mikelbrierly
New Member
I made a case of Mentats a while back for a friend of mine's birthday, and I thought I'd share it here!
The very first thing I started looking at was scale. I initially assumed that "Mentats" were basically like "Altoids", and therefore a similar size.
But oh boy does this raider corpse say otherwise...
That sucker is huge.
Like 8.5" x 4.5" huge. So I decided I'd come back later to make an uber accurate Mentats replica. But for now the Altoids one will have to suffice as a gift for my friend.
I started out by pulling up the texture file from Fallout 4 in Photoshop. From there I adjusted the size and proportions to match a mentats tin.
Here is the texture file and the Altoids sized transfer in case you want to use them yourself -
So the reason those are backwards is because they're going to be image transfers. I recently learned about this technique and I am stoked on it. Here's how it works:
That will leave you with a pretty rad looking image transfer! I tried this a few different times with different elements, and getting it to work with an inkjet printer was tough. If you have a laser printer, you can just print straight onto the wax paper and rock and roll. But if you're stuck with an inkjet like me, you'll need the white glue so that the ink has something to absorb into. Then basically the entire image lives on a super thin sheet of glue, so you just stick it on whatever you want with modgepodge! (This technique was inspired buy my all-time favorite maker-youtuber, The Crafsman.)
*** I apologize I didn't document that process with pictures but here's the final product - ***
I also couldn't help but add some Fallout accoutrements to my friends package. So I added my own little in-universe Vault-Tec lining, some caps, and a note:
And finally a long lost Med-Tek MENTATS commercial from before the war!!!
The very first thing I started looking at was scale. I initially assumed that "Mentats" were basically like "Altoids", and therefore a similar size.
But oh boy does this raider corpse say otherwise...
That sucker is huge.
Like 8.5" x 4.5" huge. So I decided I'd come back later to make an uber accurate Mentats replica. But for now the Altoids one will have to suffice as a gift for my friend.
I started out by pulling up the texture file from Fallout 4 in Photoshop. From there I adjusted the size and proportions to match a mentats tin.
Here is the texture file and the Altoids sized transfer in case you want to use them yourself -
So the reason those are backwards is because they're going to be image transfers. I recently learned about this technique and I am stoked on it. Here's how it works:
- Take a sheet of 8.5 x 11 waxy paper (label sheets are great for this) and brush or roll on a full layer of white glue. create a whole coating on the surface of the waxy paper that is white glue. If you need to do 2 coats to really cover it you can.
- After that dries, put the sheet in your printer (laser or inkjet) and print out what you want to transfer onto the glue side. (in our case the Mentats seen above ^)
- Cut out the image you want to transfer.
- Now brush a coat of ModgePodge onto the surface you want the transfer to adhere to.
- Wait a little bit until the ModgePodge is just getting the tiniest bit tacky. Then press your transfer onto the modge podge and press really hard.
- Let it dry completely. (overnight is a safe bet)
- now remove the wax paper backing from your transfer, being careful not to peel up your design at all.
That will leave you with a pretty rad looking image transfer! I tried this a few different times with different elements, and getting it to work with an inkjet printer was tough. If you have a laser printer, you can just print straight onto the wax paper and rock and roll. But if you're stuck with an inkjet like me, you'll need the white glue so that the ink has something to absorb into. Then basically the entire image lives on a super thin sheet of glue, so you just stick it on whatever you want with modgepodge! (This technique was inspired buy my all-time favorite maker-youtuber, The Crafsman.)
*** I apologize I didn't document that process with pictures but here's the final product - ***
I also couldn't help but add some Fallout accoutrements to my friends package. So I added my own little in-universe Vault-Tec lining, some caps, and a note:
And finally a long lost Med-Tek MENTATS commercial from before the war!!!