All About Sealants

At the very least you should be able to get the Citadel sealer. I don’t know about Norway, but I live in Sweden (hi, neighbor!) and we can get most of the most commonly mentioned sealers here and I think it’s the same for you.
Check out stores selling things for miniature and model making, that’s where I usually find mine. And if you have a local doll community or a Norwegian doll forum, ask there, as others in the hobby may have some good sources.

 

Thanks for the advice Lillith. I will check it out, neighbor

 

Curious about the the opinions from artists with more experience than I. I am currently using an airbrush with liquitex matte medium as a sealer and liquitex matte varnish as my final sealer. My question is how many coats do you guys usually use on your final sealer?

 

I don't have that much experience either, but I use 2 or 3 final layers. Seems to be working fine. I'm curious too if 2–3 layers is ok, as sometimes 3 layers turns out a bit heavy. Maybe someone with more experience will give their opinion on this.

 

Thanks to this information I think I've discovered the issue I've been having Now I just have to try again.

 

I've read through a few threads, but am not sure yet. I have an Obitsu doll, so understand the material is different from regular BJDs, but am trying to figure out which sealant will be safe? I don't have easy access to MSC, and was hoping to pick up this kind for when my practice head comes in:


Would it be safe on the Obitsu as well?

 

I personally have never used that one, @SilverFox , so I can't say for sure. But, if you do a quick search of the Customization and Maintenance subforum for Rustoleum, this is one thread that comes up that might have some insight for you.
/threads/rustoleum-painters-touch-sealant.347900/

 

Thank you so much! I had tried searching before posting, but couldn't find anything. Might have spelled something wrong maybe heh

 

I am using Liquitex matte medium mixed with water with an airbrush but it seems to come out a tad speckled and glossy. It may be my airbrush creating the speckles since it's an older one but I'm not sure why it's coming out semi-gloss rather than matte. Anyone have this problem?

 

@Arais While Liquitex Matte Medium can be used as a sealer, it's original use is to mix with paints. I can't say how it looks as a sealant as I've never tried it, but I do know from use with the paints, that it does have a touch of gloss to it (even though it's called matte).

 

@AirimirOfGondor I did manage to find some of the matte varnish and that definitely helped with that spotting. But now she has some white spots in random areas like between a couple of her fingers and in her ears.

 

White spots could be the sealant clouding; I'm not sure how the matte medium would play with one of the other types of sealants so I can't say for sure, but that's what it sounds like to me.

 

I bought today Schmincke universal matt varnish with UV protection. I'm going to try it on my doll's head tomorrow.
Did anyone use it?
Anyway I'll post here about my experience

 

How does MSC do in hot weather? I live in California so I don't have to worry about humidity, but it's common for the weather to get in the hundreds.

 

I haven't used MSC in a while, but back when I did, it seemed to be OK. I tend to find that my sealant dries a bit faster in warmer temperatures. I would just recommend not storing your can outside if the weather gets that hot.

 

I've used something called ''Lukas Spruhfilm'' on my doll and so far haven't had any issues. I bought it at an art supply store for about 10 euros for a 400ml can since MSC was so hard to find and I ran out too quickly :') It gives a lot of tooth, dries matt (there's different options) but since I've seen almost nobody use or review it, I'd say to use it at your own risk.

 

Iam using liquitex matte varnish with UV protection and after about a month all heads sprayed with it have yellowed considerably . However I know someone who uses the version without UV protection and apparently had no such issues, so the non UV version may actually be the better choice but I haven't seen that one in local stores here >.<

 

Since the Citadel "purity seal" sealant is discontinued, does anyone know if the Citadel "Lahmian medium" would work as a sealant instead? I've used Lahmian medium on plastic and metal wargaming miniatures, and I like that it really does come out matte--not shiny at all! I've seen it called a "varnish." Is this the same as a sealant?

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks! ^_^

 

@Milenn if you are using a UV protection-type of sealant, it is likely that the sealant is what is yellowing, and not the resin. You would have to remove the faceup to see if that is the case.

