🧴 Varnish Coverage Calculator
Enter your spray varnish can volume and roughly how much you use per miniature to estimate how many miniatures one can will cover.
Can volume over spray per model
miniatures = floor(can ml / ml per miniature)The defaults - a 400 ml can at 5 ml a model - come to 80 miniatures, rounded down. A rattle can delivers roughly 1 to 1.5 ml a second, so 5 ml is about four seconds of trigger time: two short passes a side.
| Per model | 150 ml can | 400 ml can |
|---|---|---|
| 3 ml (infantry, batch sprayed) | 50 | 133 |
| 5 ml (infantry, one at a time) | 30 | 80 |
| 8 ml (cavalry, large models) | 18 | 50 |
| 12 ml (vehicles, terrain) | 12 | 33 |
Why batch spraying halves the figure
Almost none of the spray reaches the model. At 25 cm the cone is about 15 cm across, or 175 cm², while a 28 mm figure presents around 5 cm² face on - under 3% of what leaves the nozzle. Filling that cone with a tray of twenty models is where the saving comes from.
- Hold it 20-30 cm away and keep the can moving. Closer pools varnish in the recesses; further and it part-dries in flight and lands dusty.
- Spray at 15-25 C in dry air. A cold can atomises coarsely, and damp air is what turns matt varnish white.
- Shake for a full minute. Matting agent settles hard, and an unshaken can sprays gloss first and grit last.
Frequently asked questions
How many miniatures does a can of spray varnish cover?
About 80 infantry models from a 400 ml can sprayed one at a time, or up to 130 if you spray them in trays. Large models and vehicles take two to three times as much each.
How far away should I hold a spray varnish can?
20 to 30 cm, moving across the model rather than pausing on it. Two light passes with a minute between them give a more even film than one heavy pass, and far less risk of pooling.
Is brush-on varnish cheaper than spray?
Per model, yes. Brushing puts roughly 0.2 to 0.3 ml on a 28 mm figure against several millilitres from a can, because nothing is lost to overspray. It is slower, and brush marks show more in gloss than in matt.