Varnish disaster

[vodkafan]

  Had a small vanishing disaster this morning. 18 Zulu War Brits ending up with a grey-white bloom on one side after spraying with matt varnish. I was very careful with them as well.
I was too upset to think about too much before I came to work.
I will  have a look with fresh eyes tonight and assess how much work has to be done to put them right. It will be at least a partial repaint on one side, so that means the shade coat, highlight and everything. Bloody annoyed.
 

[Michi]

Brush on some enamel gloss varnish (like Revell No. 1) and see if the fog lifts off before any effort to repaint them, James!
If that works to save from repainting you can still matt varnish them after.

[Plynkes]

I have similarly managed to redeem the grey-whiteness with brush-on Testors Dullcote.

I did it immediately, mind.

[Cherno]

Welcome to the Frosting Club 

It happened to me once, after that I never used spray varnish ever again.

[Kommando_J]

This type of painting advice should really be compiled, it'd be very useful for people with less experience(ie me).

[Rogerc]

This is pretty common with spray varnish and some makes are worse than others. It comes from using it in damp conditions of any sort.  I am always really careful to use it on warm dry days or inside.

Covering with a gloss varnish and then mattting back down carefully will usually work. I also find that Figures in comfort spray varnish is less susceptable to this.

Let us know how you get on.

[vodkafan]

Thanks all for your answers. I will try the gloss varnish on just one first tomorrow as an experiment .

[Malebolgia]

Frosting can usually be removed easily! Often it is trapped moisture in the varnish. Dr.Fausts solution which always worked for me:

1. Spray a second coat of matt varnish over the foggy varnish.
2. Place the miniature under a hot lamp (but not too hot to make sure any plastics don't melt!)
3. Wait for an hour or so to let the varnish dry well.

What happens is that the second coat of matt varnish will slightly dissolve the first coat. This also frees the moisture. Placing the miniature under a hot lamp helps to evaporate the moisture, leaving a nice miniature without frosting.

[vodkafan]

I might try that too. Does it rectify even really bad frosting?

[Patrice]

Warm them quickly with a hair dryer just after varnishing.

This also works for paint+layer mixture over polystyrene rocky scenery if it doesn't dry quick enough.

[Andrei1975]

My friend, I use a matte varnish from Tamia. With him never such problems did not arise. It is not necessary to use caution.

[WillieB]

This is pretty common with spray varnish and some makes are worse than others. It comes from using it in damp conditions of any sort.  I am always really careful to use it on warm dry days or inside.

Covering with a gloss varnish and then mattting back down carefully will usually work. I also find that Figures in comfort spray varnish is less susceptable to this.

Let us know how you get on.

Another vote for the FIC varnish.
It is possible to get rid of the frosting by simply spraying again with matt varnish and the putting the figures in a over at 70 degrees. This works best if the offending varnish coat is still fairly recent. If not let them dry thoroughly then gloss and matt  again.

[Harry Faversham]

Use this stuff over a coat of gloss varnish and you'll never get whitespot again.

 

[SteveBurt]

I find the best thing is simply to avoid spray varnish.

[mellis1644]

An option which works as rub with a very light mount of olive oil...

Yes really.

Not enough to leave any oily residue etc on the model but that light covering seems to recover the varnish from the frosting disaster. I saw this on a blog years ago tried it on a problem of my own. It worked and has stayed for years. I was skeptical but it works. No idea the science behind this though.