@Juxtaposition The varnish and sealant terms are sometimes used interchangeably. But something called a medium is generally formulated to be mixed with paint, it's just sometimes possible to use it as a sealer as well.

If you haven't been able to find anything about it here, it's likely that no one has used it. I would suggest giving it a go, but perhaps testing it first, on a headcap or something, to see how it reacts with resin, and how pastels and paints work on top of it. If you do test it, do please share the results!

 

@AirimirOfGondor Thank you for the information! Now to go find a test doll... ~_^

 

@AirimirOfGondor Sorry - I should have clarified, that only the area where the sealant was used yellowed and I have already tried cleaning the face and the yellowing comes off completely. But if this is a general issue with the Liquitex UV protection version, I thought people might want to know - unless I am the only one this is happening to ?

 

@Milenn Ah, I gotcha! Yes, most sealants yellow on their outermost layers, not just Liquitex. Some yellow more than others, and some can yellow more quickly than others.

 

I finally got around to trying the Zoukeimura spray I got a while back and I'm really happy with it. The humidity has been ridiculous here but I didn't have any problems.

 

Great) I have totally finished my Clear aerosol can and want to try Zoukeimura. I read some negative comments about it, but now I am not nervous about it)

 

@Antorell @Zelen I have used both MSC and ZM spray in the past - I've always found that MSC is more finicky than ZM spray (I can't speak from recent experience, as I haven't gotten MSC in a while). I was constantly needing to pay very close attention to the weather, and make sure that it wasn't too hot or humid, but I was still getting flaking, cracking sealant when I used MSC, even if the weather was good.
But now, I use ZM spray pretty much exclusively - it works fine in more hot/humid weather, and I haven't had any problems with it flaking or chipping off randomly in years!

 

It seems like this is a rumor that pops up from time to time (it shows up on a lot of wargaming forums too), but Purity Seal has not been discontinued. I just bought some quite literally last month. It's in a new can (it actually has a label now) with a misleadingly clear cap, but it's the same old stuff inside, and worked perfectly on the doll I was blushing.

(I've found posts online declaring that it's been or is about to be discontinued from 2005, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, and 2015. I can still find it easily on the shelves at gaming shops. Edit: It does appear that the name changed with the label, which may be where some of the current confusion is coming from, but again, it is still very much available for purchase.)

 

Oh thank goodness. I've spent way too many years perfecting Purity Seal usage. It seems like Citadel/GW does love to rebrand it with some regularity. @vicemage --if you have the time, would you mind sharing a picture of the current labeling?

 

@Osaka, they do seem to like messing around with the cans. I've only been using it with the white warning label design, so it threw me off a bit when I went to buy the new can. (It was also my first time in that particular GW store, so I was especially lost, but thankfully I've always found GW employees to be courteous regardless of gender or actually playing their game.)

Purity Seal, old and new by vicemage, on Flickr

There's the lingering empty can of the old stuff on the left for comparison, and the new one with a real front label on the right. And no, it's not shiny like the cap suggests (I did check before buying it).

 

Brilliant! Thank you, @vicemage ! (And I've been using it since the "matte varnish"/dark blue paper label days, so...yeah. They like to confuse the old-timers like me...) Now I know what to look for when next I'm in the game store!

 

You're very welcome, @Osaka! It's great stuff once you get the hang of it, so I'm glad to help you spot it next time (and not be all lost and confused like I was)!

 

@Osaka and @vicemage: Thanks for clarifying the info about purity seal sealant! I might have to ask about it when I go back to the game store.

 

Gonna chime in here about Army Painter Matte Anti-Shine.
Got it for $11 at a game shop (cheappppp! ) and used it on my WithDoll and Iplehouse.
It is very toothy to the point where my student-grade WC pencils looked like crayons and I had to resort to wet media and pastels only. I personally enjoy the amount of tooth (my original go-to was Zoukeimura) but it takes some getting used to.

I went to wipe a faceup done with it with Winsor and Newton brush cleaner and while it would have taken it off with a lot of elbow grease, it gummed it up like crazy and made it her whole head sticky. Highly recommend only using acetone to take that stuff off, so if you're uncomfortable with acetone around your dolls, do not use Army Painter.

