"Wall Paper" Decals For Star Wars Models?

[PHArchivist]

I think it is safe to say that the Aztec patterns on Star Trek ships drove the birth of "wall paper decals".

For the uninitiated (all three of you), these are decals that cover 90% or so of the ship's surface, to create surface detailing most of us mere mortals don't have the time, or the inclination, or the skill (or any combination there of) to reproduce conventionally.

But...

If you were building a nicely-sized X-Wing, or even the Perfect Grade Falcon, and there was a source for ILM-perfect wall paper decals, would you use them?

Or would it take all the fun out of it for you?

Why haven't we seen this?

Or - have we, and have I had my head up my ass?


By the way the rhetorical question of "Would you?" is why I really do not like 3D printing.

Yeah - I'm an old-school dinosaur...

 

[division 6]

Where's the fun in that?

 

[PHArchivist]

Where's the fun in that?

Right…!?

Again, why I’m not a fan of 3D printing.

But ya gotta admit, the Star Trek content is proof of concept.

It would be shockingly easy to create decals that are spot-on accurate to the ILM models.

 

[JediMichael]

3D printing has its place, but I agree on being more old school like.
I never learned how to use any 3D programs anyways.
There has been things that I've wanted to make, but didn't know how, with really curved edges, like wings. So printing parts out could work, if it was modeled correctly, then from there, build the rest over top it normally.
Never have done that before.

 

[Millenniumf]

I don't think this would be much easier than weathering with paint. I say this having been working on some Star Trek models recently, but wallpaper decals really only make sense for really complex designs that require a ton of masking that would be tedious or outright impossible at the scale you're working at. For the Aztec paneling on Star Trek ships, this makes sense because not everyone has the skill or time to pull off a good Aztec paint job. But weathering patterns are pretty easy, once you understand the basics of how to apply them, and ILM's weathering even moreso because of how quick 'n dirty it all was in Star Wars. Besides that, wallpaper decals SUUUUUUUCK to work with because you have to be VERY careful to only touch areas that aren't decaled, and when the whole model is covered in decals... well, you probably will end up wrecking at least one or two areas eventually. And as hard as it is to repair Aztec paneling, I can't imagine repairing weathering patterns would be any more fun.