All About Sealants

Citadel Purity Seal is no longer available. I've bought their newer product, Citadel Munitorum Varnish - Model Varnish. I hope it works just as well .... ^^'

 

Please let me know how it works as I relied heavily upon purity seal!! And only just found out that it was changed (when I reordered)

 

I tried it today and it is a very little bit shiny, but seems working well

 

Since "Purity Seal is discontinued" is practically a meme at this point, I went out and got some actual information about this that should hopefully be of help to people who use the Citadel products.

According to the Customer Service representative from Games Workshop:

• Purity Seal has been discontinued in favor of Munitorum Varnish
• The formula has been improved for better humidity tolerance, and is less likely to frost in higher humidity
• The formula has been improved for better temperature tolerance, and can be used in higher and lower temperature ranges
• It doesn't discolor over multiple layers
• It can still be removed easily
• It is still resin safe

Since she(?) only uses it for GW miniatures, she wasn't familiar with the toothiness for picking up pastels, however, the finish sounds similar ("somewhere in between matte and sateen").

I personally still have a couple of cans of PS on-hand, and won't be doing any work until Summer, so I won't be able to offer up any head-to-head comparisons for this thread, but at least the information from the company about what's changed should make a good starting-off point for evaluating the new formula.

 

Does anybody know if I could purchase any of these in any american craft storm like Joanns, Micheal's, or hobby lobby?

 

Testors dull Cote is the only one I’ve seen in craft stores you’ve mentioned above, personally. But that’s just me. It could just be a regional thing.

 

I've never seen anything in craft stores (I have Michaels, AC Moore, and Joanns in my area), other than the matte medium type things (for brush-on sealant). They also have a lot of the very-last-coat types of stuff, like fixatives for traditional art, which don't work the same way as the stuff that is good for faceups.

You can get ZM spray and MSC from Volks USA, which is where I buy from. The shipping is a bit much, but the fact that ZM spray is only $9~ a can helps imo.

 

I occasionally (not often) see Testor's Dullcote in these stores; you're better off looking for hobby shops (Hobbytown USA, etc) or comic and gaming shops (Games Workshop as a chain, otherwise these will all be independently owned). Hobby shops will often carry the Mr Color line (which includes MSC); gaming and comics/gaming shops will carry supplies for painting miniatures so they'll very often have either Citadel or Army Painter products.

 

Great article- working with chemicals like this always makes me nervous but are imperative to creating a perfectly beautiful doll.

 

Hello

After trying various sealants like Vallejo and Mr.clear I found the perfect sealant for my Girls!

Here's Dr.Toffano Puravest, they are colors meant for Rail models. Its atoxix, ordorless, UV resistant, quick drying, excellent grip, flexible and sturdy. it can be both brushed out of the bottle or airbrushed thinned 1:1 with its specific Thinner (odorless and atoxic) one 25ml bottle is enough to seal a whole 60cm doll, it Works on Resin, PVC and Vinyl alike. The clear coats come in 4 variety, Gloss, Semi-gloss, Satin and Flat, me personally I like to go 70%flat and 30% semi-gloss cause the flat its REALLY flat. Cleanup with rubbing Alchool if isn't fully dried.

It beats Mr. super clear on any aspect, i can't reccomend it enough!

Only CON: Its a Italian product, so its probably very difficult to get outside Europe.

 

I didn't knew there was that much of sealant! I understand better why it's so hard to find the best one

 

So when you say you like to go 70% flat and 30% semi gloss are you mixing the two or is this a layering technique?

 

Just mix the paint, lately I found out its actually better 50% Flat and 50% semi-gloss, I also mix 10-20% slow thinner and 80-90% of medium speed thinner to let it self level, cause the medium thinner cause the paint to dry in minutes, the slow one in hours (!)

The result its a flat and smooth surface thats also very tough, its a LOT more resistant to abrasion then MSC. Here my last face-up sealed with puravest.

https://image.ibb.co/cS7i7U/closeup.jpg

 

She’s CUTE!! Thanks for the tips!

 

Not sure if this helps or if someone has already wrote this because I dont have time to read through 174+ comments right now but I dont have an issue with The Army Painter spray. The directions on it state to hold the can a MINIMUM of 30+cm away (similar to other sealants) I hold my can further back though, about double that length. I know some people fail to realize that rule with even MSC and had issues with their MSC being sticky due to that. I havent had any damages thus far by using it this way. The can sprays pretty far and has very nice coverage and I find that in comparison to MSC it is a bit more gritty but holds my pan pastels nicely. However I am contacting the company to ask them if their spray is safe to use on the ABS dolls prior to use just in case.