Side note though, when I wiped the Zoukeimura face up off this doll (with many a pass of acetone) I was left with red lipstick stains around her mouth, but after wiping the Army Painter face up off the same doll also with acetone, I noticed the stains were gone. b^-^d

 

I haven't had a chance to look back through the thread, but I wanted to ask a particular question:
Are there any spray sealants that aren't Liquitex matte medium through an airbrush that won't react badly to very high humidity? I live in south Florida, and the humidity is almost never below 50%, or even 60% half the time. I would love a simpler alternative to messing with my airbrush whenever I want to do a coat of two of sealant.
Also has anyone tried to sponge on duraclear matte varnish? I saw Dollightful on youtube do it and it looked like it worked well, but I am not sure if it'd end up sticky like when I tried to sponge on liquitex matte medium or not.

 

To clarify about the rumor of Citadel Purity Seal being discontinued. It is not a rumor to some of us, depending on WHERE you live, it might be a reality. If there is no Games Workshop store near you, or if there is not one in YOUR COUNTRY altogether, then you might find hard to buy. For example if you want to buy it online through their website in Finland, you get the message SOLD OUT, and it's been so over a year now. Permanently sold out means discontinued... for SOME markets. Suppose you can still buy it in a store in Finland though. Same for Sweden - can not buy it through their website. Same for Netherlands, Poland... etc.

BESIDES that, they DID CHANGE the formula AND the name AND the packaging of this product for some European (maybe others as well) markets. Now it is called "Citadel Purity Seal MODEL VARNISH" (previous name "Citadel Purity Seal Satin") and it is a completely different product. Inferior to the previous, according to some people who have used both. Thus we have to say it HAS been discontinued and replaced by another product, but not in all markets. You can still buy it in USA.

 

@StarlightFrost I live in New Jersey where it can be very humid especially during the changes of the season.
I have been using Liquitex ULTRA-Matte Medium with a makeup sponge and it works wonders. It's very toothy so be wary of that. Do it in thin layers. The makeup sponge bit is important because those aren't as porous as other sponges.

Also, I have tried to sponge the regular Matte Medium and you're right, it ended up kinda gunky for me too. Hope this helps!

 

Hello, guys! I'm sorry if I'm posting on the wrong place, but I did search the forum and couldn't find an answer. Well, my doll attempted suicide today when he freaking jumped from my lap and landed on his face. He has a chipped nose now and some people have told me to try the boiling water trick to see if it goes back to normal, but he has faceup and MSC on right now, is there a problem if I put it on boiling water? I mean, would the MSC react to the boiling water and make things worse?

 

@Myka the boiling technique will only work in the case of dents in the resin. It unfortunately will not help with a faceup chip - that kind of chip is from something flaking off, rather than something just being dented in.

 

Yes, it was the dented nose I wanted to fix, I just wanted to know if I had to remove the MSC before putting it in the hot water because I didn't have any kind of remover at the time and I was freaking out over his first accident. Everything is ok now

 

@Myka that's good to hear!

 

Would liquitex gel matte medium work if watered down? Also, i recently got some rustoleum matte clear enamel in hopes of it substituting for MSC. Has anyone had any experience with those?

 

@SummerDawn86 It looks like Rustoleum Enamel is meant for metal, wood, concrete and masonry; the product page doesn't say anything about being suitable for plastics or resin. You can experiment with it if you like, but I won't pretend to know what will happen.
As for the gel medium, I think you would need to use a thinner to get it to a similar consistency to the other Liquitex options, so really I personally would just get the regular textured kind and avoid the hassle of needing to mix something. But again, it's up to you if you want to experiment.

 

@AirimirOfGondor thank you. I've been trying to crash course as much as I can about face ups. I JUST made a first payment in my first doll and I don't want to mess her up as soon as I possibly can. Lol. I have an airbrush machine and thought about using it for the liquitex and watering it down, fingers crossed. I got the rustoleum idea from a girl on youtube who does face ups. I may have to look at a craft store and mull things over while I'm waiting for her to get here

 

What a useful article! Thank you so much! Right now I care about this issue. And it was very interesting to read it.

