Pentart acrylic varnish from Pentacolor - Miniature Hobby Supply Review

Article updated: 2020.03.04

The Pentart acrylic varnish is an acyrlic varnish from Pentacolor to be used as a finish on miniatures or other hobby projects. It comes in two varieties: matte varnish, and glossy varnish.

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Details - Pentart acrylic varnish from Pentacolor

Miniature hobby supply: Pentart acrylic varnish

Range: Pentart acrylic paints

Company: Pentacolor, Production: -2015-2020-

Features: Acrylic Varnish (Varnish) - Glossy Varnish, Matte Varnish

Pentart acrylic paints from Pentacolor

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Review - Pentart acrylic varnish from Pentacolor

The Pentart acrylic varnishes from Pentacolor are generic purpose acrylic varnishes. There are two types - matte, and glossy. They are not created specifically for painting models but they can be used for that.

Packaging

They are sold in a couple of different packages. You can get them in these variants:

Pot: 50 ml/100 ml/230 ml

All of the varnish types are sold in these kinds of packages.

Pentacolor Pentart acrylic varnish types

Glossy varnish: They are nice, glossy.

Matte varnish: They are somewhat matte, but in my experience it's closer to satin. I've heard that the matte might get cured into a more matte finish if I'd use them in a higher temperature area, but I don't remember I'd seen a difference between uses of the matte varnish in different temperatures.

Decoupage varnish and glue - silky shine: While its main purpose is to be used as decoupage glue, but it also works as a transparent primer and a satin varnish. Unlike the matte and glossy variant, this is also sold in 20 ml dropper bottles, and 1,000 ml bottles.

Mixing Pentart varnishes

A model painter said he uses Pentart acrylic glossy varnish to create a satin effect out of the Ultra-Matte varnish from AK Interactive.

Using Pentart varnishes with an airtbrush

One model painter reported to use the Pentart acrylic glossy varnish, diluted with X-20A Acryl Thinner from Tamiya.

Problems with the Pentart varnishes

One of my main problems with them is that models varnished with Pentart varnish tend to stick together. As I often store miniatures dumped together in boxes, it can be irritating, and also, it can damage the varnished surface. A friend brought his models to a painting competition, used tissue paper to fill the gaps between the miniatures, and the paper stuck to the models, much to his embarrasment. So, be aware of this.

As a finishing layer, I use the matte spray varnish from Evolution Pinty Plus to fade the shine, and to prevent the stickiness.

Summary

While Pentart varnishes are cheap and they are sold in several places (at least here in Miskolc, Hungary), I’m still undecided about them.

The glossy varnish looks nice, but the matte varnish is far from being matte, so I won't recommend that.

However, while not entirely satisfied, I will still use it, as I have loads of them, and they are not terrible.

Recommendation

The Pentart varnish is an affordable choice if you are on a budget. You can get used to it with some practice.

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Resources - Pentart acrylic varnish from Pentacolor

Official

Pentart: Acrylic paints (in Hungarian): Official webpage.

Review

Lakbear: Pentart list, part 1 (in Hungarian): Review article about the Pentart acrylic paints, primers, matte varnish, glossy varnish, and several other Pentart products, in Hungarian.

English version via Google Translate

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Buying the product - Pentart acrylic varnish from Pentacolor

Price

Base price (Pentart acrylic varnish in 50ml pot): ca. 1,5 EUR, Price/liter: ca. 30 EUR

Base price (Pentart acrylic varnish in 100ml pot): ca. ? EUR, Price/liter: ca. ? EUR

Base price (Pentart acrylic varnish in 230ml pot): ca. ? EUR, Price/liter: ca. ? EUR

Where can you buy it?

In Hungary: You can find them in hobby shops around the country.

Worldwide: Apart from Hungary, I've seen a distributor in the United Kingdom that carries Pentart supplies. Outside of these two countries the advantage of the low price could be lost due to the shipping costs.

Buy Pentart acrylic varnish from Pentacolor from Amazon