elhonez

I had an epiphany. 

I was doing too much with my self-imposed decal challenge, and once I hit 18 characters worth of decals I realized I had enough to start printing. So I'm gonna.

However, I am now faced with an even harder part, now that I've got a good production pipeline for decals and a good-enough painting setup. That harder part is PARTS. Parse that. Although even the Parthenon is partial presently. Par for the course? Pardon me, what I mean to impart is...

Parts are the real bottleneck for my customs. There are just some things that don't turn up on eBay anymore, at least with any regularity. And some of the parts I need... ahh. I'm kicking myself. At least two are parts that I've had, but sold, thinking, "I'll never need this bit for a custom." Which is extra aggravating considering I'm normally Scrooge McDuck with parts, dreading this precise moment where my mini-fisted FOMO proved insufficient insulation from the demands of future innovation.

So without further ado, my Hail Mary entreaty for some parts for my next 7 waves, some of which I recognize carry higher relative value on the secondary market and would be compensated appropriately:

• Rolento (if partial: legs & feet)
• Expendables Barney Ross (box set #2 version)
• War Machine Mark II (James Rhodes Wave 23; if partial: just his torso cap/shoulder piece)
• Age of Ultron Scarlet Witch (if partial: her arms)

I'd also like to consult with anyone who has successfully swapped shins+pins -- I am nervous.

I ran into an unexpected printing question/issue, but I am hoping I don't need to do a lot of work to fix it.

• I'm using Gimp. In the image file I just test-printed (on normal paper), everything seemed to be a small % smaller than "actual" size. 
• The image file includes Luke's parts template. Which is equally downsized, even though it was imported at full res.
• The image file also includes some old decals I made, which I know at one time were the right size
• The file/canvas are all set to 8.5 x 11" paper, so it should be working

Anyone know what might be causing the inadvertent downsizing? Is there a setting I should check? 

That looks like a good solution, thanks for sharing this Padrino!

Thanks!

I agree, I would definitely pick up a Marvel Western set. It wouldn't require any new tooling either, although I'm sure they could improve on/refine the existing cowboy hat options. 

Another thought: I wasn't able to be this ambitious for this "release," but I did start thinking about how I might incorporate Venger's horse into a custom. 

I'm very sorry to hear this. Thanks for sharing Freaqualizer. I only knew him from his posts, but I always appreciated his presence here.

8 hours ago, cylonchaney said:

Since I've been dong vehicles, I tend to fill out sheets with vehicle stickers to use later, if I don't have a full sheet.

Lately I've been 3d printing my customs and I usually make 3 and then pick the best one. I make a few duplicate stickers in case I screw something up. And still I feel like I waste some sticker paper.

I have to remind myself sometimes that I can afford to use a whole sheet for one custom if I want. I don't really need to treat it as preciously as I do but it's good not to be wasteful.

I like that philosophy, and I think if I'm honest with myself, I just like the idea of being able to drop a lot of new customs at once. The character list requiring decals has expanded to 40, but I'm already 7 into them, so that's a positive sign.

10 hours ago, Kotter Comics said:

Or, and hear me out, you could do something akin to Luke's custom offerings and print a whole sticker sheet worth of decals for the same character and either sell them as "do it yourself applications" or complete them as full custom figures for sale.

I'm thinking about providing the art sheet free of charge to folks who want to print their own when all is said and done. I lack the parts (and frankly the patience) to make multiples, and I wouldn't feel right about charging for my novice art. Plus a key Luke differentiator/innovation in his last batch was pre-cut sticker sheets, which is definitely something I'm happy paying for, but lack the logistics to deliver.

Also, my stuff is... super niche. I will wager that even the most diehard Marvel fans will get to learn about characters they've never heard of before as I slowly knock these out.

