Lamination.
That sense of anticipation as the soft plastic slowly aligns itself with the alluring and inviting opening. That inevitable 'pull' as the roller gently tugs your sheathed paper into it's hot embrace. And of course, the climactic stiffening as your once limp A4 emerges from the other end, shiny, erect and proud, like some sort of wood pulp peasant re-born a king!
Er....
Like all red blooded men, I like to laminate things. And when you can combine this simple pleasure with one of your favourite hobbies, you know you're onto a winner.
Using the power of the force to obtain the key to the office stationary cupboard, I decided to create some handy additions to my X-Wing arsenal...
Here we have a laminated Rebel Blockade Runner. This bad boy folds in half and neatly slides into your carry case, providing quick and effective 'scenery' to spice up your star-field table tops...
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| 'Yeah, I can go with that. Nay bad' |
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| And for scale, here it is next to the Kenner Blockade Runner model we looked at in our last post |
Once you've laminated your print out (and smuggled it out of the office) you'll need to grab a sharp scalpel blade and a metal ruler... Take your time and carefully score round the outline of the ship. Eventually, you'll have a clean cut out that should blend in pretty seamlessly with your gaming surface. You'll also want to flip the ship over and run some sellotape across the join to create a hinge for when folding it away.
The artwork file for this ship, along with a whole host of other helpful X-Wing resources, can be found over at Board Game Geek.
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| ...Neatly packed into a plastic document holder. Whilst your at it, order yourself one of these from the office stationary catalogue. In fact, order one for each of your colleagues in a false act of considered kindness to mask your true hobby intent... |
But of course, once you start laminating something, you're struck with the inevitable urge to continue laminating things until either A.) someone in the office walks over and questions how a laminated picture of a Blockade Runner is going to support the company's e.o.y. financial targets or B.) The machine overheats in a state of lamination overdrive. In which case both scenarios result in you making a swift exit to go and speak with Mandy at the coffee machine...
Anyways, other X-Wing stuff that lends itself well for the lamination treatment are your humble squad lists...
Using your favourite squadron builder - I use this one - start knocking up your X-Wing lists. Then screen capture the final image and drop it into PowerPoint. You can then apply a list title, points value and maybe a handy Rebel/Empire symbol for easy force recognition. Naturally, you can place different lists on both sides of the print out to maximise your content...
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| What a (well organised) geek. |
We'll pretend this hasn't happened.
Until next time ;)
