Accurate Miniature Equivalents for Custom Painting your 1940 E&P

@The-Captain
I used 3mm thumb nuts drilled out to fit 3mm acrylic rods. I used a number of 3d printed jigs for cutting the rods, assembly of the stands and gluing the magnets. If I remember later I’ll attached some pictures of the jigs/stands

@LebaneseWarlord said in Need advice for custom dice DIY:

I’ve recently bought 96 dice because I wanted to make custom hit/miss dice for Global 40. I bought these dice from amazon and they’re plain blank and white dice.

I don’t have a lot of experience with DIY projects but I have access to a lot of good tools so I’m looking for advice regarding techniques on how to mark and repaint the dice I bought.

For the marking, I was thinking about using a rotary tool to carve a little dot.

The real challenge is the painting. I looked a lot on internet and I can’t seem to find a technique for painting on plastic that everyone agrees on, but here’s what I have so far.

Wash the dice to remove any grease that could be on the surface Use very fine sandpaper or some sort of abrasive to remove the protective finish that is on the dice right now and offer a better surface for the new paint to stick Wash the dice again the remove the dust from the paint removal Apply one or a few (I’m not sure about this one, I’ll read what is suggested on the can) of primer Apply a few thin layer of the color I want on the dice Paint a white dot in the carving I made earlier with a fine brush Apply one or a few (not sure about this one either, something will be suggested on the can) of clear finish to protect the paint

Any correction or suggestion would be very welcome!

Guys use RIT dye for color. Go to Siredblood’s custom dice you tube video. Shows how he used a jig to spot hole dice and then dye them

I have seen lots of people here use acrylics and I have on occasion. Most of my paints are enamels though. I find that is stays wet longer (which is a good thing) and doesn’t clump up nearly as much on your brush. I also use enamels in my airbrush. I find that enamels are actually much easier to clean than acrylics. While acrylics are water soluble, they don’t just dissolve, especially if already dry. It involves a great deal of scrubbing and scraping. With enamels, all you need is some mineral spirits cleaner and it takes the paint right off with very little effort. Cleaning acrylic paint out of my airbrush was hell the first time I did it… never using acrylics in there again. In terms of the finish, I can only assume that enamels hold up better to bumps and scrapes than acrylic paint does.

Someone once asked if enamels, by default, have a glossy finish to them. They do not, as long as you are using flat enamels, which seem to be the standard. I use flats and they have an excellent, non-shiny finish. I feel like enamel colors are a little deeper too, on the whole, but I suppose it depends on the brand of acrylic you use. Vallejo seems to be a popular choice for acrylics. I use predominantly Model Masters (Testors) enamels. In general, I would just said to find a brand you like to work with and produces the results you like. Don’t buy super cheap paint… you will get the results you pay for.

Good luck!

Yes thats what I’m talking about. Design my own Battle Boards save to file and then get printed. Just need it were its protected from finger print smears and any other stuff.

Thank you YG and DK.

Thanks for the quick reply guys. :-) ill check him out

@General:

I love the level of detail to the map, have you considered using the Star of India from the British Raj for UK Pacific territories?

Glad you liked the custom map.  No, the idea of giving the British Pacific territories distinct roundels hadn’t occurred to me.  It’s a concept that has potential advantages, for instance because it would highlight Britain’s two-income situation in Global, but on the other hand I like having a single British roundel for the whole world because it highlights the extent of the British Empire.  (A grade-school child back in the1930s or so allegedly wrote in an assignment that “The sun never sets on the British Empire because the sun sets in the west and the Empire is in the east.”)

…or he can do as the rest of us, post some nonsense at the General Discussion forum until he reach 10

“YG”,

@Young:

AWESOME!

––I totally agree with your opinion of “Allworkandnoclay’s” painting talent.
----I’m sure you’d enjoy “SgtWilTan’s” thread about detailing units as well as “LHoffman’s” thread about painting them. They’re both really talented guys!
––In order for you to see all of the new units when they’re completed you might also want to stay tuned to my main thread because Sgt. Wil Tan has already detailed many new units that Lucas Hoffman will have painted before much longer. And I’m glad you enjoyed the “hoard”.

“Tall Paul”