Decals

[montka]

Hi fellas,

So I bought some micro sol and micro set, along with some W&N varnishes to have a good go at getting GW decals to look nice.

I am happy with the result on my tanks where it is on large flat surfaces - the microsol takes away the hard glossy surface nicely so the decal looks painted on

However on the marine shoulders with an ultras set of transfers I had an epic failure. About five attempts and nowhere near anything like a smooth flat application.

I am starting to think that shoulderguard transfers are impossible apply, though I would like someone to prove me wrong?

 

[Tommie Soule]

I cant prove you wrong because i don't use transfrers.
However i will encourage you to develop your freehand accros the board, ten years ago i had to do 2000pts of ultramarines symbols, i was daunted to say the least, but through actually doing it i can do the ultramrines symbol in my sleep, quickly.
here is the termie captain from that army i did all that time ago, every thing freehand, but most importantly, simple.
http://coolminiornot.com/141960

 

[montka]

Cool mate, that's perfect freehand there.
I used to look through my ultras codex thinking there was no way they could be done by hand.
Do you have any more photos?
Any tips on accuracy and smoothness? I always find my white paint gets bumpy/crumpled after a few layers.
You're gonna tell me to dilute more aren't you

 

[GraveRisen]

ah, but you can do transfers on shoulders, there's actually two solutions to use...

solution 1, MORE microsol and microset. Drown that sucker.

solution 2, make a small cut across the decal from the center to the outside, that way instead of folding outward on the shoulderpad, the decal slips behind itself (if you get what I mean).

Lastly, if all else fails, mash the decal on so that it's at least flat, then paint over it. It's FAR easier to freehand chapter symbols consistently when you basically have a paint-by-numbers guide plastered on his shoulder

 

[Tommie Soule]

Yes i am
Make sure each layer of paint drys fully before applying the next. And don't worry about mistakes. Neaten up at the end with the original field colour

 

[nels0nmac]

Ultras are one of the easier decals to apply when you know how. I have managed it before I started freehanding stuff. If you think they are hard anything round, such as Imperial fist badges really are imposible to get flat.... you can't get a flat circle to sit smoothly on a domed surface.

Anyway... with regard to the Ultra symbol the trick I found was to use a sharp scalpel blade to cut away all the extra clear material that sits around the white itself... effectively tracing around the Ultra symbol as close as you dare. With only the symbol left it should wrap more easily onto the shoulder pad. Also the paint job on the pad needs to be smooth to make sure you dont get bits of the decal sticking up.

I found that with the amount of work it took to get the icons looking right, in the end it was jsut as easy and probably took less time to paint them by hand.