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I tried it! It took a lot of trial and error, and the results are mostly a bit sketchy.
Attempting this gave me new respect for our very talented pad print artists out there. (CB, I'm looking at you)!
I used the butterfly on one brick because it is the plate with the finest detail. The striped plate was used to demonstrate a pattern, but doing it with the black paint (which is too thin) meant lots of brick showing through (it still looks pretty neat IRL, but far from perfect. And of course, I had to demo on a Brickarm too.
But back to the method itself, some of the challenges I had to overcome:
Getting the right paint is critical - I thought I could use supplies on hand, but I ended up ordering special paint in white. You can tell that it prints much better than the black. But here's the thing - the paint can't be too thick or too thin or the image will either blur or transfer incompletely. Then it has to dry in the right amount of time. If it dries too fast, you'll get no print transfer. And since it's a single, very thin layer, it has to be very pigmented, so you can't just water down paint that's not the right consistency.
The first kit I bought had a silicone pad that was way too slick and firm. You can't get around any curves if the pad won't bend enough and it didn't want to leave the imprint on plastic at all. Even with a softer pad on a Brickarm, it wasn't flexible enough to get into the recesses. I only had success on smooth areas.
On a good, clean transfer, the result is an even, thin coat of paint that is slightly raised to the touch. For durability, it is about the same as paint - useful for display or light play only.
Real pad printers, I think, use special inks that set under heat or light to make them vastly more durable.
Plate (design) selection is very limited too - there just aren't that many designs
or patterns small enough to use on Lego and the vast majority of them are not things most builders and customizers would find useful.
So what is this good for? The only good use I can imagine is factions. If you found a symbol you liked, you could transfer it consistently onto figures, bricks and accessories.
And here's the doozie...where did I get little plates and silicone pads?
Well...there are kits for "stamping" fingernail designs that are really just an at-home version of pad printing by hand. You get steel plates with 6 or 7 designs engraved on each, a silicone pad and special paint to work with the kit (regular fingernail polish doesn't work well at all). It's
not very expensive, but then again, the results aren't exactly stellar!
-Bebs
Arkham Asylum MOC - the ultimate extension of set 10937
This MOC started its life as a simple 10937 set. I quickly went to expanding it as many have done by going sideways. I then built on a basement level and made it an enclosed building (as seen in my photo back in 2013. The final version presents an impressive front with landscaped garden with waterway, large double sided spiral staircase, lots of curves and of course those man-eating plants! The rear gives you an excellent view inside the asylum with plenty of play and display opportunities with a fully tiled floor and basement level and 'electro shock therapy' room.
This MOC spreads over 2 x 3.5 baseplates (64 studs x 112 studs). Only one official set was purchased - the rest was bricklinked at reasonable expense as, at the time, many of the parts were unique to this set and needed to be purchased in bulk from OS. Brick count would work out to be roughly 5 or 6 sets without the landscaping (which required a lot of bricks/plates too).
This MOC has been featured at Brickvention twice and several other significant shows, having won a Best in Show award at Bayside Bricks in 2014.
SBD 10001 French Palace, Modular Lego House. Design by Stefano Mapelli ©2014. info@stebrick.com
Buy Instructions at: stebrick.e-junkie.com
This year, Cranky wasn't interactive, but instead was programmed to move his load back and forth from the wagon to the boat over and over again. The layout and positioning of the containers (where the brain is hidden) stopped me from being able to give the public 'free reign' on the controls.
Wayne Manor and Batcave
After seeing the treatment of both Wayne Manor and the Batcave in the second Lego Batman video game, I was inspired to build it in brick. The idea of it being shaped like the bat symbol really impressed me, especially with the challenge it presented with building it in brick; especially as the game version is simply polygons.
My scale was set by the windows, and I built out from there. After building the frame, the trick to stabilise the shape was very difficult, especially with so many hinges, but I managed to find the balance. The landscaping was kept to a minimum both for time reasons and also to not take any focus away from the manor itself.
The Batcave was a lot of fun to build and features a huge collection of LEDs to light it, including one that cycles through in the console. The suits wall was fun to build too.
I will admit, it is a little short, but perhaps one day I'll give it a little more height.
This was first displayed at Brickvention 2015 on a super heroes corner of my club's train layout and has been displayed about 15 times since both with the train layout and as it is displayed here.
