Challenge Day 46 - Army Painter Anti Shine Varnish Review

I have been plugging away in the challenge, having had a bit of a slump recently in output. This was bound to happen at some point as you can crank figures out at a heck of a rate only for so long, the stumbling block for me was a unit of French in white coats rather than the grey white, however they are now done and just need basing.

Anyway I digress the main point of this review comes from the fact that before the challenge started I had been completely unable to obtain my favoured varnish in the UK. I have used Testors Dullcote for a good few years as I liked the finish it gave all the figures and it completely killed the shine on figures.

This left me with a few options and I almost went back to my old faithful Humbrol Matt brush on varnish, but this has to be very well mixed before use and constantly stirred whilst in use and is very time consuming to use on lots of figures.
So I was rather left with no alternative than to give the Army Painter Anti Shine Matt Varnish a try.

Now I do have to adjust how I am going to score this product as it is not a lead purchase, but I will stick to the system as much as possible.

Firstly price, Well I shall compare this to Dullcote which averages £4.60 for a 3oz can, Army Painter anti shine averages £8.50 for 400ml. Well to work out the cost basis a quick conversion, reveals that the 3oz can is approx 88ml so that means I get 4.5 times as much varnish for just under double the cost. That is a big saving by any standards

Cost score 10 out of 10 Ravens.

The real test for any varnish is does it do the job you need. This is where I was dubious and so it needed a good lengthy trial hence I have used it for every submission I have made to the challenge thus far. There are a lot of reports on the internet of misting etc etc for this product. However one thing I am aware of is how silly people can be when it comes to varnishing figures myself included. So I have followed the instructions given to the letter for the trial.

Finished with Antishine

So does it really give a dead flat finish - Yes it does, providing you give the can a damn good shake and apply several light coats as instructed.

The metal work still has a shine

Will it kill my metallic paint like Dullcote - Partly but not to the extent of Dullcote. Dullcote kills metallic paint and those areas need to be repainted to make them shine, The Army painter merely reduces the shine but it still retains a bit of metallic sparkle, so I am actually happier as I dont have to repaint.

Product Comparison Score 10 out of 10 Ravens.

I was more than Happy to use it on this piece of work.

I can recommend this product without any qualms but do recommend you follow the instructions properly to get the best results. I was actually very impressed with the way colours kept alive as well, some thing you do have to be careful about with Dullcote as it can often flatten vivid colours too much.

My overall rating for this product is 10 out of 10 Ravens.