Reply To: Does matt Varnish go off? – Airbrush always getting blocked

[lawnor 25939xp 2]

A little feedback.  Thanks for your advice.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve added a marble to the varnish and a good heavy squirt of Airbrush Thinner.  I’ve been giving it daily shakes, and sometimes leaving it upside down.  Anything to encourage it to mix.  It also spent a little time in hot water.  This weekend I had cause to varnish models again.  When I tried to pour some out the nozzle was blocked.  Unscrewing the cap revealed it was full of sticky PVA-like gunk.  I scraped that out and washed the nozzle and gave in a thorough shake and mix and checked the nozzle again.  All looked good.  I loaded up my airbrush (0.2mm) and it worked well briefly, before gumming up again.  I tried the 0.4mm nozzle and got a few models done, but it happened again.  Nothing would let it flow reliably.  I thought I was going to have to make do as it’s all I had, but I found an old 17ml dropper bottle of matt varnish and that worked fine.  I haven’t bought a 17ml bottle of varnish since before I bought my Airbrush at the least.  That makes it many years older than the Mecha bottle, and it’s been stored under the same conditions.  Looks like I’m going to have to junk my mecha, or perhaps save it for those rare occasions I brush matt on?  Are there other uses for it?  I know Dallas Kemp has recommended using mixing medium to glue basing materials on to bases quickly.  It works well. I still seal with watery PVA after, but when speed is important its a good trick to know.

In short, I’d say the Mecha matt varnish is fine but seems to have issues with shelf life after a couple of years, but the more basic Vallejo ranges are good forever.