a similar thing happened on a couple of those- mainly on metallic parts.

So… Did I apply it too thickly? Or could it have been down to temperature? I'm going to be sensible and blame my technique before I blame the varnish- I always seem to struggle.

At least they didn't come out white a powdery like they have in the past with other sprays.

Any help is greatly appreciated (and I'll try and get some pictures of my musketeers posted soon).

Cheers

Mark

[Constantine]

You’re lucky.This guy used the same stuff, with a bit different result….:http://www.gwhobby.net/forum/index.php?topic=7690.msg148117#msg148117

[Morsleib]

I have had the white & powdery effect (before I learned to use the spray) but not crazing.

The enemies of any spray are low temperature, high humidity and excess paint. My guess is that you have fallen foul of one or more of those. Another possible is grease or oil on the model. Too much handling after the dip could cause that.

Terry

[hithero]

Everybody I know has had the white effect when using matte spray of various manufacturers, its certainly a common problem. As well as the advice above, distance from the model and how much shaking going on has been said to be a factor too. I've had this problem on a few occasions and one time I had sprayed a batch of figs with GW matte and run out, shook up another can for a long time, spayed the rest and they ended up with the white dust. So exactly the same spraying conditions, different can, and had problems. Personally I blame the manufacturing of the spray and GW have been known to recall suplies due to white misting.

As to the cracking, I'd point the finger at the models not being fully dry

[Morsleib]

Dip does take a lot longer to fully dry than we are used to. Acrylics dry in minutes but dip should be left 24 hours or at least overnight.

Terry

[brownpants]

Hi

Thanks for all the speedy replies. I'm going to try another batch of models, and just to be sure I'm going to leave them for 48 hours before spraying. Fingers crossed.

Happy New Year

Mark

[getback]

I have had the same problem. I now put cans in my airing cupboard for 30 minutes before I use them - seems to work.

[General Lee]

I had some similar problems just yesterday. I had dipped some of my Perry Confederates with strong tone, and sprayed them with GW purity seal. Some mini's showed signs of cracking or flaking of the paint. So quite disgusted, I had to paint those parts again. I reckon the best thing to do is just paint the matt varnish on with a brush. Vallejo matt varnish works quite well.

@ Constantine, nice to see you here as well ;-)

[Constantine]

Yeah, I’ve been here a while…Why use Purity seal if you already dipped? Just use Dull Cote, that’d be enough.

[Guest]

I have found that Daler-Rowney soluble matt varnish works better than any other matt varnish. You will need to apply lightly with a paint brush and clean brush with white spirit. I have used over army painter .No problems with misting. Also the bottles cost about £5 for 75ml which will last for a long time. In ten years of painting i have not found any other matt varnish to match it.