Eye decals

[Hyjynx 164]

Hey all, would like to split this question into two parts;

Can you?

Should you?

 

Can you:

I know Archer makes decals of human irises that would possibly work down to 54mm size. Has anyone tried this?

 

Should you:

Coming from an Aircraft/Armor background, decals are used to simplify complex graphics on things. Most modelers use them routinely. There is no negative stigma associated with their use. Being new to the miniature scene, how is the use of decals viewed? As the painting of eyes, tattoos, etc in these small scales is seen as a talent to aspire to, I would think that using decals could be viewed as  "taking a short cut", crutch, etc. Obviously claiming you painted them while using decals would be an ethical no-no. Just wondering what everyone's thoughts on this are.

[Glitterwolf 204652]

I like to paint them myself and improve on it.

 

But whatever works for you is allright.

Some people use decals for shields or flags, so why not?
As long as you have fun.

[Cyradis 52394]

If it works for you, awesome. 

 

I see no appeal in it for minis personally. And each figure has slightly different eyes, so getting a fitting decal would be a pain. 

[LittleBluberry 35707]

Decals would likely work best on reasonably flat surfaces.  I think I'd find a decal more frustrating to use than just painting the eyes.  If you're really struggling to paint eyes then I'd think a micron pen would be easier.  

[Gadgetman! 19991]

Flat or one curve, such as a cylindrical object is no problem with decals, but... 

Eyes curve in 2 directions. That tends to work rather poorly with the inflexible materials that decals are made of. 

For Books, scrolls, signs there's nothing better than a decal from GinFritter's Gnomish Workshop.

 

But for eyes, a steady hand, a lot of swearing, and a good supply of Simple Green is the way to go.

[Mad Jack 48937]

 

 As mentioned, it's going to be a bit tricky to find decals that actually fit the shape of the mini's eyes, plus, even the slight multidimensional curve of the mini's eyes may or may not be enough to make the decals go on wonky...

 

Also as mentioned, there's a pretty fair market for good mini-scale decals of various things, usually signs and insignia, things that go mainly on surfaces like shields or shoulder plates... To be honest, about half the materials we use for basing and scenery come from other hobbies like model cars, model railroading and dollhouses.

I'm sure mini painters would use more decals if a wider range of them existed and they were a bit more flexible in what they were able to be applied to. Plastic models of vehicles tend to be fairly standardized, but minis are so varied in scale and shape that it's tough to produce things that are useful enough in enough situations to make it easier to use them than to just paint on the details yourself.

 

 Edit: On the subject of "cheating"...

 

 The first rule of painting minis is "cheat, cheat, cheat"...

It's all about getting the best result for the least amount of effort.

 

Edited October 23, 2017 by Mad Jack

[Gadgetman! 19991]

It ain't cheating if it looks good...  

(Unless you're doing a challenge or competition piece and there are actual rules for that... )

 

[Aard_Rinn 6652]

Just gotta say, love this cross-hobby stuff. Its how we learn and grow.

[Doug Sundseth 56786]

In miniatures painting competitions, decals are looked down upon, pretty much regardless of what you use them for. They're also very difficult to use effectively ... though perhaps with enough MicroSol? That said, I haven't seen a competition where they're against the rules. (My take is that anything the judges look at funny is probably a poor idea, though.)

 

In other situations? Does it look good to you? We do this for fun; if you can figure out a way that works well for you and gets you the results that you want, go for it.

[Cranky Dog 31309]

On 10/23/2017 at 6:02 PM, Gadgetman! said:

For Books, scrolls, signs there's nothing better than a decal from GinFritter's Gnomish Workshop.

 

But for eyes, a steady hand, a lot of swearing, and a good supply of Simple Green is the way to go.

[Makes note of GinFritter's existence] I agree that eye decals for 28mm scale, on uneven surfaces, sounds just as hard, if not harder, than painting the eyes themselves.

 

I know find that my best tool for eyes is masking fluid. Either to protect everything around the eyes as I paint them, or hide the eyes once they are done and avoid stray strokes.