Decoy Paint Protection?

[Jeff Reardon]

Please forgive a dumb question from a decoy painting novice.

I am in the middle of repainting some yard sale LL Bean goldeneye decoys.

I painted the bodies with black and white flat Rustoleum, and the heads with some acrylic paints from my wife. (She's not too keen on my duck obsession, but thinks mixing paint to match colors is fun.)

Is there anything I can or should do to seal/protect the paint? I'm not too worried about the bodies, as it's easy enough to slap some more paint on them, but would like to protect the heads if there is a way to do so without adding a lot of shine.

Spar varnish? Spray on Krylon in matte?

Or just leave them alone and try to treat them well?

 

[Ron Schuna]

I have a friend that sprays every decoy with a coat of Krylon matte finish. It especially keeps the black and white from rubbing off in a decoy bag with diver decoys that have been re-painited.

 

[Carl]

Testor's Dull Coat has worked better for me than the Krylon. The Krylon does not seem to be as flat as the Testor's.

 

[Lou Tisch]

Testor's Dullcote #1260. Since it's a lacquer and can curdle paint, spray on a mist coat and flash off the solvent with a hair dryer. If you let the lacquer sit for a while...you will not be pleased.

Krylon is worse. It used to be the "go to"with the Matte Finish but it was bought by Sherwin Williams and they destroy the products everytime they buy a company. They did the same to the Formby products also.
You can use the Krylon if you want to preserve some shiney/iridescence to some heads but...again...flash off the solvents right after a mist coat.
Lou