 

It looks like Zoukeimura Powder Finish Spray might be the best bet for me since I live in a hot humid area. I have only found it listed for sale on the Volks site. Does anyone know how much shipping typically is from volks USA on something like this? For those with experience, what is the shelf life on this stuff and how many face ups can you typically get out of a can?

 

So quick question: is there any other reason why Mr. Super Clear Flat would dry shiny aside from spraying too close? I've been working on a doll head of my mother's and for whatever reason, after four or so coats (laying down colour between sprays in various spots on the face) it dries with a very distinct sheen. When I touch it after it's dried, it's very smooth, no tooth to it whatsoever, and not all over the face, just from the eyes down. It's really quite strange. Will weather conditions cause this, like humidity?

Ah, nevermind, I just looked and saw it's like 95% humidity, so it was probably high when I was trying to get this face coated and yeah...

 

Newbie, just trying to source MSC in the UK found B523 variant and on some sites it states do not use with water based products. surely this means it cannot be used over water colour pencils? Am I wrong? all the video tutorials I have seen show water col pencils in the mix somewhere. pls can anyone advise me I am hoping to use Caran d'ache Supracolour I fine, water coloured pencils and so far the pastels I have are Conte carres conte. scared of wrecking the doll. thanks x

 

Can confirm that Munitorum is fine for BJDs. I've been using it since they brought it out as a replacement for Purity Seal. It can go slightly shiny as you layer it up, but its possible to remove most of the shine by running a magic eraser over fully dried sealant. I have only experienced frosting once with this sealant so have found it much more reliable in terms of humidity and temperature than Purity Seal. I recommend warming the can and shaking well but that goes for many sealants. Its also excellent for tan or darker resin as it does not lighten like MSC

 

Hello, why haven't you added "Dr. Toffano Puravest" to the list of Non-toxic alternative yet? Its the only sealant I'm using for my dolls from a year and its the best one I ever used!

I've recently purchased directly from Mr. Lorenzo Toffano cause its a small company and He told me its possible to arrange international shipping, at least European members here should be interested, I'm talking about a odorless non-toxic sealant that you can use safely everywhere in the house and that's way tougher and abrasion-resistant then MSC.

DR TOFFANO POLIMERI - di Toffano Lorenzo - PURAVEST - CRYLAVEST - PURAVEST SHIP - SYNTHAGLASS - LACTAPEEL - PURAWIPE
[email protected]

Unluckily He hasn't an English page but I can make a guide about how to order.

 

@Teo128

We generally only add things to our Sticky threads when there is some kind of a consensus about an item. (IE if a lot of people say good things, or a lot of people say bad things)

With this product, I have never heard of it before, and no one else on the forums seems to have used it before either. We would need to be able to research the product, to see how well it performs on resin, how well it holds up over time, and if there are any issues with it.

So if there are other people who are willing to use the item and begin sharing the experience, we could review it then.

 

At least you could add it to the "use at your own risk" list, nobody its going to try it if they even don't know it exist at all.

 

Does anyone here have experience with Vallejo in an airbrush instead of buying the aerosol can? I saw someone on youtube using it and she swears by it. Especially because it costs less per bottle, but the downside was the price of an airbrush. I dont mind spending cash on one due to all the other crafts I do/uses I may have for it.

But before I dive in I want to hear what others think. She uses the matte, gloss, and satin depending on what look she wants. And said it is much harder to scratch once dry and needs less dry time between layers than msc. Plus as you can do it inside with ventilation/a mask the issue of humidity and such is far less obvious.

 

@SaraChimera

My experience,: It sprays beautiful, but it peeled off the resin with time, I wouldn't reccomend it over MSC especially if you handle your dolls a lot like me... If you are going to just display them its the perfect choice.

 

Has anyone used the Winsor & Newton general purpose sealant? I've seen it mentioned, but no replies to how it reacts, wears or lasts.

 

@Teo128
Thank you! That helps a lot, I do plan to handle them often. So to know its better for just display dolls makes me second guess it. I do hope to get away from MSC if Possible, I have testors and it seems to work fine so far. But I just really dislike aerosol, especially with how finicky it is with weather.

