An online friend (Borut P) also suggested albuminizing (egg white/distilled water coating) all plates. I like that idea. It would make the collodion stick that much better to the glass. The only down side is the plates would be harder to clean and reuse in the field. It is sometimes hard to remove collodion that has been attached with albumen.
The washable paint idea did not work at all, it destroyed the ambrotype, even with a coat of varnish on it.
Destroyed Ambrotype, washable black paint |