Varnishing disaster....

[Silent bob]

Hi,

I tend to paint figures up over a couple of months – then varnish them all in one go. It suits my available painting time & fits in with work etc.

I normally varnish my figures with gloss spray/lacquerer then give them a couple of coats of Army Painter Matt.

My last batch of victims have gone terribly wrong and come out ‘misty’ with the matt varnish.

This periodically happens to me – for whatever reasons – incompetence, weather conditions or just plain bad luck.

Has anyone got any ideas of how I can restore the figures (other than re-painting) to their intended glory - before I fling them over the back fence?

A while ago I e-mailed the makers of Army Painter to see if they had any ideas and got no reply.

Unhappy of Uttoxeter

[Arcturus]

Add another coat of gloss varnish. That should remove most of the frosting.

[Cherno]

Welcome to the club

It happened to a lot of people and it the frosting can be decreased by a new coat of gloss and matte varnish, this time brushed on

[Malebolgia]

And place them under a hot lamp. The frosting mainly is moisture trapped in the varnish. So if you spray on a second coat and place it under a hot lamp, the second coat will dissolve the first varnish layer and then the moisture evaporates.

That said...it worked for me with Testors Dull Cote, but never with Army Painter Antishine. Good luck!

NB! Be careful with the hot lamp, especially when working with resin or plastic.

[Dolmot]

Sometimes when I've got slightly misty results from AP, I've found that it's actually sort of dry, half-loose residue and can be removed with water and gentle sweeping with a big brush. Just watch out that you don't ruin any water-sensitive basing effects. Other very mild dilutants could possibly be tried, but those come with very obvious risks. If water or the strongest you dare to try don't work, maybe it's time for a new gloss layer as plan C.

I've been happy with AP but my preference for "right" look may be a bit different because most of my current projects are supposed to look dull...

[Silent bob]

Thanks a lot for your answers.....I'll try the various methods at the weekend and see waht happens.