Have you used other mediums in an air brush? Other than the one I have seen you talk about from italy? I havent been able to find that one for any chaper than I could get MSC being as I am in the US.

I would be curious to hear other peoples ideas on it, as I know use varies. So if anyone out there uses vallejo let me know!

 

What an awesome thread! The humidity in my area is between 20-90% lately based off a weather app (not even sure how accurate it is?) and I have been spraying MSC when it didn't feel too humid. Everything seems fine, but its only been a few days. How long until you will notice that the MSC has clouded or bubbled? Does it happen immediately?

 

@ajmailey

It has been a while since I last used it, but from what I remember, it was within a few hours.

 

Thanks @AirimirOfGondor ; I thought it probably should have shown up by now if it was going to. I would love to get my hands on some ZM spray but havent found yet in Australia. I guess I will just keep using the MSC while it is working for me!

 

Hello everybody,

I have a MSC spray matt (not semi-gloss or gloss) but it's not uv cut. In your listing, they are all uv cut, would that be an issue if I use mine ?
Thank you

 

No not really, the UV cut helps slow the UV from yellowing resin if they are exposed to sunlight or UV light. The regular MSC is just fine for most faceups.

 

Thanks for your answer, I guessed right about the UV cut slowing the yellowing, but I just wanted to make sure the non uv cut wasn't problematic.
I don't really care about sun exposure because my BJD aren't exposed at all, and I guess normal yellowing still happens and I'm not too bothered by it.
And I have no plans on selling any of my dolls, so I will use it, then.

 

has anyone heard anything about or tried the new Mr. Super SMOOTH Clear sealant?

more info here from mr. hobby: Mr.SUPER SMOOTH CLEAR <FLAT> SPRAY | GSI Creos Mr.HOBBY

the description given on the website:

It can provide the smooth surface as well as GX114 SUPER SMOOTH CLEAR, and paint large area.

Mr.SUPER SMOOTH CLEAR FLAT is developed on a concept of "make the surface smoother!". Because of including fluorine, it can provide the smoother surface campared with existing items (C182, B514) . Also it has ability that decreasing occuring of whitening phenomenon. So we can say this is the the high grade flat coat spray. When you spray this item to unpainted plastic models, it will look like all-painted.
In addition, if the painted surface was smooth, the friction of each painted surfaces will be decreased, therefore...
→It decrease the scratch occuring.
　　 →Joint parts moves smoothly.
　These are epoch-making ability for plastic model paints.

Please use this as the special finishing coat for your precious works!​

is flourine safe for resin? also, i'm wondering if the fact that it's being marketed to dry extra smooth might not make it ideal for faceups, since perhaps there may not be as much tooth? or maybe it's ideal for a last coat but not for the priming/in between layers?

any thoughts or insight?

 

@kamikakushi I haven't used or looked at this, however, I'm going to say just from the description you gave that it will not work. The purpose of sealant for a faceup is two-fold. Yes, it protects the resin and seals the layers in place/protects them, but it also provides a textured (toothy) surface to hold pastels, paints, and other faceup pigments. Something that's designed to create a "smoother surface" won't give you that necessary texture, so it won't work regardless of whether it's safe.

 

Hey everyone. I've been out of this hobby for quite awhile and have slowly been getting back into it in the past few weeks. I've moved to Korea, and while I can get MSC no problem, I'm wondering if anyone has had heard of or used this? My Korean isn't the greatest, but from what I read on their website, it can be used on acrylic, ABS, polyvinyl resin, foam free polyurethane, metal, wood, paper, clay, and rubber. It's slightly cheaper than MSC and also comes in the standard gloss, semi-gloss, matte, and the UV-cuts of each. I don't have any dolls/heads or faceup supplies with me, or I'd buy a can and test it. Here's their website: ::: 아이피피 ::: 모형제작 부가재료 판매 쇼핑몰

 

There is a faceup artist on Instagram I follow who uses the Mr. Super SMOOTH Clear and says it is good. I wish I could remember who it was! I would like to try it as I live in an area of constant 90-100% humidity, and this says it's better for stopping whitening, plus MSC is TOO toothy for me, I feel like I can't get my brush to run smooth over it, but that might be a result of the high humidity too.

 

Anyone with good sources for MSC in Canada?
Everywhere is either sold out (online) or has no idea what i'm talking about

 

Hey, has anyone tried using graffiti varnishes for BJD faceups? I'm talking like Fleur Matte or MTN Matt fixer. Is that an option?

