I notice a lot of tutorials (including Sorastro's) result in good looking models that would be fine to game with even if you stopped before the highlight and finishing/weathering stages. Now whilst I'd like to go that extra mile, I also accept as a total newbie doing so may be frustrating or too much in one go.

What I'm wondering is, if you did stop at the basic level with the intention to return to a model in the future to add highlights, maybe further layering and weathering, would you avoid varnishing the model? If you did varnish, would that cause issues if you tried to return to do more with the model?

I dont think you will run into any issues by varnishing, there are techniques that require a coat of varnish midpainting.

But I like to add that you need to abuse the models pretty heavily to chip and damage the paintjob on them, especially when its just the basecoats. Vanishing is probably not needed at that point as you will cover most edges (the vulnerable points) with highlights when you do go about the details.

But if you think you will wait a long time before going into details, or if you think your models will be handled roughly for some or the other reason, or just want to feel safe in that youve done all you can to protect them (im this kind of guy) then by all means apply a coat of varnish, but make sure its thin since you will be applying another coat after youve finished the details as well!

The simple answer is “yes” you can go back and touch up after varnishing. For super fine details I don’t know if it will have an impact, but I have done a few things after varnishing to touch up a mini and it didn’t do anything weird or look crazy.

I don’t know how durable the painted models are if you don’t varnish them, but if you have any parts that are just primer then it’s actually pretty easy to chip that off corners.

I am not sure if the “I will go back and improve it later” psychology will actually work out, but the mechanics should be fine.

as far as stopping before the last few steps of highlighting that Sorastro does, this is basically how I painted all my Imperial Assault minis and they mostly came out fine. Just make sure you watch the whole video because sometimes he saves something important for later in and you don’t want to miss it. Also, if you aren’t going to highlight up as extensively as he does then it probably makes sense to not wash as deeply-so I would recommend diluting the washes he uses at least 50/50.

Thanks for the replies. I'm undecided what I'll do at the moment, going to wait and see once the first batch of paints arrive and I've had a chance to paint a figure and gauge how far I want to take it.

If you don’t mind a sheen, you could basecoat your minis with some tones that are a little brighter than you’d like, then use a dip like Army Painter soft tone quickshade. It functions as a wash and as a varnish once it’s dried. The “downsides” are that you don’t have the same control as you would if you are highlighting per color, they dry shiny (though a blast of dullcote would flatten them out and give extra protection) and you wouldn’t get really clean or white looking Stormtroopers since the varnish has pigment in it.

I use Army Painter strong tone quickshade for the investigators and some of small / medium monsters in Mansions of Madness, am planning on doing it for Zombicide. The results are good once you get tha hang of it, and once you have a bunch of minis base coated, you’re a dip, a shake off, and then drying overnight away from being done. Other than the waiting, it’s a lot quicker.

Plenty of tutorials and pics online of folks using Army Painter dips, should be easy enough to let you see if you’d like the results.

?? Being old school, every time I hear someone mention quick shade:

Personally, I just... I can’t. I understand why people do, and I don’t begrudge them.... but spending the time is what I enjoy, so shortcuts are not what I’m after?

...

its fine, coat wise, to paint over a light coat of varnish- emphasis on “light”. But it must be sealed afterwords. ?

On 4/22/2018 at 11:07 AM, DwainDibbly said:

What I'm wondering is, if you did stop at the basic level with the intention to return to a model in the future to add highlights, maybe further layering and weathering, would you avoid varnishing the model?

A) It is totally acceptable to varnish between any stages you want. I would advise using dull coat or matt varnish to do so since the surface is rougher and it will act more like a primer than satin or gloss coats.

B) You wont. Trust me a painter is never out of projects and when something leaves the painting table rarely does it make it back to the painting table because of all those unpainted models wanting their turn.

So while in concept it sounds like a good idea I think it's a dangerous habit to get into and can be a very bad practice unless you are the exception and not the rule.