What's the best brand of gloss varnish to cover/nullify Vallejo gloss varnish tackiness?

You really need to give Vallejo gloss a good shake.... And I mean good. Just keep on doing it for at least 5 minutes.

Once you have coated your project just leave it for a couple of days.

you could get in touch with Vallejo and ask them for help and ideas.

Any gloss generally goes down better for me when put on wet. Naturally if thinned out more coats will likely be required. I treat acrylic clears just like paint/colors, using flow aids, retarders maybe thinner or with acrylic varnish, airbrush medium to thin it a little bit. With Liquitex varnish I use a splash of everthing in it. With Tamiya clear acrylic I use retarder and lacquer thinner. Tamiya clear acrylic has more of a wet look than varnish produces. I haven't tried Tamiya acrylic clear thinned with straight 91 ipa yet but that is working well in place of lacquer thinner with gloss colors from Tamiya and it's cheap/less toxic.

I only use three clears, Pledge Floor Care straight from the bottle, Liquitex varnish using Liquitex additives, Tamiya acrylic clear with a little retarder and lacquer thinner. Of the three Tamiya is the clearest clear and can produce a wet look. But the others certainly have their place. Just sayin.

Edit: I do use a couple of other clears in my wood turning that can sometimes touch a model part someplace. Rustoleum lacquer, shellac and poly acrylic. Mostly used on my wood turnings though.

Sorry I misunderstood, good you are using Gloss Varnish and not Gloss Medium.

On the Alclad Aqua Clear acrylic clears, I can't say I have any particular recommendations, nor can I say I'm very good at applying the Aqua Gloss Clear. I have a heck of a time getting the gloss clear finish I want with any acrylic clear, to be honest. All the other finishes (matte, satin, etc) I find to be very easy to airbrush.

The most trouble free for me is Alclad Gloss Klear-Kote which I didn't mention becuase it is lacquer, not acrylic.

If you were able to lay down Vallejo Gloss Varnish with your airbrush to your satisfaction and your only complaint was the tacky dry, I think you'll have no trouble with the Alclad Aqua Clears.

I often hear to lay down gloss clear coats in mutliple, light passes. This has never worked for me and my only success has been using the Don Stauffer method of laying down heavy, almost but not quite up to the point of running/sagging coats.

I've always wanted to look over the shoulder of someone successfully laying down gloss in light passes to learn what I'm doing wrong.

Hopefully somebody better at this than I will chime in with some better advice.

Greg

BTW, I don't think Vallejo Gloss Medium is meant to be a gloss coat. I believe it is designed to be mixed with Vallejo acrylic colors to increase viscosity and make less opaque. Vallejo Gloss Varnish might be what you are looking for. I don't like the stuff myself, due to it's drying characteristics, aside from tiny brush-appied touch ups.

Thanks Greg and Oldermodelguy.

Greg, I used Vallejo Gloss Varnish (70.510), not the Vallejo Gloss Medium. The Model Air, Game Air paints and other Vallejo varnishes (Matt and Satin) dry quite nicely for me with zero issues. It's the pesky Vallejo Gloss Varnish that retains a slightly tacky feel.

Do you have any psi setting and airbrush nozzle pointers for me for using the Alclad Acrylic clear, or will the set up that I already use for the Vallejo Gloss Varnish be okay?

Thanks very much for your help. Truly Appreciated!

Ronnie

oldermodelguy

The OP wasn't interested in floor care products so I didn't suggest Pledge Floor Care, which is what I would use if to try and pull off what he wants to do.

I missed that in the OP, oops, my bad.

Greg

 

 

oldermodelguy

It's not practicle to spray on another material over a material that never dried right.

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe not, but to correct this problem, why not? I spray clear over Vallejo colors as a SOP becuase in my opinion, it never dries right.

I've used Alclad clears (both acrylic and lacquer-based), Future (as much as it pains me to admit it), I haven't found a clear coat yet that won't work ok over Vallejo and harden up just fine. Do give the Vallejo some time to try to dry, maybe a few days to be safe.

I realise this sounds counterintuitive to spray over a coat that feels wet or tacky. And also to spray acrylic over a tacky acrylic. It will work.

BTW, I don't think Vallejo Gloss Medium is meant to be a gloss coat. I believe it is designed to be mixed with Vallejo acrylic colors to increase viscosity and make less opaque. Vallejo Gloss Varnish might be what you are looking for. I don't like the stuff myself, due to it's drying characteristics, aside from tiny brush-appied touch ups.

 

I don't use Vallejo varnish either ( I use Liquitex when I use varnish) but by default since you at least have tried the stuff, I'll leave it at that.

The OP wasn't interested in floor care products so I didn't suggest Pledge Floor Care, which is what I would use if to try and pull off what he wants to do.

I knocked my mouse off on the floor and lost a more lengthy reply lol. Now the dehydrator shut off where I had Tamiya clear Blue over silver drying, gotta go see the result !

oldermodelguy

It's not practicle to spray on another material over a material that never dried right.

 

 

Maybe not, but to correct this problem, why not? I spray clear over Vallejo colors as a SOP becuase in my opinion, it never dries right.

I've used Alclad clears (both acrylic and lacquer-based), Future (as much as it pains me to admit it), I haven't found a clear coat yet that won't work ok over Vallejo and harden up just fine. Do give the Vallejo some time to try to dry, maybe a few days to be safe.

I realise this sounds counterintuitive to spray over a coat that feels wet or tacky. And also to spray acrylic over a tacky acrylic. It will work.

BTW, I don't think Vallejo Gloss Medium is meant to be a gloss coat. I believe it is designed to be mixed with Vallejo acrylic colors to increase viscosity and make less opaque. Vallejo Gloss Varnish might be what you are looking for. I don't like the stuff myself, due to it's drying characteristics, aside from tiny brush-appied touch ups.

It's not practicle to spray on another material over a material that never dried right.