 

I've never heard of "Fleur Matte," but I've heard multiple results of Montana sprays reacting very badly with resin. I wouldn't risk either as a result.

 

Thank you @vicemage. I was just surprised to see a quote-unqoute MATTE POLYURETHANE graffiti sealant. Glad I didn't purchase it after all

 

The PDF link in the description of the Liquitex Matte sealants seems to be broken.

Here is a link to Liquitex's in-general safety page on their website, which has sealants at the very bottom.
Safety & Disposal | Liquitex

 

How do you deal with the smell of Vallejo? I haven’t try MSC yet but Vallejo seems to work fine for me, as I sprayed during cold snow days and has no problem with face up. The only thing is the smell. It smells so bad. I thought all the sealants have some kind of smell but I ordered a pair of fox ears painted from Switch and they have no smell at all.

 

Got the answer.

 

I hope this might be an okay thread to ask this in, I've bopped around a while and haven't seen someone with a similar issue....

Has anyone experienced a gloss varnish (for final details) pulling off their sealant layers + paint? I tried to gloss the lips on one of my faces today and smushed the lip color, after the final sealing layer!

If anyone has experienced this issue, do you think it's the type of sealant I used? Or does anyone know if some gloss + matte combinations don't ever play nice?

Thanks a ton in advance.

 

FYI, When I find something I like, It always changes. Anyways, I used to get the Humbrol Acrylic Varnish in Matt, it was a red can, now it's black. You have to make sure it is ACRYLIC Varnish and not enamel and that it is Matt (or satin?). I have dolls over 3 years old with this as a finish, and dolls I painted with MSC and there has been no difference in yellowing (though some of my MSC heads over 10 years in age, you can see the difference mildly, very mildly between the head cap and faceup. I suspect similar results after 10 years of Humbrol. This photo shows what it looks like, only the cap says if it is Matt or gloss, mine is Matt.

It's a confusing world out there, and when the products change it's such a pain. Then on top of that, I noticed that I would put MATT in the cart, and at check out, it changed to GLOSS. I noticed Bed Bath and Beyond will change your items to "similar" when they are out of stock, I think that's the nastiest most underhanded practice, so beware (and don't shop at BB&B, LOL, )

I don't know. I have only had issues with smudgy pastels which smudged with the spray acrylic. BUT I suspect you might have an oil or enamel gloss? Is it an acrylic gloss? Double check. I've never ever had this happen with Tamiya or Model Master

 

You called it.

I went to look at my bottle and was like "well it's NONE of those of course!" ... Polyurethane Gloss Varnish is what it says.

So I consulted our magic friend google and found this:

"Both polyurethane and acrylic urethane have similar benefits [...] there are differences between these protective finishes: Acrylic urethane is typically water-based, while traditional polyurethane is oil-based. The two differentiate by drying time, application amounts, cost and, depending on definition, durability. [.....] Acrylic is a version of polyurethane without oil."

So yeah, tldr; mine is oil based.

That's enough to pull it off, huh? The nerd in me HAS to know *why* material-wise. I will report back with my findings ... unless you know off the top of your head @IngieBee Thanks so much for your response!!

 

sorry, I don't know why, And sorry it went bad. I've had some faceups go bad on me too in the past (mostly that pastel that bled, I don't use that brand anymore. I had to find another. Worst thing is, supplies are low everywhere.

 

sorry if this has been asked before but is the ZM powder finishing spray safe for use on resin dolls? i bought a faceup kit from Volks and it came with that instead of MSC and ive been wondering about it

 

@Urushi-kitty

Post number 3 in this thread discusses ZM Spray.
/posts/10483812/

 

thank you very much ^w^

 

Hi, Hi,
can the brush on liquitex matte medium be applied on a finished/blushed body ?
I have a boy that just got a full body blush but his scales were not blushed so I wanted to attempt to paint the scales my self and then seal them over the already blushed body.
I have the volks sprays but I have never painted or blushed anything so a non toxic brush on varnish seems easier but is it the correct thing to do?
I do not want to mess him up...way too expensive and hard to find someone else to re blush him.

 

I'm thinking of using Vallejo for OT models, with the potential to extend it to BJD faceups if I find it works. I do handle my models and dolls a fair amount, but don't want to use anything too toxic/polluting, and reckon I can always retouch.

