Matt vs Ultra Matt

ManicMan

ManicMan

Lord
Okay.. for some time now, I've been using Valiejo Ultra Matt Polyurethane Varnish (72.653.. gee, I wonder how there index codes work anyway).. but it was a small bottle of 18ml which while lasts a while, is a small bottle. In fact, the same bottles used for most of their paints.

as I was running out I found some larger bottles. 200ml and price wise, it was FAR cheaper to buy the big bottle then the small bottle (proportionally) but I couldn't (at the time) find the Ultra Matt with a decent price, but I did find their Matt Polyurethane Varnish (27.651 see, now the 651 makes some sense compared to the 653 but.. the first two numbers? no clue). problem is.. just trying it and.. boy, you can tell the difference. With the Ultra Matt, when it's dried I couldn't even tell if I had varnished the figure or not. Which was a pro and a con (like can't tell if I missed a spot or anything). however, with the Matt, it's a bit glossy.

To tell the truth, I'm pretty surprised that something called 'Matt' has that degree of gloss to it. It's not fantastical high but it's GREATLY different and noticeable.
DSCF2761.JPG
Not the best photo but fair enough. Can you tell which one of these two of the same model is painted with Matt and which one with Ultra Matt? not very hard is it ¬_¬

of cause, the light brings out the varnish more but.. yeah.. How the hell they can call that Matt I don't know. Kinda wondering if I didn't shake it well enough but still.. I guess I can live with it for terrain pieces, and it claims it'll go into a 0.4 dia airbrush without dilution so might be good for larger pieces but still.. it's pretty annoying... just what is in Ultra Matt to make it soo much more expensive and well, work as Matt. My Spanish isn't great and the font is a bit too small for me.
 
I only use the Matte stuff (200ml bottle) myself and at least my current bottle is much better than that. More shaking I'd suggest. Although quite possible it's a duff bottle I guess, that must happen from time to time. All my varnished stuff looks much more like your "ultra matte".
 
That does look terrible ! I used to use Vallejo Matt varnish and although it always gave a slight shine it was no where near that bad. My love of AK Ultra Matt is it doesn't matter if I use different brands of paint I know that the varnish will make every part of the model the same consistent finish.
 
Small bottle of Ultra Matt cost me £2.65 (18ml)
Big bottle of Matt cost me £9.25 (200ml)

So Ultra Matt prices at 0.14p per millilitre
matt prices at 0.04p per millilitre

My local doesn't sell the big bottles and the only place I can find for the big bottle of Ultra matt is £11.20 for 200ml. which granted is only 0.05p per millilitre but at the time I couldn't find it and it's kinda 'any port in a storm' but.. yeah.. not keen on this for this job.. maybe better if I was doing some slimily stuff.

I'll try to shake it alot more (In fact, I have filled up the small bottle from the big one because when it comes to the varnish, there 'dropper' bottles are fine to put a few drops onto a figure and then spread it, where as for their paint.. that is awful.. I kinda HATE there bottles that do that for normal painting cause I means I have to waste paint. not that I can't just take them off but anyway... the big bottle is kinda a glue like lid so not great for applying varnish).

I did get some Bio-thingy 200 stripper the other day cause I kinda misplaced my bottle of stripper and I was running low anyway.. give a figure a dip and it does a great job.. apart from on the Toon Martian... that green paint just isn't coming off.. I thought it might be enamel maybe but doesn't look like it.. But the only thing I got to strip that is thinner.. and I'm not sure it did much good.. it's thin enough that I might just have to paint over it.

Oh, while painted differently, I think I was kinda lucky to have two pieces the same so it was easy to compare them ^_^ gonna be for my graveyard tile. Gonna have some bits stuck onto the tile and a couple of bits magnetised so storage is easy without great damage and gives some options.
 
I too was confused by the title. One of my campaign players is called Matt, and so I saw the names Matt and Ultra Matt and assumed the second one was a superhero version of the first.
 
^_^
Spellings are a paint.. I think technically Matte is the correct English spelling, with Matt being a yanky spelling, but I was going by what was on the bottle, which is Spanish with English but looks like USA American then English.

I think Marvel might sue me for 'Ultra Matt' as a superhero.. after they brought and killed Malibu comics with the whole ultraverse full of 'Ultras'.. (not comment on Ultraman ^_^)
 
can't really see the price difference reason then.. okay, you need to ADD something extra, but you have LESS of the others.. wonder if it's something simple I can get to add to that bottle to make it 'ultra'.. though I got some Ultra Matt on it's way, This can still be used for some things.. though I'll try shaking it alot.
 
You can always use it up on terrain as you suggested or as a base layer and put some matte matte over the top (light pass with your airbrush might be enough to take the shine off without using much of the Ultra Matte up) - I'm sure I remember people saying they would gloss varnish then do a layer of matte.

Well at the most basic talc is a matting agent in some varnishes. Now I would guess that Model Making varnishes might use a few more fancy polymers that impact the surface finish than just sticking talc in the mix, but in essence all you're trying to do is scatter some of the light to reduce those reflections. The trick is to do it enough for the finish without dulling down (too much) whatever you've slapped the varnish on. It's why sometimes things do look a little flat after varnishing.
 
gave it a really good shake and tried it on a figure I didn't mind if it came out a bit gloss and it appears much better.. but the photos aren't great (look in my random figure post for my Burrick). still be glad when the Ultra Matt(e) shows up ^_^
 
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