Wrapping Things Up For The Box Art.....Literally!

Here is a preview of the box art  I recently completed for Royal Model. It is a very nice scene that would compliment well with either WW2 US G.I.s or Germans during the opening days of  Operation "Wacht Am Rhein". 

Cheers,

Calvin

Have a Crate Weekend!

Some wrapping work done using decals made from Canon's Selphy photo printer..

Cheers,

Calvin

Das Brot Brechen (Breaking Bread)

The name plate finally goes up and it really adds a lot of difference.

Cheers,

Calvin

DIY Title Plates

Here is an economical and efficient way of making title plates for your model displays using the Canon Selphy printer. 

The designs are create in Photoshop with the various unit insignia taken from the internet and printed in reverse.

Proceed to cut out and attach the printed side onto the adhesive portion of the reflective foil. 

Give it a good hard press with a steel plate or a flat object to expel any air pockets that may be trapped.

Overlay additional layers of foil for added thickness.

Trim the edges and soak it water for at least 8 hours. The water will dissolve the adhesive  and release the plastic film from the paper backing.

Finally, seal the transfer with some clear varnish of your preference and attached it to the pedestal with double-sided tape.  

Cheers,

Calvin

Sack Time

Time to hit the sack for the vignette. The printing on the sack is sourced from the internet, scaled down in Photoshop and printed out from my Canon Selphy photo printer. It was soaked in water for about two hours to separate the plastic film from the paper and applied onto the sack from MiniArt Models like regular water slide decals.

Cheers,

Calvin

Experiments with Photo Print Transfers - Day 5

 Moved on to a 1/10 scale helmet cover. Frankly speaking, this technique is more suited for larger scale figures as the surface area is much larger and the plastic film does not obscure much of the surface details. Took me only 1 hour from the application of the film to the touch up by brush to attain this current result. Definitely a time saving measure especially when you have a lot of 1/10 scale busts in the storage room ;).

Cheers,

Calvin

Experiments with Photo Print Transfers - Day 4

Flat coat with some touch ups and highlighting with a brush using AK Gen 3 paints. The buttons are rebuilt with epoxy putty. The shoulder boards, insignia on the side cap and the rank patch will be added in later using transfers. When that is done I will be glad to say that's a wrap.

Cheers,

Calvin

Experiments with Photo Print Transfers - Day 3

 I was not feeling satisfied with the first attempt which I attributed to my poor decal application skills. There were too many wrinkles to tease out. I therefore threw the figure into a vat of thinner and started over. 

This round I took my time and I feel that the results are much neater than the previous attempt. I realised that a big sheet of plastic film is difficult to conform onto a highly wrinkled surface and thus decided to cut the sheet onto smaller pieces and stitch them along the crest of the folds. These conspicuous areas are also very accessible to mend with gloss varnish and paint. Mark Softer from Gunze Sanyo Mr Hobby was used to great effect in softening the plastic film so that it conforms easily to the surface of the figure. 

Trimming was done with  a color shaper on one hand and a fresh scalpel on the other. This operation requires a great degree of patience and precision. In all, it took me about half an evening and one afternoon to arrive at this stage and I think it looks promising from this point on. 

Cheers,

Calvin

Experiments with Photo Print Transfers - Day 2

 

I have allowed the gloss varnish to set overnight and this morning I gave the figure a spray of matt varnish. Imperfections were touched up with paint from AK Interactive Gen 3 Figure Series. 

Cheers,

Calvin 

Experiments with Photo Print Transfers - Day 1

Here is today's results of my experiment using the Canon Selphy photo print transfer. The greatest difficult lies in trying to manoeuvre and fit the film onto the tight corners of the sleeves as well as the pockets on the chest area. Surprisingly a light blast of heat from a heat gun managed to shrink wrap the film onto the figure surface for a tight hug and even so some unwanted wrinkles and tiny air bubbles also appeared. Those need to be rubbed down and repainted. In my opinion, the process is not as fun as painting and there are a lot of kinks on the surface one will need to smooth out for a presentable result.

Cheers,

Calvin

Something Is Evolving........

 I am in the midst of ironing the kinks of this technique but I am pretty sure the end is in sight...

Cheers,

Calvin

DIY Decals

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One day while printing some family pictures on my Canon Selphy printer did I realize that this printing method could be used to create to custom decals. I deducted that since the ink is not printed directly on the paper, but rather on a thin cellophane-like paper laminate, it could be lifted out like a water slide decal. I decided to put to test this hunch and arrived to the following outcome.

The inscriptions were created on Photoshop and printed with the Canon Selphy printer on their proprietary postcard paper. A water brush pen loaded with a solution of water and retarder was used to wet the surface to position the cellophane film before affixing it with Vallejo gloss varnish.

The printed cut-out was soaked in water for about an hour to separate the cellophane film from the paper. My deduction proved correct as the print was made onto the cellophane film instead of the paper and thus the Canon Selphy postcard print works exactly like a regular water-slide decal.

The film is positioned with a pair of tweezers and brush and affixed with a water-based gloss varnish from Vallejo. Excess film is trimmed with a scalpel blade and irregularities touched up with silver paint.

The main drawback I conclude is that the CMY print cartridge of the Selphy printer does not print black - making the darkest tones appear as a very dark blue. Needless to mention, CMY printing does not print white - which means that this will have to be filled in by hand.  Considering the type of quality for that inexpensive cost of print and the added convenience of doing it from your home computer, I must comment that the result is still rather delightful. Do give this a try and let me know what you guys think.

Until next time...

Calvin