EDIT: I re-read your comment and now understand you were suggesting printing multiples of the same character -- I think that's a good idea! But I'll probably stay committed to this "big batch" idea since I'm 25% through it. Even though I say I've completed 7, there are also pre-existing decals from older customs on my main sheet which counts for another handful. So, maybe there will be some takers when I offer up a PDF at the end of all of this.

So true. I'm inherently impatient. 

Progress.

I've *finally* solved for my inadequate decal-making setup, and it's going to unblock a bunch of customs. However being that I'm always hesitant to run a sticker sheet in the printer for just one or two new decals, and being true to my obsessive nature, I'm going to be banging out decals for about 30 characters, which will unblock about 13 "waves."  Well, apart from parts scrabbling, x-acto knifing and painting.

So when it rains it will pour, but I still have to knock out those decals and I'm really, really slow at that. My goal is about .5/day, so maybe come December I'll have early photos to share. In the meantime, I will probably photograph a "box set" I have ready to go, which is just a minor revision of something I've already shared.

The web effects are great. I'd buy the set just for those.

+1

I'm excited to see these.

"Someday we'll hit on the right license to get them into Walmart -- it almost happened very recently, we'll show off the new license at NYTF."

If it was a near-miss, I doubt it would be something vintage or niche without a lot of modern media support, like Jem or Matrix. This is making me zero in on Mortal Kombat. I can't dare to hope for Indy or Star Wars.

Edit: straight from Chuck:

Hello! Any chance you do figures / merch from the upcoming Rebel Moon film? Thanks!

DSTChuck: Yes, we are doing product for the new movie Rebel Moon – action figures, Gallery Dioramas and Minimates! Sign up here to get regular updates.

Jem and the Holograms?

Mortal Kombat?

So you're finally doing Murder She Wrote??

WOW. I wish it was now.

That is really something. He looks very moist.

Edit: I went out for oysters for my birthday recently, and it got me thinking about how one could pull this off with a tiny real oyster and a Black Widow belt.

Also: Someone is selling the Tcats set for $75, which is as low as I've seen it. If anyone is interested in splitting the set (I'd only want Lynx-O), please PM me.

Wow! Thanks cylonchaney for banging that out!

I unfortunately need the real thing -- long story short and without divulging too much, I have one but I need a second one to "sandwich" with the first. For my project, the surface area of the star has to match for maximum superglue strength while still allowing some circumferential flexibility.

I chose it for its size, and the ability with the external (round-side) hole to plug into the wrist guard. I'm making a character that needs to be able to slip something in and out of the sandwiched shields, if that makes sense (it will make sense when it's done :).

Honestly there are probably smarter ways of doing what I'm attempting, but I got very excited about trying this. I appreciate you and everyone who's poked around for this part!

I may be buying a second set of those DD mates.

No worries! I appreciate your checking.

It's a round disk with a star shape on one side.

Here's a link, but the Multiverse ironically doesn't allow us to post images from the MMDB:

http://minimatedatabase.com/acc.php?i=1752&n=Round+Shield

Thanks for taking a look!

I apologize if this is in bad form, but I wanted to ask my fellow Cats fans if anyone has an extra Lynx-O they'd be willing to sell. Or even just his shield, which is the last bit of a custom I've been working on.

Turns out he/it is just about impossible to find on eBay as a standalone offering. And I've been looking for a looooooong time. 

If you happen to have an extra to sell, or just the shield accessory, please PM me and we can work something out.

It worked out really well, I just painted it last night and it looks great. It's pretty cavernous. The only challenge is that the strap is a bit bulky/oversized, but it worked for my purposes. Thanks again cylonchaney for the suggestion!

Boo.

Thanks for the tips! I have one on order now, looking forward to seeing how it works.

Are there any other open/functional quivers with straps outside of Fear Itself Hawkeye?

I'm really not wanting to drop 20 bucks for a single part, but that seems to be the only listing on Ebay. I already used mine for Apache Kid, but now I'm working on another character that needs one.

Wait, is this the version with fingerless gloves?