Dried, frosted bumpy varnish?

[Temoinlanuit]

Anyone have solutions for this?

I have some dried gloss varnish that has ended up frosty on my models.

They've congealed into about 1/2mm diameter bumps on the base, and a cloudy frost on the model.

Not looking forward to stripping these, as it's most of my newly painted stuff.

[Lanz]

That sounds more like how super-glue types dry than a Varnish. What kind of varnish is it? Maybe it was defective?

[Temoinlanuit]

Krylon Triple Thick Crystal... not sure why. Been using this for 5+ years or something. Used this can before, too.

[Mechanifan]

This happened to me many many years ago with some crappy Games Workshop matte varnish.

I ran the model under water and gently rubbed the model with a clean brush. It didn't get all the frostiness out but the model was at the very least salvagable. I did this minutes after I realized the model was frosting up though so your results may vary if you've let it sit for a while. I have never touched a can of GW varnish since.

[stonet13]

I have had this occur to me in the past as well on a number of models. There are various explanations for it going from age of the can of varnish, quality of the varnish (some people say GW varnish is more succeptable to this, though I have had it happen with various types), not allowing the model to fully dry before varnishing, and, most commonly, lack of ideal weather conditions for spraying (I have been told that either too cold or overly humid temperatures will affect the varnish). This is why many people use paint on varnish rather than spray (guess I am just lazy and a glutton for punishment).

When this has happened to me previously, 50% of the time I have been able to fix it by allowing the varnish to fully dry, carefully removing the bumps, and revarnishing with another, newer can. It may take two or three extra coats for the film/haze to go away, but you should see a difference after the first coat. Again, this has only worked for me 50% of the time. The other times the only remedy was me putting them in the paint stripper.

If anyone else has any suggestions I would also be interested.

[Temoinlanuit]

For reference, this is how they turned out.. pretty bad.



The other models kinda turned out.. fine.. after some hair dryer. I don't know why it didn't do anything for these guys.

The bumps aren't scratching off. Will try painting over it. Doesn't seem worth stripping.

[Lanz]

Wait, you use a hairdryer normally on varnished models? Or was that to try and solve the problem?

A hot air dryer could have caused the problem if that is what you normally do. Varnish can warp with heat.

[PG_Ghool]

Leave it to cure. If it doesn't clear up in a week, you'll have to strip.
If gloss varnish ends up frosty and bumpy, just wait a few days.
If you have to, re-varnish and let it cure another few days. If that doesn't work, then strip.

It's stuff like this that makes me glad I use brush on varnishes; more consistency and control.

[Gladius]

I'm not sure about the hair dryer, but I've heard that another coat of varnish should smooth out the surface, and remove the frostiness.

[Zorlath]

Often letting the sealer dry and then spraying it again will fix it. Sometimes the dried sealant will reactivate when more sealant is applied.

[Temoinlanuit]

Wait, you use a hairdryer normally on varnished models? Or was that to try and solve the problem?

A hot air dryer could have caused the problem if that is what you normally do. Varnish can warp with heat.

Was to try and solve the problem.. worked for about half the models.

[drachenfels]

also could have just been environmental factors when spraying them. Too much humidity, wind, cold, anything like that really affects aerosols.

[patisarat]

Here's one solution for frosty spray varnish. It works better than a re-spray (since re-sprays are liable to frost over again).

Take your spray-on matte varnish (whatever you use, I use Mr Hobby) and spray some into a container (I use the cap of the can) for 5 seconds or so. This will form a little pool of liquid varnish. Take a clean wide brush (I have one that I use only for this task) and paint over the frosted area with this varnish a few times. This should clear it up nicely.