Faction-Specific Tape Measures

[B Wo]

Good Morning Wyrdos,

     I made a couple faction-specific tape measures that I wanted to share. The faction logos are cold-cast bronze weathered w/ washes and shoe polish, then sealed w/ matte varnish. 

The tape measures are just little chrome-plated ABS Stanley ones. I used fine steel wool on the Gremlins, and 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper on Guild to knock down the shine. 

Thanks for looking. 

 

[Zool]

Those look great !

 

[B Wo]

Thanks, Zool. 

[psychogeek]

pretty cool man. Is there a way you could stain the metal with a red tone on the guild without just painting it red? good job on these

[Arli]

A good Red Ink may work to do that.  Not sure though.

[B Wo]

Thanks, Brian.

Good call on the red ink, Arli.

What is nice about ink is that it is translucent, so the metal will show through a little bit. I think the recesses are deep enough where the whole surface could be washed with red ink, and then the medallion could be flipped face-down on some fine sandpaper on a flat surface, and sand off the excess, making it look enameled. 

Edited October 28, 2015 by B Wo
Stupid auto-correct

[Dogmantra]

These are super cool! I love customising my kit to show my gremlin pride and if I had the time, money and skills I would rip this idea off so hard you don't even know.

[psychogeek]

Thanks, Brian.

Good call on the red ink, Arlington.

What is nice about ink is that it is translucent, so the metal will show through a little bit. I think the recesses are deep enough where the whole surface could be washed with red ink, and then the medallion could be flipped face-down on some fine sandpaper on a flat surface, and sand off the excess, making it look enameled. 

that would be really cool. how long did making all of this take?

[B Wo]

These are super cool! I love customising my kit to show my gremlin pride and if I had the time, money and skills I would rip this idea off so hard you don't even know.

Thanks, Dogmantra. By all means, be my guest. I scanned the Gremlin logo off one of the Arsenal boxes, imported it into my photo-editing software, and removed the background noise. If you're interested, I can upload the file. I had no luck finding high-res faction logos, otherwise.

Thanks, Brian.

Good call on the red ink, Arlington.

What is nice about ink is that it is translucent, so the metal will show through a little bit. I think the recesses are deep enough where the whole surface could be washed with red ink, and then the medallion could be flipped face-down on some fine sandpaper on a flat surface, and sand off the excess, making it look enameled. 

that would be really cool. how long did making all of this take?

I will cast one of the Guild medallions tomorrow night, and hit it w/ some Vallejo Game Ink and post the results :-)

Making all this was a little convoluted: Using the same transfer paper used in etching circuit boards, I printed the logos to size, and then etched them into brass sheet w/ ferric chloride. I cut out the circles and sanded the edges smooth and buffed the surface w/ fine steel wool. I made molds of the medallions, and then cast them using brass powder and polyurethane resin. I de-molded them, buffed them, and then washed them w/ GW Agrax Earthshade. For the Gremlin one, I also added a faux-patina; I think that was a GW product, too, from the effects line. I'd say start to finish it probably took about 10 hours of work over the course of about a week. 

[B Wo]

Here's a quick and dirty bronze cold cast, washed with red Vallejo Game Ink, and sanded with 400 grit sandpaper. As a proof of concept, I'd say it is a success. 

 

[Outlawdog]

I would absolutely love an upload of the hi-res file for these...

You don't happen to have 30mm versions do you? I could certainly see these making for stunning scheme markers...