The real question is, do you need to varnish your miniatures? Gobbertown Hobbies tests that and other theories while having some fun tossing minis!
Goobertown Hobbies is a great content creator who has interesting takes on the hobby. Whether it’s a collaboration with other hobby YouTubers or a challenge for himself, he has a broad range of topics he covers. Since he has so much great content, why not check out what else he has done?
This week he puts some “drop troopers” to the test and sees how they stand up! Some are primed, some varnished, and one team just got primed through an airbrush. Let’s see how they hold up to the tests!
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Do you Need to Varnish your Miniatures? Goobertown Hobbies
Here he is tossing some minis! Some were primed, some varnished, and some not. Let’s see how they hold up.
The Drop Troopers
He had three squads of five, each team got a different treatment. Then he’ll be dropping them from some height, mixing them around, and seeing which stands up the best!
Layer of Paint
One day after the initial prime, or not, he gave every team a single layer of Vallejo Goblin Green. This was then given 24 hours to dry.
Varnishing
2 teams were varnished with Satin Clear Enamel, 2 teams were Varnished with Vallejo Satin Varnish, and two teams were not. These were also given 24 hours.
Moderate Abuse
Next, he gave all 35 of the Goblins some moderate abuse, like dropping, throwing, and mixing them with rulers. Let’s see how they held up!
Do We Need to Prime Them?
None of these were varnished but all were primed. None were that beat up, and they got up 15 full minutes of abuse.
Do you Need to Varnish your Minis?
These were all varnished except one team. None were that beat up, and they got up 15 full minutes of abuse.
The Verdict
Honestly, none of the minis were very beaten up after such a long test. There are plenty of other tests he could have done, but still, none of the minis were too worse off for the wear. So what does all this mean? Well, we’ve been told hundreds of times we need to prime and varnish to protect them. The only thing that he found with an unprimed mini, is the paints peel off fairly easily. Other than that, he couldn’t find too many issues without unprimed or unvarnished minis.
He’s still going to do both, but the step isn’t as important as we’ve been led to believe!
If you are curious about what he has to say, and for more details on the techniques watch the full video above! Also, be sure to Subscribe to Goobertown Hobbies if you enjoy his content!
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
