Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'saber scorpion'.
Found 1 result
-
In my ongoing quest for providing decent pictures and slightly more info on things I think others would like to buy, I present this topic where I'll spotlight Saber Scorpion's Minifigure Decals. *Just a heads up that this will be an on-going review. I ordered a little pile of decals and gear but haven't gotten all the body parts for them yet, so I'll post updates as things get done. Here's the TL;DR version for everyone who just wants to look at pictures and are happy just browsing SS's Flickr: Are the decals good? Yes! Should you buy?: Yes! In this order I got: 1 x Alien Invasion Colony Marine 1 x Brickarms M41A Pulse Rifle 1 x Brickarms Space Magnum Pistol (Black) 1 x Brickarms XRG Railgun (Gunmetal) 1 x BrickWarriors Android Armor (Steel) 1 x BrickWarriors Desert Vulture (Charcoal) 1 x BrickWarriors Galaxy Enforcer HELMET (Red) 1 x Decals AI NM Police Officers 1 x Decals AI Zero Grav Suit (Orange) 1 x Decals AI-S4 Heavy (Female) 1 x Decals AI-S41 Female AI 1 x Decals AI-S41 Officers 1 x Decals SE-S1 Female Medium Armor (DarkBlue) 1 x Decals SE-S3 Human Female (DarkRed) 1 x Decals SE-S3 Main Character (Commander Female) 1 x Decals SE-S3 Main Character (Engineer) So if you want pictures of any of that stuff just let me know. ========================================= Alrighty, first up is a Police dude from the Alien Invasion Series 4 section: Riot Police Dude by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr TIP #1: Face decals may make it difficult to use helmets without ruining the decal! After applying the decal, the helmet wouldn't go on without completely scraping it off. You may have to grind away a little plastic from the inside of the helmet to get it to fit safely. Not being too experienced with applying decals to minifigures, I started off with the Police decals because there are 4 of them on a strip so it's not a total loss if I screwed it up. They're also pretty cheap costing roughly less than a dollar per chest/face/shoulders set. I love those shades. B-) Is it obvious that the figure has a decal? Believe it or not, this depends mostly on the lighting and viewing angle. The decals are printed on glossy sticker paper, there are angles at which the custom minifig looks official. You can usually tell there's a decal there when the decal isn't reflecting, it simply looks like a crisp paper decal. Hold the figure an inch from your face and you can tell there's a decal there, put it on your shelf a foot away and you'll never be able to tell. How durable are these decals? They're as durable as a regular paper sticker. I wouldn't recommend you give a decal'd figure to kids or throw them in a parts bin, anything with a hard edge that bumps into the decal will leave a permanent dent. How easy are they to apply? As simple as peel and stick, BUT, you have to be careful! I ran into a few speed bumps while practicing on the Police guy, but felt confident enough to work on the female Commander from the Star Explorers Series (pictured below right). The red decals are "Human Female" in Dark Red from the same series. Yes, for the most part you can choose what colors you want the decals to be! Human Female (Dark Red) & Female Commander by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr These are some snazzy designs, I already cut out the Commander's arm, legs, and face at this point. You only need an X-acto blade or a small pair of really, really sharp scissors to get things moving. If you think your scissors are sharp enough, you're wrong, sharpen them more! Dull scissors will cause snags and kinks in the decals as you cut them out. Cutting them out neatly is the hardest part, not much advice I can give, just keep your hands steady and have good lighting so you can see the edges. Once you've neatly cut them out it's time to move on! Coloring Edges by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr TIP #2: Paint the edges with whatever the appropriate color is. The edges of the decals will be white because they're printed on white paper, these white edges will be noticeable even after applied to the figure. To get rid of them, simply run a marker along the edge of the decal (while the backing is still on, for rigidity). Use a marker that releases a little bit of ink at a time, you just want to color the edge, not let it seep deep into the decal itself. I'm using an old inking pen you can find at any art store. Detaching Backing by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr TIP #3: Use a dull knife to separate the decal from the backing, DON'T USE YOUR FINGERS! If you use your fat fingers to try to peel off the backing you're just going to accidentally dent or warp the decal. Instead, use a thin dull knife to wedge between the backing and decal, this has worked flawlessly for me so far. If you use a sharp knife you risk shredding the decal! Female Commander Arm Decals by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr TIP #4: Use something round to press over the edges and get rid of creases. Sometimes you'll get little creases along the edge of shoulder decals because of the rounded shape, use something round to roll over the creases and flatten them. Also roll over the edges of the decal to firmly stick them down. Remember to ROLL, not RUB. Rubbing may rub off the printing. The decals look very good, take your time when cutting them to get clean sharp edges. Here's how our fearless leader is looking so far: Female Commander WIP by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr TIP #5: Cut a little bit extra off the top and bottom of the face decals. You don't HAVE to, but cutting off an extra 1 mm seemed to reduce the chance that a helmet would scrape the face off. I guess it has less of a chance of snagging on the decal's edge this way. I have to paint the helmet (only red/blue available from Saber Scorpion's shop) and switch the torso, annoyingly this torso decided to crack while taking pictures. On the up side, the Galaxy Enforcer Helmet fit neatly over the face decal with no modding needed. Much praise to the designers if the inside was slightly enlarged specifically to fit over decals, if not, good on ya anyway. I'll use the remaining helmet decal for something else most likely. By the way, I totally applied the knee pieces upside-down the first time, I carefully peeled them off and fixed them with very little trouble and no damage! TIP #6: Don't pick your nose while working with decals! Don't let the decals get wet or greasy, they'll be ruined. Now I'm off to make some more curved torsos, will post updates.