I've found what I think is the right spray for sale in the UK in the link below, but the label is different from what's displayed in the top posts. Is this because they've changed the label, or is this the wrong product?

Vallejo Acrylic : Aerosol Spray Varnish : 400ml : Matt | Jackson's Art Supplies (jacksonsart.com)

 

this helps a lot! I like to do face ups but I’m a bit afraid of the super toxic ones so I used the liquitex matte varnish and it always bothered me that water-colour pencils didn’t seem to work. I’ll try the vallejo spray out.

(i don’t know if it was mentioned before or off topic but liquitex is amazing for realistic face ups it gives the head a bit of texture)

 

hi,
I am a newbie to sealants and I bougt last year a can of MSC and 2 cans of zoukeimura spray because they are the most popular.
I did my first body seal with the zoukeimura and I am almost out of it.
I would rather not use the MSC because it says that it yellows faster over time and I am doing a very, very white dragon doll so I would rather use my instincts and stay with the zoukeimura. the problem is that they are not selling it right now .
so unless I find someone to trade my msc for their zoukeimura I want to know if there is a sealer that works well with the zoukeimura...does not yellow fast and can be bought in the US now?
I really want to finish my boy soon.
I finally get the courage to try to blush my boy and I am shut down

 

I used Citadel Purity Seal when I was working on my dolls several years ago, but it's been discontinued. However, I did see the Citadel Munitorum Varnish. However, you want to work in light layers with Citadel products because ghosting may happen. This also happens depending on the temperature. Since you are working on a white doll, this might not matter as much because it tends to only matter on darker skin tone colors. Also, the cans have 400ml of product vs the small amount in MSC. Purity Seal had a good gripping texture for pastels, but I'm not sure about the Munitorum varnish since I haven't used it.

However, this person on youtube has used both Citadel Purity Seal and the Munitorum Varnish. She says it's not exactly like purity seal but perhaps it may still work for you:


Also a comment on that video said this about that sealant:
Anna XIII
I've worked with this Varnish for years now - not on dolls tho, but I hope you will find this info helpful.

Varnish can go white when the temperature of the can is too low. If you leave varnished object in the cold room to dry it can also go "milky" overtime. Once when I finished working, my stuff was "ready to be touched" but I didn't want the smell of the spray in the house, so I left it overnight in the garage (it was really cold). Next day everything was foggy and whitish. You can fix that by spraying it again with varnish (the same one of course).

Varnish can also go "milky' when the layer of spray it to thick. Try putting thinner layers, don't do everything at once. Sometimes it's really better to wait than to repair the damage after. Also this varnish doesn't work as a protecting layer that sits on your paint, but instead it soaks/mixes with the paint and in the end they all create one strong layer - at least from what I was told and from my observations it seems to really work that way.

So if you want your Citadel Varnish to work properly always shake it well before use - if you don't it can also cause you trouble. Make sure the can isn't overheated or too cold, because it affects the ingredients in the can (they may not mix well when you shake etc). Don't work in cold spaces. Don't put thick layers. Also it's a good thing to always test your spray on cardboard/other surface before you use it on your doll or other object.

 

thank you for the info The Raven.
I will look in to citadel.
it seems like all of the best stuff is gone or wont be shipped until the end of the year or longer.
I am not that patient .
I must keep looking necause my boy needs me.
thank you again

 

You're welcome! Yeah I was kind of shocked when I saw that purity seal was gone I still have a full can and like half of another can that I saved. I hope it's still good to use after so many years of sitting in a cabinet in a basement.

 

I've been using the Golden matte varnish for a while, and it seems to be working. It can be removed quite easily with no residue on the doll, hope to see more tests. But I feel like compared to Mr hobby's varnish, the particle coming out of the spray is pretty large, so I decided to go back to Mr. hobby's varnish. It's toxic just like other varnishes.

I was using Liquitex Matte varnish spray, and it does not come off! It is pretty much permanent. I tried to remove it over 3 times with a magic eraser and Winsor & newton brush cleaner, which can remove standard varnish like Mr. hobby and other powders and colours of the face-up, but it can not remove Liquitex Matte spray. So I do not really suggest people to use it... D:

 

The liquitex matte spray makes me worried. Will this have the same effect as the bottled one for airbrushing?

I intend to use MSC as the base layer and liquitex for the intermediate layers as it has tooth because I work with pastels primarily...then seal with MSC or vallejo.

Does vallejo have something similar?