Project of the Month July 2015: Michonne from The Walking Dead (Complete)

Finally completed the paint job on Michonne and her two pet walkers. I still need to apply sealant but I'm marking them as complete and showing the pictures now because a.) applying sealant only takes a couple of minutes or so, and b. ) I'm going to use a sealant that will give it a glossy finish, which has a tendency to make the figures look unflattering on my cheap smartphone camera:

Is Nail Polish Usable as a Sealant?

When I was just starting out with making home-made cold porcelaine figurines, I searched for information on ideal sealants (because the figures themselves will be prone to weather damage if you don't use one) on the Internet. I eventually settled on these three, but the first one I tried was nail polish.

The truth is if you're just using them for practice or you don't expect to keep the figurines around for a long time, nail polish will do. They give a glossy finish and will protect the clay and its paint from moisture damage. They're also cheaper than the other sealants and it's easy to find places where they can be bought (in fact, most homes already have one at the ready.)

However, if you really want your work to be durable (something you want if you're planning to give the figures away or sell them,) avoid nail polish.