Next BrickJournal Article

[Kaminoan]

Hello One and All,

As many of you know I write for BrickJournal. I cover a Minifig customizing series. The next BrickJournal article I write is going to be a Q&A style article where I try and answer questions about the hobby. If anyone has a question that they haven't seen answered here, or was not answered to their satification please ask and it might show up in the next article.

Please supply Your Name, an email address with AT instead of @, and your Question (if you don't want to post it you could PM or email it to me (email address is below)). The question could be on any part of the hobby from decals to cloth, to sculpting, to casting, to painting, to whatever. If you have questions we will do our best to answer. I say "We" because if I don't know I will find out from someone who does.

Thanks

Kaminoan

[sstoroe]

I would like to know how much money and what equipment you would need to buy to print directly onto the minifigures like lego does.

sstoroeATyahoo.com
Shawn Storoe

[fredjh]

I have no plans to modify figures, but I'm interested in the general techniques being used for making decals for other things (specifically MOCing trains and putting numbers and lettering on them).

What's the easiest way? I was wondering if anyone's just tried clear ink jet labels (perhaps with a sealant applied afterwards).

I wouldn't mind printing water-slide decals if they didn't seem so hard to find.

[Kaminoan]

Thanks guys for the questions.

The printer that LEGO likely uses is a commercial printer. There is an alternative out of Israel that is $46,000. Yes that is three 000 in the price. Sorry it is expensive and doesn't have the throughput of the LEGO printer.

Waterslides are easy to find online. Clear decals have been tried, but they leave an edge and typically aren't very clear. Dry rub transfers are used, and found online, but not easily made. Waterslide is the workhorse.

Kaminoan

[theJudeAbides]

@Kaminoan,

So, the $46,000 dollar model would give you close to the same production values as LEGO (in terms of both quality and quantity)?

I guess what I'm asking is, these machines are suited towards businesses that need to do A LOT of printing (I'd imagine LEGO prints thousands a day). Are there printers out there that give you the same quality, but not the speed? You don't buy a printing press for your kids to print out their school book reports on, you buy a small printer. For a hobbiest, is there a "small printer" capable of printing on torsos with similiar quality, but designed for personal use instead commercial?

[Kaminoan]

short answer, no

[IndyJones]

What exactly would this printer look like? I've bought a ton of stuff from Christo on eBay, and he apparently has something along those lines.

[Kaminoan]

I believe Christo uses a pad printer. It requires screens for each design, which is why he has a relatively small number of figures produced.