Custom laser decals

I wasn't intending to get this started quite this soon, but as things escalated on Twitter....

Mill House Studios (a.k.a. me) are able to produce custom decals for shields etc. These are laser printed on clear decal film, either from your artwork or custom designed by me (for an extra charge).

Current prices, from your own artwork, are:

• A5 sheet - £3
• A4 sheet - £5
• UK P&P (up to 5 sheets in A4 card-backed envelope) £2 (that's basically UK Large Letter rate)

For more details, see here.  Prices may be an introductory offer and subject to change.

I'm open to suggestions for a range of things people would like me to design/carry as ready-to-order sheets. Among the things that spring to mind are aircraft decals in 15mm and 28mm, as these seem to be scales not catered for by the model trade.

Another somewhat fragmented day...

...improved greatly by discovering I have a new boss at work (ok, discovering I don't have my old boss. The jury's out on the new one, as we haven't spoken yet).

That aside:

• sorted through some more bookshelves, added some more D&D books to the for sale post from a couple of days ago;
• worked out a better process for applying my decals to shields (leaving them on sprue and actually using AP sprays and gloss varnish, which I should have done sooner, having mentioned it in a previous post);
• painted 4 more Shieldwolf minis (it's very therapeutic, and I reckon it takes about 30 mins with a mix of Contrast and AP paints once they're primed), one of which for fun has a pair of Fireforge Templar arms as well as the shield;
• looked at domain names for another project;
• did some prep for Monday's Dux Compendium playtest. 

Still a Star Wars spoiler free zone (till Monday afternoon)

Laser waterslide decals, Contrast paints for hair

Slightly the worse for wear today, so after a day at work having to use my brain, I decided to have an evening doing non-brain-strainy stuff.

I have (as commented on Twitter yesterday) some laser decal paper. This has the advantage over inkjet that laser printer ink is waterproof, so you don't have to spray the printed decals with acrylic spray before you apply them. Also, I happen to be the happy owner of an A3 colour laser printer, - a parting gift from IT at my last job - it had been sat in a pallet outside the tech office for 3 years unopened, and we were shutting the company down… The downside is the colours are a little less vibrant than with an inkjet, but that's a small price to pay for a heck of a lot less faff.

They're a little more fragile than ... Actually, thinking about it? I strongly suspect the custom decal folks in our hobby use laser-printed paper, so that may not be the case :D I am aware that (after some playing) you need to make sure the surface you're applying is smooth (ideally spray gloss varnished) and dry (patience!), and also not to remove the decal from the water too early, in case not all of it lifts.

You are also going to have to cut around your design fairly carefully, and you need to re-gloss varnish afterwards before you apply your final sealant coat. I haven't tried using MicroSol and MicroSet, but I suspect these or Humbrol DecalFix would also help.

Either way, these have come out pretty well....

I've now got 8 of the Shieldwolf Shieldmaidens done with Fireforge Templar shields. Another useful discover - Citadel Contrast paints are GREAT for hair. Snakebite Leather, Aggaros Dunes and Skeleton Horde make great shades of blonde over a white undercoat, Gore Grunta Fur does a great redhead, and Cygor Brown does a good mid-brown/chestnut.