NIMIX-Making etched brass heraldic symbols

Making etched brass heraldic symbols

Sometimes you will need to make tough drawings in order to add a perfect touch to your figure. They can be heraldic symbols or Ancient Greece and Rome motives which will need a firm line, a symmetrical drawing or an exhaustive detail whose realization will depend on the final touch.
The motives are rarely painted on the figure. Nevertheless, these motives had relives in real life, as it was the case of needleworks on clothes or medieval shields, made with superimposed pieces to make them more resistant in combat.
NIMIX sells a good number of photoetched which can help us in those cases. NIMIX´s etched brass represent relieves and allow an easy painting with spectacular results. These etched brass have the absolute advantage of being always as colourful as the first day and fixing permanently, which is something unusual when you use decals.
Besides, you can paint them as you want, with the wished colour scheme, and the proper lights and shadows.
In every etched brass items you will find up to six different motives and they will be repeated in several scales ( valid for figures from 120mm to 30mm).
Thus you may use the same drawing to make a flag, a shield and the clothes, keeping always the perfect proportions, the identic motif and the ideal symmetry.
The remaining motives can be employed in future works.If you dare, of course, you can use the smallest motives to make more complex drawings.

Working with heraldic etched brass is very easy:

Making a shield

Firstly select a proper sized motif. Then remove it from the sheet.

Secondly clean well the shield. Shields are not usually smooth, they are curved instead. So, you will fold the etched brass using a cylindrical element- like a pen. To do so, put the etched brass upside-down on your table and roll over your pen on it, pressing it well. Help yourself with your fingers or with the flame of a lighter and a par of tweezers

Help yourself with your fingers or with the flame of a lighter and a par of tweezers

Once properly curved, just use cyanocrilate and then fix both pieces. Use some putty to fill any remaining hole so, by doing the exterior of the etched brass will be smoother .

Ready to paint!

Making a flag or a banner

Making a flag or a banner requires a very similar process. Firstly , you will have to make a flutter of your flag and then you will adapt the respective etched brass to that flutter. It is advisable to temper the metal sheet before so you will find it more ductile.
Nevertheless- once the metal sheet has been tempered- you can also try to glue it directly on the plane flag and then to fold both flag and etched brass at the same time.
If you do so, the etched brass may get apart a bit. Do not worry, just stick it on again. Anyway, it is advisable to follow the first example.
Do not forget to add a primmer to fill it the holes and to get your flag smoother.

Motifs on your figure´s clothes

This process will be as identical as the one followed in flags. Help yourself with your own fingers or some non cutting object to adapt the etched brass to the outlines of the previously molded figure. Finally you will stick it.
In this case you will also add a primmer to obtain perfect results.