Dreadball Spring Clean Hobby Challenge 2022

A quick word on transfers, in case anyone reading this is unsure how to use them.

Mantic sell transfers specific to this task.  They’re small enough to fit nicely inside the little disks on the models backs.  The packs contain enough black and white numbers to do 4 teams per sheet and I have 4 sheets.  I think you just get 2 in a pack though.  If you read the back of the label you can see how considerate they have been with them too.  We all know about nut allergies and gluten and lactose intolerances these days, but no one thinks about numberwang intolerance.  Numberwang is a common ingredient in many transfers, and Mantic have chosen not to use it and make it clear it is safe for the numberwang intolerant to use their product.  For more information on Numberwang, click here.

First thing I did was brush on a little gloss varnish on the areas before I painted the bases.  This meant it had plenty of time to dry.  A coat of gloss will make it easier to move the transfers around, and protect the paint as I’m poking it with tools.

I gathered my tools together before I began.  You’ll see  made a dumb mistake that I quickly fixed.  I used a white bottomed water dish for my white transfers, making them unfindable once they’re off the backing paper.  You’ll want a wide shallow water dish for soaking the transfers in.  I use an old hot chocolate tub lid.

The transfers were cut off one at a time and soaked for 20-30 seconds.  I got an old brush in each hand and dampened the surface to prep it, and then used both brushes to take the transfer off the paper once it was easy to move.  I then lifted it out of the water carefully on whatever brush it stuck to, carefully draining excess water out of my brush on the side of the pot.  Both brushes were used to apply it to the surface and line it up.  Excess water could be drained off with the spare brush, if it was a problem.  Once in place, the model was put on one side to air dry.  I kept an eye on them though, in case a transfer shifted.

Once all transfers were applied and dry, a gentle coat of gloss varnish was applied over the top, to ensure they stayed in place.  The models were then ready for a full varnishing.

The transfer sheets go up to 14 as the max roster size in Dreadball is 14. However, many teams will have the option of more models to pick from to build your team.  As such, I found the sheets didn’t go high enough, and I had to hand paint on a few higher numbers.  For the record, even I have trouble reading my own handwriting so as bad as this is, I don’t think I did a terrible job, for me.