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By TragicManner
#4910802
So I'm in the middle of upgrading my Spirit Halloween proton pack and wanted to make sure I had nice labels. At first I just had some printed out on glossy paper and put them on with spray adhesive, and that actually turned out pretty great. But I have always loved the look of the aluminum labels and wanted to swap out the labels that are aluminum-backed in gb1 for aluminum labels on my pack as well, but it was both pricey to get an aluminum sheet of labels, as well as difficult to find!

Not sure if this idea is altogether new, but I thought I would share all the same: By putting aluminum foil on the back of a transparency, I figured I could make aluminum labels on the cheap. I was looking into printing out labels for my pack and noticed they had an option for transparency prints (this was at Office Depot), and after a while it occurred to me that, if I put aluminum foil behind a transparency, it would basically be an aluminum label.

So I printed out two transparency sheets of the pack and wand labels at hprops. I printed one out at 80% for my spirit pack, and another at 100% for when I finally put together my full-sized proton pack.

Here is a video of everything:
https://youtu.be/gyZ7dDWVF7E

So, a few thoughts: I wish I had used heavy duty foil now instead of the thin, cheap stuff I used. Pretty sure it would be less likely to crease and would be generally easier to work with. I just was worried that the labels would already be too thick with the transparency sheet, but I was totally wrong. They look great and are nice and low profile, so a bit thicker aluminum would be fine. Also, I could have probably applied a bit more spray adhesive to keep things a bit more uniform.

Overall, I'm wondering if there is a better way to apply adhesive to the transparency, but this method seems pretty decent for now! I would love feedback or thoughts if people have any, I'd like to get this method to be pretty solid for my bigger pack.
tobycj, EnderWeggen liked this
By auldeffects
#4910919
I was wondering...

I had a similar idea, now hear me out, I may not be great at explaining my thoughts clearly.

What if you reversed the image on the computer so the labels you wanted aluminum printed backwards(mirrored)?

Then applied aluminum tape to the side with the ink so when you flip it over you have the correct orientation AND the ink is protected between the transparency and the aluminum tape?

Only issue I can foresee is perhaps on some brands of aluminum tape the glue may become visible over time or with bending...

Just a thought.

I used to do this for fake metal tags or props like 18 yrs ago before youtube[emoji23]

By auldeffects
#4910922
I've had those bookmarked on amazon for a while, never been willing to try it out.

The only issue I've seen with those may be the clippard labels.

How well does it do straight black? I've seen some that have the purple or greenish tint to it over the foil wrapped around a clippard valve.

User avatar
By NotSabbat
#4910926
I haven't tried printing the aluminum labels on transparent material, but I do tend to back the labels with aluminum cut from some soda cans. I found some pretty good laser printer medium that has a really good brushed aluminum look to it, but I didn't think it was thick enough, hence the soda can aluminum.
By grogking
#4910969
auldeffects wrote: November 20th, 2018, 9:03 pm I've had those bookmarked on amazon for a while, never been willing to try it out.

The only issue I've seen with those may be the clippard labels.

How well does it do straight black? I've seen some that have the purple or greenish tint to it over the foil wrapped around a clippard valve.
My black looks normal. Never had any color problems with them. You will have to use some glue on them, as the sticky back is not really sticky.
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