Shiny vs. Matte & Printed vs. Cloth

I have a question about preferred technique... or preference on minifigs, one was made a few weeks back and no answer so I will repost it if you don't mind.

If given the choice, which would you prefer, a minifig with a decal of the pauldron printed on the minifig or would you prefer a separate cloth pauldron you can take off and add?

secondly, if given the choice would you like a glossy newly decaled minifig or would you prefer it to be not shiny (Matte)?

I've seen several posts on the forum where people complain about the shiny look but I like that new look to a freshly decaled minifig.

Shiny vs. Matte & Printed vs. Cloth

Haven spoke to eclipsegrafx briefly yesterday. I know he's curious about starting a small company so I'll generously posted a poll for him. (Without his request. Ask me to post something I'll say no just to be an @$$h0l3 because I don't want to post thousands of things daily for new members without posting rights. Got it!? Ask and I'll ban you! Ok maybe not permaban. )

So...

Pick 2: Select ONE of the A's and selcet ONE of the B's.

A. Pauldron Printed
A. Separate Cloth Pauldron
B. Decals with Shiny Finish
B. Decals with Matte Finish

eclipsegrafx wrote:I have a question about preferred technique... or preference on minifigs, one was made a few weeks back and no answer so I will repost it if you don't mind.

If given the choice, which would you prefer, a minifig with a decal of the pauldron printed on the minifig or would you prefer a separate cloth pauldron you can take off and add?

secondly, if given the choice would you like a glossy newly decaled minifig or would you prefer it to be not shiny (Matte)?

I've seen several posts on the forum where people complain about the shiny look but I like that new look to a freshly decaled minifig.

Thanks Rook! It will be interesting to see the results.

As I sat here and thought on it I realized each has its place... or atleast for some minifigs matte works better then shiny, like on WW2 and zombie figs matte would be more appropriate.

I personally like my clone troopers with a shiny finish.

Yeah when I was think about I was thinking about clone too. But you have your point. Matte decals do have their place. Removable pauldron's and other accessories like that are a no brainer too. Why have it printed on when you can pass it around between minifigures for different MOCs.

My minifigs tend to be greedy with their removable pauldrons and other custom accessories. They don't like to share;).

I never really thought about moving printed accessories around between minifigs, unless, I guess, its generic.

I can't see myself taking off a custom Gaunch's pauldron & hosters, and adding it to another minifig though.

I would like to have a separate cloth pauldron. And I like glossy decals.

eclipsegrafx wrote:If given the choice, which would you prefer, a minifig with a decal of the pauldron printed on the minifig or would you prefer a separate cloth pauldron you can take off and add?

Most definately a cloth (removable) version

eclipsegrafx wrote:if given the choice would you like a glossy newly decaled minifig or would you prefer it to be not shiny (Matte)?
I've seen several posts on the forum where people complain about the shiny look but I like that new look to a freshly decaled minifig.

Personally, I would go for a semi-gloss finish (also called Satin). It has a bit of shine to it, but no where near as much as a full gloss finish.

MMCB

There you go. From the master himself.

You know, all this time I did not even consider the semi-gloss... I wonder how it looks on desert camo.

I prefer cloth pauldrons as you can take them off and put them on another minifig.

As for the gloss finish, to me it doesn't really matter as long as it looks good, but I prefer a gloss in between shiny and not shiny so that it doesn't look overdone or look not new.

I feel very strongly to having shiny decals. It makes it incredibly hard to photograph, and way more reflective than official Lego print.

Personally I really like cloth pauldrons because they are more maneuverable and have more use applications other than just the neck. I strongly dislike the shiny look of decals, which is what clearly sets them apart from official TLC products versus fan produced [which may be a good thing ]. Went with matte there.

Axel wrote:I feel very strongly to having shiny decals. It makes it incredibly hard to photograph, and way more reflective than official Lego print.

Ah very good point. A good reason to just do matte in general unless you specifically want a minifigure to be shiny.

I've used matte spray and, as long as it's used in the right way, the results are excellent, as in my own Bossk figure using Kam's decals. But Glossy spray works well too if done carefully. Each has its place.

But removable cloth accessories get my vote, for sure.

Matte Cloth, it looks much better than anything else and they match the few that Lego have made.

Personally, I like shiny guys rather then matte. Also I prefer clothe to paper.

Haha can't we have the best of both worlds? Intially I was a shiny person, but my customs always gave off an unnatural sheen when I photographed them. So now I use a semi-gloss clear coat it gives a very discreet clear finish.

Definitely a removable cloth pauldron, the best part of the pauldron gets cut off when it's printed and that's the shoulder portion. Plastic or moulded pauldrons if not properly designed makes the minifig look like it has a long neck - try standing Captain Rex next to any other clone trooper.