Purity seal kills colors?

[Lykum]

So after a considerable amount of time today painting plague marines I was happy with my work. I put them on the sprayin stick, shook up the can of sealer and gave em all a shot of GW Purity Seal. Problem is that now they look dulled out and gray. I suppose it goes with the look since they're plague marines after all, but I lost all the cool detail from washes and highlights.

Is there a way to fix this? Is there a better product out there? I've seen other sealed models and they didn't turn out like this. What gives?

[Vorlon]

Sadly this happens too frequently with Purity Seal. Ive had great luck with Testors Dull Coat sealant.

[Hellfire]

I like Krylon matte finish.

[gorepants]

I prefer to use airbrushed varnish, then pick and mix depending what finish I want. Also means you can apply really thin layers to get it right. I'll usually do a gloss coat before weathering, then dull coat after (or semigloss for some minis). I'm using testors at the moment and it seems fine (and I prefer it to the can - you can match atmospheric changes better).

[Lykum]

Just as a test this morning I brushed on some gloss varnish. It brought back some of the detail and color I'd lost.

I think this is what has killed it for me. I need to move to a compressor and airbrush. I like the GW black primer a lot, but the white sucks (always chalky or gritty) and this purity seal thing just pissed me off. That can is going in the trash.

Aerosols are way too fickle here. It is mostly hot and humid, so it is tough to get a good time to spray.

[Col.Gravis]

Purity Seal is only consistant in ideal conditions, get the wrong humidity for example and it'll ruin your work, that said other sprays are also subject to this, though things like Testors do seem to suffer perhaps a little less.

[Mr. Black]

You may be hesitant to try it but all my miniatures are handled this way and they never lose any effect:

1 coat Tester's Gloss Coat
2-3 Coats Tester's Dull Coat

The Gloss is a better protection for miniatures but also shines detail, the dull coat brings it back in line.

Just be sure the conditions are right, mainly never EVER coat something when it is humid.

[Lykum]

Usually I spray at night when the humidity goes down a bit. I also spray in the garage which helps too. I think the main advantage of a compressor and airbrush is that I could get away with spraying inside. I already have a small spraybox set up for that purpose.

I had sprayed other minis (Reaper D&D stuff) before without problems. I think if I ever use a can again I'll do a test run on some scrap first to make sure the atmospheric conditions and planets are aligned.

[aztex3400]

personally I use Reapers brush on sealer works like magic and I can use it in my airbrush if i need to do a lot of sealing.

Just a simple shake in pot pour in airbrush and away we go.


no mus no fus in fact I sealed 30 guants this morning while it was raining with it.

[gorepants]

If your using enamels through an airbrush you'll want to make sure you're well ventilated. Both the varnish and the thinner are pretty noxious. I also use respirator mask . I've just started using reaper's acrylics for brushing on before decals. I suppose the enamal is a little harder (but someone might be able to correct me on the physics here!), but acrylics are a lot less horrible and can be brushed on when needed.