Testors Dullcoat

[mateybob]

ive been coating my minis in GW gloss coat and then Testors Dullcoat but unfortunately this doesnt look nearly as nice as just Dullcoat on its own. For those that have tried Dullcoat on its own, im just wondering how well does it stand through standard tabletop gaming?

 

Thanks.

[All-Terrain Monkey]

I use just Testor's Dull Cote on my minis and they stand up very well. I painted an Arnise for the Asylum and she's been dragged over sand, knocked over, dropped, kicked, dropped then kicked, and travelled the length of the Asylum and breakroom on her face with only one chip ever.

 

Of course, I put on many, many layers, so that helps quite a bit.

[twjolson]

From my understanding (and please if I'm wrong correct me) the majority of the protection comes from the gloss coating, not the matte coat. If your mini's aren't coming out looking good, I'd ditch the GW stuff. They are evil and thier stuff is usually crap, especially their sealers. I use Krylon, and I'm happy with that; it looks just like it does with only paint.

[Darkstar]

Dulcote on it's own is fine if you hit it with several coats. My method of painting pretty much requires that I spray at least a couple coats of Dulcote on a mini during the painting process itself, and then a finish of Dulcote when the works done. Seals it just fine.

 

For my own armies I use a different method altogether though due to individual preference. I prefer a more satin look to my gaming pieces and sometimes even go with full gloss. I also use lots of brush on sealers including, matte, satin, gloss and brush on Dulcote to achieve various finishes on a mini.

 

Dulcote on its own doesn't really bring the mini to life as much as brushing on a layer of matte varnish on leather areas and satins on bones, glosses on eyes, lips and gems etc...

 

But to answer your og. question, yes, it works just fine on it's own, as long as you use a couple or few coats.

[mateybob]

thanks for the feedback. Golden eagle how many layers do you use?

[Vaitalla]

I dunno about Eagle, but I use typically 2 or three layers during the painting process rather than a finish coat (I started doing this after noticing that Dullcote tends to take your final-touch whites down a notch or two). Of course, back when I was using Vallejo, I used to Dullcote after every layer, so a mini would have between five and fifteen layers of Dullcote on it (fifteen for my competition pieces, which are now nigh-indestructable). MSP's take fewer layers by far, as they've got much better adhesion. And I'd put Pro Paints in between the two. Craft paints I would rate with Vallejo, as they employ very cheap bases; Citadel has a high hardness but is brittle, so probably around the same number of layers as the MSP's.

 

Hope that helps!

 

--Anne :)

[All-Terrain Monkey]

Depends typically; usually if I'm rushing a piece I use more layers. Sometimes if you scrub an oops that was painted on Dull Cote you can either get it to come off all the way or at least partially.

[bleujenna]

I use typically 2 or three layers during the painting process rather than a finish coat (I started doing this after noticing that Dullcote tends to take your final-touch whites down a notch or two).

I was wondering about that- I thought I noticed a bit of difference in my dullcoted whites! When in the painting process do you usually apply your dullcote layers?

~Jenna

[TKD]

You can get away with just Dullcote. I don't because the cost of one of them little cans of Dullcote is as much as a big-butt can of Rustoleum spray sealer (aka gloss coat). So it's an economy measure for me. But I have done it with just dullcote.

 

I still get some chipping with my combination of dullcote over gloss, and with the dullcote over dullcote, but my minis are playing pieces. Some of them have been dropped, had glasses tipped over on them, got whacked off the table by a wildly gesticulating player, etc. or just dropped by me when I was moving them around. I'm not sure even Anne's 15 layers of dullcote will save your minis from a gamer.

[Darkstar]

I use typically 2 or three layers during the painting process rather than a finish coat (I started doing this after noticing that Dullcote tends to take your final-touch whites down a notch or two).

I was wondering about that- I thought I noticed a bit of difference in my dullcoted whites! When in the painting process do you usually apply your dullcote layers?

~Jenna

Usually whenever any sort of ink wash is done, to kill the shine naturally. Secondly, after a good deal of work is done on a mini I usually dulcote it to protect the paint from any mistakes. If you do screw up and get some paint on an already painted area, if it's Dulcoted, you can easily go back real quick with some water and wash it away. The Dulcote acts as sort of a barrier between the old layer and any new paint, so whenever you feel that you are at a good "stopping point" is a good time to protect your work.

Also I will Dulcote if I'm about to do any sort of freehand detailing or work with Micron Pigmas. I notice that the paint tends to flow over a Dulcoted surface more easily, same with the pens. But that technique is such a part of my "style" of painting that I wouldn't do it any other way.

 

Tip though, if you paint with metallic paints, don't work too hard on them until you have completely applied your last coat of Dulcote. Ducote kills true metallics. With metallics I usually just paint them in black and paint the rest of the mini first, Dulcoting between stages as usual, then when I'm done I go in and do the metals last.