Fashion Nail Stamping for Miniatures?
Greetings Adventurers! So, I saw this on YouTube. Man does it look cool. I read an article about this and how it will change the hobby. You know I’m a sucker for making my mini’s life easier. Back in the day I bought those water transfers for fantasy miniatures from The Armory.
You know the ones! Like you used plastic model airplanes? The ones you dip in water and transfer to a plastic model you built? They don’t scrunch down right and look all jacked up, right? Those ones. They rip, don’t transfer correctly and fall off or get touched and come right off. Yeah, those. Back in the late 80’s unless you were some sort of art savant and expert painter with a hand so steady you could make G. Gordon Liddy (look him up kids he’s famous for a lot of stuff least of which was his steady hands) blush there was no way you were going to paint a skull on an orc or a King Richard lion on a shield. The thought of putting stripes by hand on a mini or a model, let alone a pattern? NO. WAY. Well, now you can. You don’t even have to use those troublesome wet transfers that you had to clear cote, varnish and seal with a bazillion products. FYI, I even bought some “snuggle down” a product designed to make the little buggers lie flat. It sort of worked. Check out this knight my greatest success with these.
There is a new kid in town. Stamping. Stamping came about in the fashion nail industry, putting tiny intricate designs on lady’s painted nails to make them look cool. It started out with stickers but those were junk and came off. Then someone got really smart and developed a way to “ink” a transfer of a pattern on nail polish from a metal plate to the human nail on a finger. Vola! An industry was born. So, some guy (it has to be a guy right?) saw his girlfriend do this and thought “What if I take one of those patterns and put it on my miniature figure?” I bet it was a warhammer guy. Some of those guys who do kit bashing make some really cool stuff and are very innovative. Anyway. Zingo Zango tiny image perfectly put onto a shield. So, I saw this and I’m in. I’ve got to do this. I have several minis with shields and flat spots that just are dying for this. Well, along came two mini’s guys who formed Goblin Hobbies and took the nail stampin stuff and made the plate designs specifically for miniatures. They sold out like the first iPods. I missed the bus. Well, I got on the mailing list and Bingo Bango they are available again. I went all in (like my usual, some call it lame-brained self) and now I’m the proud owner of the “All-in Stampin’ Kit.”
Expensive. Perhaps, but boy do the designs look cool. TEN, count them, 10 gleaming plates chock FULL of designs! There are like 50 or more designs per plate! Flaming skulls, web patterns, ancient texts, runic symbols, numbers, heraldry, zodiac, lidless eyes, a crazy amount of different skull designs, sci-fi, fantasy, historical, another crazy amount of patterns (like zigzags, squares, writing, etc) symbols of law, neutrality, chaos, and so so much more. More than I’ll ever really need but they look so cool. I got a double-sided stamper, a square stamper, and six colors (Black, White, Red, Blue, Yellow, and Grey) and all sorts of accessories.
Let’s see how these come out.
I followed the instructions included and watched their videos on YouTube. I did a few practice runs on paper to get the hang of the stamping process.
I know white on yellow paper but you get the idea.
I have a monster with a cool orange shield I painted about ten years ago. He needs his belt painted and some final detail work but basically good to go. All except his boring orange shield that has been sitting unfinished because I had no idea what I could put on it. None of my “model transfers” fit a monster. They were basically all heraldry stuff. On to it.
I hit up my mini with the stamp...and I messed it up, of course. But I used a tiny bit of acetone, and it cleaned up the not yet so dry white mistake. It only took off a negligible amount of orange paint. I didn’t even have to touch it up. I tried again and…STAMPO!
Wowie Zowie that looks good. I can’t believe how good that looks. Only my second try and it looks like I’m Squidmar or Ninjon! Look at this skull! So cool. That is not a sticker, folks that is nail polish paint. I sealed it all up with varnish (only two coats) over the shield and he is ready for the table (once I finish his belt and a few small details, of course.)
Check out this Warhammer practice shield
and this Viking.
This Knight.
With the terrible wet transfer and varnish
The new hotness with Greyhawk inspired heraldry (Mountain Lions) and speedpaint chainmail touchup
Oh boy. I’m really in on this. I just watched another of Goblin Hobbies’ videos where he uses silicon tape with a crafting tool to get into a hard to reach spot. I’m going to have to get some of that. There are some really cool designs on my plates that have runic and magic writing that I want to get on this scroll.
Verdict. This product is cool. Very cool. Expensive? Yes. Worth every penny? For sure! I now have a lifetime of designs that I wish I had 30 years ago and the ability to use every color known to man (nail polish color selections are virtually unlimited and span every color in the universe and then some.) I’m going to practice with this a bit and really get down the process. Once I’ve got it, I’m going to go through ALL my minis (yes, even the ones that are already painted) and redo every shield and design that I botched and thought “Eh, good enough.” I’m even going to add as well as fix some patterns and the like to some areas that I “freehanded.” This product needs more media/press and more publicity. Other mini painters need to know about this. I mean check out this Warhammer Knight, mounted and unmounted.
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