Smolbag's Gallery

[Craig Smolin]

So here in all their glory are my first two dyes. I won't start a new thread again after this...

1. Blue Champ Wraith, Chinese Kanji for "I Throw Far" to honor Markus Kallstrom



2. Last night's dye: Yellow Champ Wraith, black and golden yellow. Props to anyone who guesses where this came from. One big bleed at the top left corner, and some spillage on the backside due to pan jostling by my wife (who was making us soup last night at the same time). The yellow came out much darker than I expected, although that could be attributed to the yellow in the disc. Also, the yellow was still very translucent/transparent, I wasn't sure that the dye had set in until I took off the vinyl.



Last point: contact paper is good for practice cutting, but using the sign vinyl is so much easier to use. The increased thickness makes it easier to cut, tape, apply, weed, remove. Best $10 investment in the whole setup process ($10 got me fourteen feet).

PS: Here's a hint about the yellow wraith logo ... "No Mercy."

[MR. WICK]

"Strike first, strike hard, no mercy sir!!"

[Solty]

Fear does not exist in this dojo, does it?

[Craig Smolin]

Did another champ wraith today...



Really happy with the detail work. Some minor bleeds, but nothing egregious. Still having issues with leakage into my edge creases though. Any suggestions? Limit the amount of vinyl folded over? Cut the flaps so that they lay better?

Got a champ firebird in the pan, may not be done till way later though (black and red)

[ChUcK]

Hmmm... how big is the piece of vinyl you use? I use exactly 9.5"x9.5", which doesn't give too much overlap to work with. It does, however, make for cleanly-folded edges and the perfect amount at the corners for handles. I've found that the bigger, messier folds (that come with using too much vinyl) can get dye trapped in them that will wick up to the unmasked surfaces on the wing.

And never, never jostle a dye pan, even if no disc floats in the dye.

[Craig Smolin]

cool. I will keep that in mind going forward.

[Craig Smolin]

Chuck - took your advice to heart, and cut down on the amount of vinyl going to the bottom of the disc. Here's last night's disc ... a large diameter champ stingray with my brother's custom made "Turducken" logo. Every Super Bowl, my brother and I and bunch of our friends get together for what has been deemed "Mission Delicious". Last year his friend Glen made the bird from scratch. This year my brother is putting together some T-shirts for us with this logo, so I thought I would dye us some discs with it. Very simple, no significant detail work at the moment, but unmistakably Turducken (chicken inside of a duck inside of a turkey). Enjoy!!!

[Craig Smolin]

Two new ones today:

Gemma from Ninja Scroll:




Really satisfied with how this turned out. Old Champ Orc. Did the majority of the black for an hour, then peeled the cap brim off, and did that for 10 minutes. Great experience on doing some limited shading.

Also did this heart for my wife...





One major bleed from two spots that I thought I had pushed down... oh well...

[StillDead]

That is some sick work... love the Ninja Scroll and the Heart!

[Craig Smolin]

Here are my efforts from the last two nights (in order of success):

1. Z-Buzzz - Obama Time Magazine cover. Pretty easy trace, good source, just made the image too big. Cuts bleed near the rim edge due to large image, and over-night soak which allowed vinyl adhesive to come off. However, shading turned out better than expected. Poor results, but good learning experience.



2. Champ Wraith - Jubei from Ninja Scroll. Did my own screen capture as internet pictures were losing detail when resized and altered. Some bleeds again due to vinyl fold issues at the corners. But overall, very happy with end result.



3. Champ Wraith - The Death of Gemma at the end of Ninja Scroll. Another screen capture, pretty easy trace after adjusting the picture. After re-watching ChUcK's video, figured out the problem with the vinyl. Only had one minor edge bleed where some dye filtered in during an air bubble check. A few very minor cut bleeds. Much much happier with this result.

[SkaBob]

*clears throat*

GEMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!


sick man, sick.

[Craig Smolin]

thanks for the props.

amazingly, I am far from satisfied. making too many basic errors. but how many have I done? nine total? definitely on the upward swing. and skills are sure to develop with time.

I'm having very few issues with the cutting of an image, it's the weeding, transfer, and dyeing that I need to work on.

[Solbo]

When can i expect one with your new binky Mark Texereia

[Craig Smolin]

dick

[Craig Smolin]

did some brief experimenting with dye and acetone this morning (my wife and I are lonely Jews on Christmas ) as I have no work and family obligations.

I've been storing my acetone in an 8oz glass jar that I got from work (I'm an environmental consultant, so we have tons of 8oz glass jars for soil samples). There was just a bit left in the bottom, so I opened up a new packet of scarlet rit, mixed in a little less than half the powder, grabbed a brush, and my experiment disc, and brushed it on. was a bit grainy coming off the brush, but the dye took almost instantly. washed it off with tap water, and had a nice bright red spot. I can see how this method is great for more detailed work. more experiments and finished work to come...