One day, I'll get around to the interior of the manor...
SBD 10001 French Palace The Tower, Modular Lego House. Design by Stefano Mapelli ©2014. stef2280tec@me.com
Buy Instructions at: www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=ste2208
Arkham Asylum MOC - the ultimate extension of set 10937
This MOC started its life as a simple 10937 set. I quickly went to expanding it as many have done by going sideways. I then built on a basement level and made it an enclosed building (as seen in my photo back in 2013. The final version presents an impressive front with landscaped garden with waterway, large double sided spiral staircase, lots of curves and of course those man-eating plants! The rear gives you an excellent view inside the asylum with plenty of play and display opportunities with a fully tiled floor and basement level and 'electro shock therapy' room.
This MOC spreads over 2 x 3.5 baseplates (64 studs x 112 studs). Only one official set was purchased - the rest was bricklinked at reasonable expense as, at the time, many of the parts were unique to this set and needed to be purchased in bulk from OS. Brick count would work out to be roughly 5 or 6 sets without the landscaping (which required a lot of bricks/plates too).
This MOC has been featured at Brickvention twice and several other significant shows, having won a Best in Show award at Bayside Bricks in 2014.
SBD 10001 French Palace, Modular Lego House. Design by Stefano Mapelli ©2014. info@stebrick.com
Buy Instructions at: www.stebrick.com or at
www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=ste2208
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/stebrick
A few months before the events of Arkham Asylum: A House Not Sane.
All the lighting in this set is provided by Briksmax.
Arkham Asylum MOC - the ultimate extension of set 10937
This MOC started its life as a simple 10937 set. I quickly went to expanding it as many have done by going sideways. I then built on a basement level and made it an enclosed building (as seen in my photo back in 2013. The final version presents an impressive front with landscaped garden with waterway, large double sided spiral staircase, lots of curves and of course those man-eating plants! The rear gives you an excellent view inside the asylum with plenty of play and display opportunities with a fully tiled floor and basement level and 'electro shock therapy' room.
This MOC spreads over 2 x 3.5 baseplates (64 studs x 112 studs). Only one official set was purchased - the rest was bricklinked at reasonable expense as, at the time, many of the parts were unique to this set and needed to be purchased in bulk from OS. Brick count would work out to be roughly 5 or 6 sets without the landscaping (which required a lot of bricks/plates too).
This MOC has been featured at Brickvention twice and several other significant shows, having won a Best in Show award at Bayside Bricks in 2014.
Microkraft aims to become the world-leading company not with custom but with figure.
For details of Microkraft, please visit 'microkraft.net' .
My Hogwarts Express/ Olton Hall essentially completed. Vinyl stickers now adorn the entire train as well as some "cut down" excerpts from the original stickers supplied with the official Lego set.
"Man, I was tame compared to what they do now. Are you kidding? I didn’t do anything but just jiggle."
-Elvis in 1972
Arkham Asylum MOC - the ultimate extension of set 10937
This MOC started its life as a simple 10937 set. I quickly went to expanding it as many have done by going sideways. I then built on a basement level and made it an enclosed building (as seen in my photo back in 2013. The final version presents an impressive front with landscaped garden with waterway, large double sided spiral staircase, lots of curves and of course those man-eating plants! The rear gives you an excellent view inside the asylum with plenty of play and display opportunities with a fully tiled floor and basement level and 'electro shock therapy' room.
This MOC spreads over 2 x 3.5 baseplates (64 studs x 112 studs). Only one official set was purchased - the rest was bricklinked at reasonable expense as, at the time, many of the parts were unique to this set and needed to be purchased in bulk from OS. Brick count would work out to be roughly 5 or 6 sets without the landscaping (which required a lot of bricks/plates too).
This MOC has been featured at Brickvention twice and several other significant shows, having won a Best in Show award at Bayside Bricks in 2014.
SBD 10001 French Palace, Modular Lego House. Design by Stefano Mapelli ©2014. info@stebrick.com
Buy Instructions at: www.stebrick.com or at
www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=ste2208
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/stebrick
SBD 10001 French Palace, Modular Lego House. Design by Stefano Mapelli ©2014. info@stebrick.com
Buy Instructions at: www.stebrick.com or at
www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=ste2208
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/stebrick