Perler Beads Redux

[MysticJoJo]

The other perler bead threads are getting pretty old, so I figured I should start a new one to show off the stuff I've been making.



These are the two that I feel came out best for a Tenchi Muyo set I made a friend for his birthday. The sprites are from the SNES tactics game, and it also included sprites for Ayeka, Sasami, Washu, Ryo-ohki, and a custom one made to look like the guy I was making them for.



Here's the larger ones off my shelf that I made, Felicia and Chun-li from the NGPC fighting games. I added some colors to them, and I think they came out really well! I'm currently working on a Magical Drop set using the chibi sprites from between stages. Once I scan those in I'll post them here as well, if anyone's interested.

 

[psychobear85]

The Chun li looks good.

 

[ViolentStorm]

Very nice work!

 

[@M]

Great looking bead work! I'm not really familiar with Tenchi Muyo characters, but I like the blond. Chun-li is my favorite out of these four, but Felicia is nice too.

 

[MysticJoJo]

Update with six of the Magical Drop III chibi sprites! I hope to have an almost-full set eventually, though Tower's "chibi" is enormous and uses a gazillion shades of gray. For now I'm doing the characters that appeared in Magical Drop II.



Up next is Chariot, Star, Devil, and Strength Senior.

 

[Kid Panda]

Great looking bead work! I'm not really familiar with Tenchi Muyo characters, but I like the blond. Chun-li is my favorite out of these four, but Felicia is nice too.

Her name is Mihoshi.... I'm a little embarrased that I know that

 

[Lemony Vengeance]

Mihoshi and ryoko are the two shown.

A co worker's daughter is making me a Scott pilgrim and Ramona pixel art for my arcave. The sprites were taken from the game.

 

[SNKorSWM]

Nice work.

 

[Normdog]

The Chun li looks good.

Yup, that one is awesome.

 

[Renmauzo]

Love 'em! I really should get back to beads...

 

[MysticJoJo]

I got another four Magical Drop characters done! Strength, Devil, Chariot, and Star. Now I have all of the MD1-2 characters done, so I'll be doing the rest from 3 soon. These are about 4"x6" each, and they'll end up going on the wall of my arcade room near the end of the year along with my pac-man neon signs and some LED strip lights.

 

[ebinsugewa]

What should the bead 'starting kit' include if I wanted to get into this? I've had a lingering fascination and want to take the plunge. All of these look super rad by the way, good work.

 

[MysticJoJo]

Thanks!

Lesson One: Materials!

I have a ton of different beads, and to start out I would pick something in particular you want to make, get a list of all the colors that you need for that picture, then try to get those beads. You can buy big buckets of random beads, but it can be a tremendous pain to sort them out, so for a good "starter kit", I would suggest you get a couple of the pre-sorted multi-packs they have at most craft stores.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/21976316?...86607510&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=19880599990&veh=sem

Ones like that, and then some packs of colors you know you'll need most, like black, white, tan, and brown. It's optional, but I recommend a number of boxes with dividers to sort the beads into.

Though this is from the wal-mart site, most wal-marts I've been to don't carry the actual perler brand beads. Either go with perler or hama and stick with the choice, I like perler better, as hama beads are smaller and melt weird to me, and off-brand ones are right out.

Other than the beads and storage, you will also need a few other things:

First, boards to assemble the beads. You want the square ones rather than the oddly-shaped ones, obviously, to do pixel work and most craft shops will have packs of 4 linkable boards, either in clear or in yellow(I prefer clear). Get the linkable boards, as for some reason they're all 29x29 pixels and most sprites are multiples of 16.

Second, an iron. You want to get one that has a nice even heat, those are pretty cheap nowadays. Don't use steam with it.

Finally, parchment paper. A lot of bead packs come with paper, but you'll want a roll of it to make larger perlers. Don't bother with the packs of "ironing paper" they sell in the perler section, just go to a grocery store and get a roll of parchment paper from the aluminum foil section. Whatever you do, don't use wax paper, it will get stuck to the beads.

This should be enough to get you started! From there, use the instructions on the bead boxes and start small, with a simple sprite like an NES character or power-up. Once you feel confident in your bead placement and ironing technique, you can start to move onto the bigger and more complicated sprites, though those present new challenges I'll discuss later.

 

[Mugicha]

good post jojo, another thing I use for actually placing the beads on the board is matches. I found some thick wooden waterproof matches and I use the non flammable end with my finger to place the beads on the board. I got big muscley hands so It just works better for me, I suppose some non pointy end wooden skewers could have the same effect "shrug".

 

[MysticJoJo]

Time for more perlers! First, some more Magical Drop III chibis. Finished the characters in the single-player modes and the two others on the mini-marquee. Sun and Heirophant will be enough to finish up the playable cast of III, then the hidden characters.


And a short break from Magical Drop, here's fio!


What neo-geo sprites do you guys think would look good?

 

[Don]

Do you sell these JoJo? There is a guy at my local swap meet that hot glues magnets to them. His stuff isn't nearly as cool though.

 

[city41]

Those are awesome JoJo. I really like the Chun Li. You might have just convinced me to give beads a shot.

 

[MysticJoJo]

Do you sell these JoJo? There is a guy at my local swap meet that hot glues magnets to them. His stuff isn't nearly as cool though.

I've not sold any, no, just given them away as gifts. I'm not really sure how much I'd sell them for, honestly. Ones like these take about an hour apiece to make, assuming I have all the colors I need.