What’s the definitive Dullcote replacement???

[aircav]

Basically as the heading say's, has any body found a definitive Dullcote replacement?

I'm down to my last can now so i need top be thinking about a replacement!


Keith

[JollyBob]

Do you need spray or will brush on do?

I followed RedZed's advice and tried Windsor & Newton Galleria Acrylic Matt Varnish from the art shop. Absolutely flat, great finish. Doesn't need to be done outside either, which is good news. Needs shaking quite a lot to mix, and takes a while to dry enough to be touched up, but it's well worth it. Not too expensive either. 

[Svennn]

I have always used W&N or Daler Rowney bottled stuff but the spray from Warlord Games is getting very good reports - not tried personally though.

[aircav]

Do you need spray or will brush on do?

I followed RedZed's advice and tried Windsor & Newton Galleria Acrylic Matt Varnish from the art shop. Absolutely flat, great finish. Doesn't need to be done outside either, which is good news. Needs shaking quite a lot to mix, and takes a while to dry enough to be touched up, but it's well worth it. Not too expensive either. 

I need spray, way too lazy for the brush on stuff 

Is the Windsor & Newton Galleria Acrylic Matt Varnish spray or brush?


Keith

[JollyBob]

Brush on.

Looks like you might have more luck with the Warlord Games spray Svennn suggested, then. Unless W&N can be fed through an airbrush? I've never tried, but I could imagine it might lead to all sorts of stickiness if you didn't clean it out properly.

[Gluteus Maximus]

Do you need spray or will brush on do?

I followed RedZed's advice and tried Windsor & Newton Galleria Acrylic Matt Varnish from the art shop. Absolutely flat, great finish. Doesn't need to be done outside either, which is good news. Needs shaking quite a lot to mix, and takes a while to dry enough to be touched up, but it's well worth it. Not too expensive either. 

JB, does it withstand rough handling on its own, or do you need to gloss varnish first for toughness and then overcoat with the W&N for the matt finish?

Like Keith, I'm also down to my last can of Dullcote 

[Captain Blood]

Pat (Theoldschool) converted me to W&N Galeria. I don't know how tough it is, but I generally apply two coats and it does give a very good, flat finish. So far, not a single episode of 'white bloom'... It's cheap, readily available (even in W H Smith) and water soluble so easy to use. Only slight drawback as JollyBob says is that it does take several hours to dry - but I think this is probably a good thing, as it means it's curing somehow and 'going off'.

Recommended.

[JollyBob]

I usually gloss varnish first, as I am a ham-fisted chimp and drop things quite a lot so I prefer a tougher finish.

That said, the Galleria stuff does seem to be pretty tough on its own. I would recommend two or three very thin coats of it, and let it dry thoroughly between them. Might take you a week, mind... 

[Gluteus Maximus]

I usually gloss varnish first, as I am a ham-fisted chimp and drop things quite a lot so I prefer a tougher finish.

Exactly my problem     

[Grimmnar]

Why not just another can of Dullcote? Or are you opposed to useing it any more? :-)

Grimm

[aircav]

Because you can't by it in europe due to the toxins or some other such thing! that won't pass EU regs 

[theoldschool]

For brush on I definitely recommend W&N Galleria. It's tough enough not to need a gloss underneath. As the Captain says though it is best left overnight to cure.
For spray the best I've found is the varnish from Figures in Comfort, absolutely dead flat. Never had a problem with it and even more matt than Dullcote.
Pat

[Cosmotiger]

I use the W&N Galleria Matt sometimes also.   It is a good brush-on flat coat.  Right out of the bottle it dried a little bit shiny for me.  I'm not sure if that was just a random incident because of humidity, temperature, or something like that,  but a tiny bit of distilled water seems to make it go on more smoothly and dry flatter.   Just my two cents.

[rob_alderman]

I have this problem too.
Bloomin' EU!

Ahh well.

I have hundreds of figures to varnish, but I hear a lot of varnishes make the metallics go very dull (Silver goes grey, gold goes Yellow ochre) which I woul dreally get annoyed about.
Because of the amount of stuff, I'm guessing the warlord games stuff, but perhaps with a gloss varnish first (I have been told this helps retain the shine to metallics).

[Captain Blood]

Matt varnish of any kind will take the shine off your metalwork as well as all the bits of a figure you want to look matt.

I tend to retouch stirrups, buckles and so on with metallic colours after varnishing. For larger areas like plate armour or gun barrels, I give them a watered down coat of gloss varnish.
It's important to thin the gloss varnish, because whilst you want a bit of a sheen on your metalwork, I think a really high gloss finish - on armour in particular - looks even more crass than matt armour.

'Historically' of course, armour was often painted precisely so that it didn't shine! (But I appreciate this doesn't always look so good on the tabletop!)