I have the same problem with marine varnish, it just doesnt seem to fully harden. Even 4 or 5 weeks after the last coat it is still a bit soft. I used International Original Yacht varnish (new stock). After one dive it looked like this
and to compare it with a similar unused gun
Both guns got 3 coats of west epoxy and 3 coats of the varnish. Im not overly convinced of the need for the varnish top coat anymore. Well at least for me, my guns dont spend any long periods of time in the sun, I store them in the dark and the only sun they get is the 5 minute walk from the car to the sea
and then they are submerged
My freind refinished the fancy wooden dor cappings of my nextdoor neighbours convertible sports cars 4 years ago with epoxy. That car is exposed to bright sunlight all the time and they still look like new. To get a mirror finish on epoxy sand down to 1200 grit and then buff with car paint cutting compound (T-cut in the UK) until the look is right
