Can anyone offer a comparison of the two? I bought some Dullcote last year and really like it, but it's expensive and only seems to come in small cans. The Army Painter spray is cheaper and comes in nice big cans, but if it's no good, I'll stick with Dullcote.

Thanks!

I haven't tried Army Painter's varnishes, but I'm not entirely happy with their undercoat sprays TBH. At least I've had some problems with it flaking off surfaces that has already been properly cleaned. Furthermore I find the finish of those undercoats much too glossy. Now of course this may not have any bearing for their varnishes at all But at least when it comes to undercoats I'm sticking with the slightly more expensive GW cans in the future (eew... that sounded awfully fanboy-ish of me... :p)

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Sofa General

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GW paints are the only thing I still purchase from them... I really do like the new formulation of primer.

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SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

I'd stick with Dullcote, especially if you are happy with it.

I'd actually go with Krylon Matte over Army Painter Matt because it has a similarly flat finish, it won't mess with the model's color, it isn't chunky, it won't finish white in spots, & it doesn't do funny things with plastics. Honestly, I'd avoid Army Painter Anti-Shine Matt at all costs.

Note that both Krylon Matte & the Army Painter stuff have a less flat finish than Dullcote. Another difference between Dullcote & Krylon is that Dullcote can yellow over time if you have your models exposed to direct light (display lighting etc.).

If you have an airbrush, you can do better than all of the above for less $$$.

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WAAARGH!!
The Lost & the Dipped

Yes, my experiences show Testor's Dullcote is best ... I get it at craft stores that carry models, like Michaels ... it's cheaper. And in the newspaper sometimes they have discount coupons, with those it's almost 1/2 price of what you pay at most hobby shops ...

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Legion 4 "Cry Havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War !" ... "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

My current matt spray is army painted, don't have any problems with it. Although I think i read somewhere that their spray is designed more to dull the shine of their washes than as a protective varnish?

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AFK with real life, still checking PMs

Most matt varnishes aren't very strong protection. If you want strong protection, use a gloss varnish, then dull it with matt varnish.

That might make sense considering the results myself & others have seen. I know some military modellers are sticklers for matching finish coats with base (enamel/enamel, acrylic/acrylic), but I've never seen a difference. Maybe this points to some truth in that argument.

Considering QuickShade is oil based, their matt might be more like Damar varnish.

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WAAARGH!!
The Lost & the Dipped

The only Testors varnish I have is actually a "gloss" coat. I use Krylon for my matt varnishing needs right now, though it's just because that's what I already had rather than out of preference. I've been quite dissatisfied with the Testors "gloss" varnish because it seemed almost like a semi-matt varnish unless I do about 15 coats of it, hence why I've been putting gloss in quotes. The Krylon matt varnish works well I think, but I don't have any experience with any others so I'm not sure how it compares to Testors matt.

On a side note, I hate Army Painter products altogether so IMO I'd say stick with Testors or give Krylon a shot.