13th Armoured Division Sable Knights - Commander Glofski’s Squadron

Ok, I’m going to give the transfers a go. First attempt was a complete disaster! This was because I forgot that you need to spray the homemade transfer sheet with gloss varnish spray.

Once that was dry (I started work on the turret in the meantime), the second attempt was far more successful. Remember I’m using this as a template rather than the finished effect.

The transfer took nearly five minutes to become unstuck from the backing sheet and I had to effectively soak the side of the tank to provide enough of a frictionless surface to move the transfer around… not easy as the surface is full of bumps and bits. However with careful manoeuvring with a wet brush and needle sculpting tool, I was able to stretch the large transfer out.

I dabbed it dry carefully and coated with a layer of ‘ardcoat. Next will be to repaint white and black elements on the transfer to merge it in with its background. Side two will then follow.

UPDATE: In the cold light of day 24 hours later, I’ve decided I don’t like how the transfer has gone. One should never feel ashamed to admit it looked s**t, so using a sculpting tool and plenty of water I carefully scraped the transfer off the side and once dry resprayed with chaos black in order to go back to my first plan of freehand painting.

LESSONS LEARNED: 

1) don’t be afraid to experiment.

2) don’t fret over having to reject the outcome and to start again with another method.

3) homemade transfers take longer to separate from the backing paper and are very tacky when trying to manoeuvre around the model.

4) rough surfaces such as the side of the Leman Russ make it far more difficult to manipulate and get a smooth large transfer.