Okay so I finished Skya and sealed her. I baked/cooled 3 or 4 times in the nuwave 11 minutes at 60% power. She looked really pale, but not chalky. I baked an extra time more than usual thinking it just wasn’t cured.
I did a burnt umber wash and she looks better. Do I need to varnish her again? Or can I just bake this one layer and call it finished?
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Varnish is there for protection, right? If that’s the case I’d varnish again in order to protect that final layer.
That’s what I’d guess but I’ve seen people say they don’t varnish at all. I just don’t know why she got so pale. Maybe I put the varnish and thinner mix on too thick.
I obviously can’t speak for every experience (especially since we’re using different products) but when I varnish my babies there’s a noticeable softening of their colors. I wouldn’t say they look pale, but they do become more muted and I use a very thin layer. Hopefully someone else will come along and give you a better answer 
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I think there are different opinions about varnish on a Genesis baby, this is my opinion, not that I am an expert, I actually hate the way matte varnish feels but I know a lot of my clients hate the way a shiny baby feels so I do it.
- That paint is on to stay! when it is cured it is cured.
- Varnish and thinning medium do offer and extra layer like putting a top coat on your red nail polish. As far as “protection” it isn’t a must like with air dry.
- If I flesh wash after I varnish because it just doesn’t feel done, I don’t varnish again. The varnish is cured, the paint under it protected and I feel like the wash over it bonds to the varnish. You shouldn’t have a shiny baby from a wash over varnish, if you do you do but I never have.
The “Pale” baby…
This is what should happen, every layer you do should deepen your other layers, create new color contrasts and combinations.
This may be like the like big foot and not everyone believes it but I swear there is some vinyl that just sucks up certain colors and refuses other colors and you have to put more layers on that baby than you normally would.
I just did Darren awake and I am not sure if it was just my batch but that boy got a whole lotta layers, his vinyl drank up the blue but I had to force the other colors and had a heck of a time getting things nice a tidy…
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Thanks for the info! I’d like to avoid sealing again if possible. So if I wanted to test the paint to see if it’s cured how would I do that? Wipe it with a sponge with a little thinner on it to see if it comes off?
I often add washes after varnishing. I never re-varnish as I feel like the varnish gives a lot of tooth for the wash layer to hang on to and I don’t feel like it needs another layer of protection.
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Test the paint with a damp Q-tip (water only). Just gently rub to see if any paint is coming off. Don’t use thinner it’ll take the paint off. @Sarabeth
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Thank you!
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Good thread!
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