 

Thx so much for great useful thread!

 

This is super helpful. I have been playing around with krylon matte finish for a while with some other resin mocks I have just for funsies and so far as long as I don't go overboard it works alright, but I don't think I would use it on a doll. I think it's more for use as a sort of mixed media sealant for art projects that are going on display rather than collectible dolls or something a bit more personal and requires special handling. I have noticed too that on some things it doesn't dry properly and gets a bit tacky to the touch for forever, which is just NOT GOOD for dolls... but I keep it around anyways- it's a good product in itself.

 

Has anyone tried windsor and newton spray varnish? I have seen it sold locally but I'm not sure if I should give it a go

 

@security16

I haven't used it myself, but it looks like some others have:
/threads/winsor-newton-matte-varnish.603450
/threads/winsor-and-newton-as-coating.34839/

It looks like it should be fine, but it might have a strange texture as compared to other sealants. If you do decide to try it, just make sure to test on a headcap first to make sure nothing crazy happens.

 

Thank you for posting this! Between Citadel and ZM UV-cut, which one would be more suitable for grey resin? It seems like MSC causes fogging, and the other brands either have issues with fogging, stickiness, damaging dolls, or simply being unavailable where I live ^.^;

 

I've not had any problems with using Citadel on grey resin. The color of the resin still comes through true without any lightening or fogging.

I haven't used ZM UV-cut, so I don't have any basis on which to judge it.

 

@Osaka Thank you so much! There's a store close to me that carries it, so I will definitely give it a shot!

 

I don't have pictures to share at the moment, but I recently picked up a can of Golden Archival Spray Varnish and I'm happy with the matte quality and the level of tooth it provided. I tested it on a headcap and didn't find it to be tacky once it had dried completely, so I gave it a shot on a head I had darkened to match a body. It does darken the final result somewhat, but I've had that issue with MSC as well, so that's not a big deal. I also didn't find that it caused 'ghosting' on my tan resin (Migidoll Suntan from 2015, to be specific), but I was working on top of an existing faceup that had been sealed with ZM spray, so there's that to consider.

Golden also offers an acrylic polymer varnish that I imagine would work for airbrushing if diluted appropriately, but I can't speak for its toxicity as I haven't studied the MSDS sheet.

 

Oh, I'm so glad I found this thread! MSC is nearly impossible to find around here my father knows of a shop that sells supplies for miniature model making so I will probably pay them a visit and see if I can find one of these alternatives

 

I just got an airbrush set up and am trying to use watered down liquitex matte medium. People have said it should be like "non fat milk" and even tho my mixture seemed correct, it still left little particles and dried spots from the matte medium. How much are we supposed to water it down for an airbrush!?

 

@stelmaria

I don't use an airbrush myself, but I think most people use paint thinners, instead of water. I use thinners when using just paintbrushes myself as well. Using water to thin paints can often end up having the pigments separate funny, bead up on the surface you are painting on, and it doesn't really blend completely with the paints, which is why you might end up with leftover specks and particles if you've mixed with water.

Some of the big paint brands have their own paint thinners, you can see a list of some here:
/posts/11200504/

And I believe that Liquitex also carries a specific line of thinner made just for airbrushes. I would assume you can mix that with Matte Medium for the sealant, as well as paints.
Airbrush Medium - Liquitex

Like I said, I've never used an airbrush myself, so I'm sorry I can't be of more help than that!

 

Thank you! That makes a lot of sense.

I had a huge and very informative talk with a manager at Blick who uses airbrush and is in contact with Iwata Medea. I was recommended the Golden brand fluid matte medium as well as airbrush medium. I will try this combo and see how it goes!

 

Hi how long does Purity Seal take to dry? And do I need to keep the piece I've sprayed outside for it to dry? Thanks

 

It dries very quickly if sprayed in thin layers. 5 min more than enough between layers.

 

Thank-you that's great!

 

Thank you for all this information. I have used MSC and KRYLON - Matte for resin, I will stick with MSC I did have some issues with the other one.

 

this has been super helpful