So I actually price my bundles about double on CGTrader because I prefer people purchase from Wargaming3D. So base price on CGTrader for the complete collection is currently $584 and on Wargaming3D it's $307.
Seeing that it's on sale on CGTrader, I'll go put it on sale over at Wargaming3D. Thanks for the heads up.
As for a resin printer. Don't let your dreams be dreams. It's $285 on Amazon for an Elegoo Mars Pro 2 and a corresponding Elegoo Mercury wash/cure. (Note I have no affiliation with Elegoo, it's just the one that I use and I'm pleased with it.)
Can you post pictures of some of your prints from it? I'm tempted...
I was planning to contact them for the cost anyway because our stock of all sets of the decks is getting very low. As you can see, it would be very expensive to reprint 100 decks of all six sets and I am doubtful we could sell them all. I lost a fair amount of money on decks 5 and 6 and I am now retired so I can't afford to up-front the cost anymore.
I lost a couple of dollars per deck on the 5th deck because of the high postage from Australia so I "subsidized" it some. Rival Sky additionally absorbed some of the hit as well. And of course we lost about 60 of deck 6 during shipping to Australia during the pandemic. I also lost about 15 decks of set 4, and 3 each of decks 1-3 in that shipment. That really hurt. Insurance was only $200.00 and I couldn't apply for it anyway because the proof was in Australia. After 6 months of harassing the USPS I was sick of the whole thing.
Don't get me wrong, I still love this project. I am just insane that way. But I can only afford so much. If we want to print more decks we will need to come up with another way to finance them.
Maybe we need another model entirely...I've never used them, but I've heard good things about Drivethrucards
I've been considering posting a lot of my and other fan-made cards and getting my own deck printed.
Something like this would let everyone do their own print-on-demand and take the financial stress off of you and/or anyone else.
This is from the ForuMINI Navies subforum... found HERE
...although, based on what Team Neptune did with Unryu, some would say the Capacity and AA values are off...but I doubt using the card as-is would unbalance the game or anything.
Here's another Ghukek/XPForge resin Essex-class carrier. Flight deck and portholes by Flightdeck Decals!
I've had some AK Interactive paints that are "authentic" to the original colors for the USN. I was going to do the MS32/3A for Intrepid and decided to go more on the "easy button" of MS22. These aren't the normal colors I use for the USN, but I felt like trying these out again. I used them on my USS Maryland, but I find the blues just so dark and feel like on minis this small you need brighter colors to make them pop. Still happy with this, but probably going to put the AK Interactive back in the closet for a while.
A funny anecdote on this model: Dan from Flightdeck Decals got tired of my decals warping with my cheap varnish, so he actually sent me some Tamiya gloss and matte. Shockingly...NO warping or curling on this decal! OK, I get it, I'll never go cheap on the varnish for my decals again!!! :-)
Hey! Next up in my painting progress is USS Johnston. These minis are from Ghukek/XPForge and were part of the US Fleet pack sold on the XPForge site. I think he slipped me an extra Fletcher class since it's only supposed to be 3 DDs in the pack (or he made a mistake and I'm a total jerk for not shipping one back ;-) ).
Anywho, from what I can tell, Johnston was only ever painted in MS21, but I find the blue on blue of MS21 makes destroyers indistinct blobs on the tabletop. So, I went with MS22 instead, even repainting the one I finished in MS21.
Ah. I would think even the Elmer's would be fairly easy to pull off if needed. I am honestly surprised how well the poster putty works. I rarely have a miniature pop off when gaming, yet it is very easy to pull off when necessary (usually to take a photo).
The Elmer's is easy to pull off, but it's unsightly...trying to go for something less visible.
I like the side-by-side photos especially. It shows how tight Ghukek's sculpt is in comparison to WotC. Your paint looks great along with the decal.
Did you glue the WotC miniature to the base? I just use poster putty.
Thanks.
Yes, I used to use Elmer's white glue to adhere the minis to the bases. I've stopped doing that and now use poster putty or glue dots which are just sticky gel pieces. They come off cleaner in case I need to make a change. The glue dots work well on the XPForge miniatures with the flat resin bases. Not so much on Shapeways stuff.
You are good to go on using gloss coat over decals. What causes silvering is applying decals on flat / mat or applying gloss over flat / mat. Flat / mat always has to be the very last coat.
Cracking and or shriveling of paint coats (and sometimes decals) is usually caused by one three things: 1. Not allowing the paint / clear coat / decal (decal set solution too) to completely cure. 2. Chemical reaction between products. Rustoleum products are a big offender here. I have had RO varnish completely shrivel & bubble acrylic paint & stains on wood, concrete & plastics. I once grabbed the wrong can of clear to seal a full sheet of freshly printed resin decals. It shrank the entire 8"x14" carrier sheet off of the backer paper in less that 30 seconds. 3. Product cure - shrink rate. What is the impact of multiple cure rates? Think about the different layers on your model:
- Primer coat (hopefully thin) - Color coat (possibly multiple colors in all different areas) - Shade / wash coat(s) - At least 1x gloss coat - 1x final flat coat - And a decal sandwiched somewhere in-between...
Potentially all of these layers are shrinking at different rates and pulling different directions.
Now we add in new formulas like "Fast Drying" "2x Double the Coverage" products like Krylon & Valspar. One of the hardest model surfaces to paint is an RC car that has a flexible plastic shell. My advice is the same as theirs. "Use a product made specifically for the hobby". For spray cans I mostly use Tamiya. For airbrush I use only Vallejo. I stopped using other "non hobby" products years ago when a coat of Krylon ruined a Nimitz model that I had many hrs vested in.
Just one guys opinions and we all know what they say about those;-)
Thanks for your input! I learn something new here all the time!
In the scale modeling world it is generally recommended to put on a gloss coat before and after applying decals to prevent silvering. Some argue it isn't necessary, but I think it is far better than not. Then apply the matte coat last. This is what I do with my minis and models.
Before painting up some tanks and the flight deck decals, I have hardly ever used decals. Sure, some small ones on some WaS aircraft and a flag or two on some KGM and IJN capital ships, but I'd say I'm kind of a novice with decals. Generally, though, I can follow directions and when I read the flight deck decals directions HERE, the final image shows gloss on the deck, then the decal and then matte. I admit I usually cheat after a few days of putting on that matte coat and then add a gloss or satin coat and then a final matte coat because I know we're going to rest some aircraft on top of a carrier in play.
Following Dan's instructions, though, I haven't had trouble with silvering, so I'm happy. Several times with some tanks, I've put gloss on over the decals and the decal shriveled up. I don't know what the best solution is, but I sure appreciate the conversation and the guidance!
I'm currently trying to decide what ship(s) I'm going to work on next. I have a slew of Shapeways left to paint and even a bunch of XPForge stuff I haven't even started. However, I have decals waiting to get slapped on some flattops, so, maybe, the carriers will continue to get churned out.
After the warping I had on Ark Royal, I've let everything dry longer. The gloss coat dried for 3 days before I put the decal on. The decal/Micro Set dried for about 28 hours before I put the matte coat on. I'm not sure why it happens. It's only happened on a couple. Very weird.
You might try an acrylic gloss coat over the decal before the final matte finish.
Maybe, but I've always heard that a gloss coat over the decal can lead to silvering. I've got some junk models sitting around, though, so it's worth an experiment! Thanks!
I am not sure if Mr. Surfacer would help with the detail plastics. Mr. Surfacer is great for the White Versatile because the nylon is porous and the clay particles in the primer really help to fill in the pores.
Let me know if sanding works!
Thanks for the notes! I'll let you know. I've got some more DDs to paint!