Saga LBMS Shield Decals

by Mike Wood

I recently purchased a number of shield transfers from LBMS as I wanted to give them a try. Previously I had used some Norman kite shield transfers and had some issues getting them to stay free of blemishes. The images on the interwebs of Saga figures with colourful designs and creatures look really great.

Here is one of  the sheets of transfers I purchased. You can source them here... Saga LBMS Shield Transfers

 These are my Vikings with very plain painted shields...

The instructions that come with the transfers are easy to follow. They say to clean the shield then to paint the front white and let it dry. Then cut out around the edge of the shield (but not right up to the edge - leave a small amount all round) and peel off the clear layer of plastic.  What you get then is a sticky design with a hole in the middle of it for the boss of the shield.

Place the decal on the shield sticky side down and the correct way up(!) Now put a little water on the back of the decal and gently move your finger around the shield to make sure the decal is firmly in place (not too hard as you might snap the shield off the models arm).

 

Here are the Gripping Beast Vikings with the transfers applied. It took about 2 minutes per shield to cut out these shield designs and another minute to paint each shield white. After that it takes about two minutes per shield to stick it in place, apply the water and then slide the transfer off. Very quick and painless and easier than other decals I have used that do not have the sticky layer to put them in place.

This was my first attempt and I found that one of the transfers (the red one) wasn't quite centrally located. The hole in the middle of the transfer for the boss is a little larger so it fits on easily and so the transfer has a little room for maneuver. Practice! The end result is that the transfer didn't ruck or tear as it stuck onto the shield by itself. Neat.

Once dry you should seal the shield transfer with a gloss varnish and then when that is dry use an anti-shine Matt varnish such as the one from the Army Painter.

After going back to the transfer sheet I found I had picked up the one for plastic Gripping Beast models - the standard one for metal shields, I think, has maybe an extra millimetre on the diameter of each design and could explain the amount of white showing around the rim of the shield. You need to double check that you are using the right ones. I had two similar sheets and not noticed as I cut the transfers out.

To help with this, I went ahead and painted around the edge of the shield to get rid of the slight white border and to give it a defined rim. That part will need some experimentation and practice if you do it at all. Anything is better than having to freehand a design on a small area! Good luck.

I really recommend these for your own figures as a simple way of getting good looking models.

-- You can find Mike's own blog here.... link.