Just wondering what the general consensus on clear coating your X-Wing miniatures is?

Do you clear coat yours or do you leave the clear coat off in case you want to remove the paint job to repaint it again?

I just started painting and I'm protecting the paint with clear or matt coat to prevent from chipping.

Yeah, it's Citadel, so $$$, but I've been using Purity Seal on all my minis, and then carefully brushing on some of the Vallejo Game Air Gloss Varnish onto shiny spots on the model (like windscreens).

What I like is that the Purity Seal tends to bring colors a little closer together and give a more "finished" look to the model. And the paint doesn't get chipped.

11 minutes ago, Kieransi said:

Yeah, it's Citadel, so $$$, but I've been using Purity Seal on all my minis, and then carefully brushing on some of the Vallejo Game Air Gloss Varnish onto shiny spots on the model (like windscreens).

What I like is that the Purity  Seal tends to bring colors a little closer together and give a more "finished" look to the model. And the pain  t doesn't get chipped.

Picture?

39 minutes ago, WanouMars said:

Picture?

The first two on this page never got clear-coated, the others did.

Testor's Dullcote. I use it on every mini I paint and I've never had an issue in 10+ years. It has a nice matte finish, and in the event that you need/want to strip it off, it comes off just as easily as the paint. If something needs to be shiny (such as cockpit glass) I'll go back and hit it with some Vallejo Gloss Varnish after the Dullcote dries.

I always do a matt clearcoat, then a brush on gloss for the cockpits.

You can strip the paint even if you clear coat your ships.

I must admit that I almost never clearcoat my miniatures. Back in the day when I was playing WH40K and had metal mini's, the paint flaked off after many games. But now, with all the platic mini's and beter paints, I don't have any problems with flaking paint.

I only clearcoat my models, when I want to make heavy use of oil paints. Because then I can easilly wash off any exessive paint.

But sure, making use of clear coats is a good thing. I'm just a bit lazy I guess ?

If you ever want to trip any kind of paint... use car brake oil. Let your model soak for 24 hours, wash it with regular dishwashing soap.

For paint stripping I use LA's Totally Awesome. You can pick it up at Dollar General for next to nothing and it is by far the best acrylic stripper I've found. Better than Simple Green, Brake Fluid, Spirits, etc. by a long shot.

Testors Brand Dullcote, always and forever. It's also good if you just want to touch up a paint job on an out of the box ship because the factory paint scheme on a lot of ships is non porous so it makes for a pseudo primer that's clear.

On 9/4/2018 at 2:14 PM, Kieransi said:

Yeah, it's Citadel, so $$$, but I've been using Purity Seal on all my minis, and then carefully brushing on some of the Vallejo Game Air Gloss Varnish onto shiny spots on the model (like windscreens).

What I like is that the Purity Seal tends to bring colors a little closer together and give a more "finished" look to the model. And the paint doesn't get chipped.

I had never thought of using the game air gloss varnish with a brush. Thank you!

also your other advice was good as well haha. Although I currently use Rust Oleum Painters Touch 2x. Seems to work alright, but I’m looking for better solutions that don’t require me to go outside

I use Tamiya TS-80 Flat Clear in a rattle can.