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Spray Varnishes


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I bought some cheap matt varnish years ago from a pound type store. It finally ran out a few months back, so will have to go out again and find some more. The only advice I can give is to find a matt varnish and shake the can well. If you dont it can come out with a shiny or satin finish. You can also use ink jet fixative spray to seal most printed surfaces, but not too sure of the effect on non inkjet finishes. Also make sure you only apply light coatd rather than one heavy one.

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Downloaded the goods shed supplied on the cover DVD of BRM and in the instructions it says to coat the model with artists varnish or similar to seal the model from sunlight etc.

 

Which one do you all use for this? is there a cheap one that will do the job?

 

Thanks

Hi Gavin

 

Do you have or have access to an airbrush?

 

Artists acrylic varnish sold in bottles by art shops is cheap and sprays very well if let down 50% with IPA. Using IPA means that it dries very quickly from the airbrush and so does not affect inkjet prints or wrinkle the paper.

 

Much more economic compared to buying aerosol cans.

 

Regards.

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Hi Gavin

 

Do you have or have access to an airbrush?

 

Artists acrylic varnish sold in bottles by art shops is cheap and sprays very well if let down 50% with IPA. Using IPA means that it dries very quickly from the airbrush and so does not affect inkjet prints or wrinkle the paper.

 

Much more economic that buying aerosol cans.

 

Regards.

No I don't have an airbrush

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Writing from the USA so I'm not certain which products are always available in the UK.  However, two spray can options might be considered if available: both from "Krylon" brand of paints widely available in USA in art, DIY and hobby shops.  (1) "UV-Resistant Clear" matte acrylic coating and (2) "Preserve It!" matte digital photo & paper protectant.  Both are especially useful for all our paper-based as both are matte & moisture-resistant.   (now if I could just get A-4 sized paper products in the USA - lol).

 

Really enjoy learning from the forum.

 

George

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  • 3 weeks later...

I got hold of a tin of clear acrylic matt spray from hobbycraft, it seemed quite expensive (about a fiver) but then I've not really bought a tin of spray paint since I had my first car (a few years ago now!).

The only mistake I made with it was to not shake it well enough, the first test coat I did (luckily on a small area), left white marks.

A good shake and a swift action when spraying seemed to sort this out.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 8 months later...

A recent accidental discovery, when my can of proper artists fixative ran out, and I turned to an old can of Games Workshop Matt Purity Seal.

 

The games workshop spray - applied in several light coats - is a superb robust Matt varnish which protects the scalescenes sheets printed from my inkjet paper better than anything else I have tried so far.

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I am coming to the conclusion that with a few exceptions, pre-spraying is unnecessary when using good resilient inks such as Epson Durabrite. I don't wish to deliberately contradict John Wiffen or enter into an argument save for protecting exteriors from splashing during landscaping etc or ballasting.

Pre-construction use inhibits watercolour weathering, can make papers brittle and is costly if proprietary artists' materials are used.

Cleanliness and care are all that are needed, and a damp cloth used regularly to wipe tools and cutting mat will certainly help.

Doug

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I would not know about using good quality inks as the person who I make models for uses cheap generic inks but the exterior varnish we use does bring out the colours of the prints well. I used to work in the print industry for 30 years and that was part of the reason for varnishes on commercial print.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi Gavin

 

Do you have or have access to an airbrush?

 

Artists acrylic varnish sold in bottles by art shops is cheap and sprays very well if let down 50% with IPA. Using IPA means that it dries very quickly from the airbrush and so does not affect inkjet prints or wrinkle the paper.

 

Much more economic compared to buying aerosol cans.

 

Regards.

 

Thanks for the tip about using IPA. I would not have thought of that. Just picked up a bottle of Windsor and Newton "Galleria" varnish from "The Range"  which was £4 for 75ml and will try that.

 

I had a problem with inkjet printed papers developing a distinct red hue after spraying. Possibly the cheap PVA leaching through from behind or too much water in the varnish used to spray it combined with slow drying in cold conditions. No problem with the same varnish (Humbrol acrylic) brushed on in the summer.

 

 

Regards.

 

Adrian

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I had a problem with inkjet printed papers developing a distinct red hue after spraying. Possibly the cheap PVA leaching through from behind or too much water in the varnish used to spray it combined with slow drying in cold conditions. …

 

Could also be the ink used is the culprit. For example, I have problems as you describe with prints made with proprietary (!) ink from a well known PC/printer manufacturer.

Never encountered the same with prints produced with other printers and their proprietary inks (same paper & varnish!).

   Armin 

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Could also be the ink used is the culprit. For example, I have problems as you describe with prints made with proprietary (!) ink from a well known PC/printer manufacturer.

Never encountered the same with prints produced with other printers and their proprietary inks (same paper & varnish!).

   Armin 

 

 

Yes, i have to agree.I use a Canon A4 & a Canon A3 printer & in the past, i have used non OEM inks with peculiar colour results on Epson printers  in the past.I now only use Canon inks,expensive i know but you only get what you pay for.

 

                         Ray.

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I cannot now remember what source the inks used originally were. My printer is an HP one but I usually buy ink from a local well known large supermarket chain so sometimes it's HP and somteimes its "own brand". My replacement prints are definately "own brand" printed on Staple matt photo paper (which is actually satin). I'll report back on results.

 

No colour change after gluing the sheets on this time. Glued on some with Pritt stick and others with cheap spray adhesive from a pound store.

 

Adrian

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  • 4 months later...

Hi,

I use Car Plan Clear Lacquer which is intended as a top coat for car paintwork or alloy wheels, it comes in a large 400ml spray can and is cheap.

I spray all my inkjet prints before cutting them out from A4 paper sheet. 1 light spray is all that's needed to protect the ink from damp, sunlight fading is improved, I think.

It dries with a matt finish as the paper absorbs.

 

P.

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  • 1 month later...

Well here we are six months on and my scalescenes wall has developed a reddish hue again. However an unused sheet printed at the same time, but not varnished, has no coclour change. Could it be the flourescent lights causing the inks to change? Seems unlikely. Or maybe the expanded polystyrene blocks it leans against are holding in moisture which is gradually drying out throught the wall.

 

I'll have to live with it for now.

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Stands to reason to me that sprays designed to 'proof' clothing, suede shoes etc has to be a better bet for proofing texture papers

as no one wants their clothes to change colour. Alternatively, the expensive sprays sold by art shops.....

 

Petrloeum based DIY sprays would concrn me.

 

Doug

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I've always used Halfords clear acrylic spray cans on my Metcalfe models - inside and out - and I've not had any colour fading of red brick or stone patterns nor distortion due to damp. Some models are up to 8 years old and the train room here in Cyprus is subject to harsh sun on a daily basis, although the glass does have that reflective tinted thing to it.

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