Space Invaders Wall Decal

[NiN^_^NiN]

Well you might of seen thoese space invader decals for your wall on thinkgeek

I went to order 2 sets for a huge wall i have in my stairwell and when it came to shipping it was gonna cost $54 to ship 2 sets of decals it's ridiculous so i thought i could get a decal guy down here to cut them cheaper

So i was gonna wait for the weekend to get prices when i had an idea

I could get a roll of contact paper for $2 and cut out the space invaders on it.

The back of the contact paper had a grid so all i gotta do is colour in the grid for the space invader then cut the shape out using the grid so i had perfect lines to cut along.

Just tried it tonight sadly the contact paper i used had stupid instructions over most of the grid so it was pretty useless in some parts when making this space invader but still i gave it a go and it came out pretty well and once i get better contact paper with a grid on the back it should be even better




I don't have any better images at the moment i will once i get better paper

I havent moved in yet but when i do i hope it will look something like this


Not bad for $2 and a stanley knife eh

[Hoopz]

That looks really cool.  Great job.   

Looks like the Space Invaders are about to eat those apples though!

[Howard_Casto]

Looks great! 

Just a note for those who want to try this... this method can be use for ANY video game sprite, even multi-colored ones.... you just need to get a sprite rip and blow it up to figure out the pattern.... some grid paper might work in sorting things out..... then you just cut out the individual colors.

[NiN^_^NiN]

THIS IS BYOAC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We DIY these things cause we can 

Besides this method is cheap and simple and still looks as good as the professional ones you buy

Im now on the hunt for a nice green contact paper 

[lilshawn]

THIS IS BYOAC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We DIY these things cause we can 

well to some people BYOAC stands for "buy" your own arcade controls.... they can't BUILD, so they BUY.

i'm not putting ANYBODY down or anything, just some people lack proper tools, experience, time, or even imagination to be able to do the things they want to do. or they want it so professional that they themselves make it so they are incapable of doing it.

if I was to do this project and was doing only one, since i don't have a laser cutter to do it, i would probably spend a few hours "one-offing" a space invader with a utility knife and probably be somewhat satisfied at the result...... but for 30?? you bet i would pay a company to do it for me since i would get 30 matching ones, instead of 30 dissimilar ones!

[Howard_Casto]

THIS IS BYOAC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We DIY these things cause we can 

well to some people BYOAC stands for "buy" your own arcade controls.... they can't BUILD, so they BUY.

i'm not putting ANYBODY down or anything, just some people lack proper tools, experience, time, or even imagination to be able to do the things they want to do. or they want it so professional that they themselves make it so they are incapable of doing it.

if I was to do this project and was doing only one, since i don't have a laser cutter to do it, i would probably spend a few hours "one-offing" a space invader with a utility knife and probably be somewhat satisfied at the result...... but for 30?? you bet i would pay a company to do it for me since i would get 30 matching ones, instead of 30 dissimilar ones!

For 30 full color characters from a KOF game... sure.. I'd pay to have that done... but for 30 monochrome, simplistic space invaders... I would literally be ashamed to pay money for that.  If you can't whip out a couple dozen of these in an afternoon than you quite literally can't cut a straight line and should be banned from any diy project. 

[NiN^_^NiN]

THIS IS BYOAC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We DIY these things cause we can 

well to some people BYOAC stands for "buy" your own arcade controls.... they can't BUILD, so they BUY.

i'm not putting ANYBODY down or anything, just some people lack proper tools, experience, time, or even imagination to be able to do the things they want to do. or they want it so professional that they themselves make it so they are incapable of doing it.

if I was to do this project and was doing only one, since i don't have a laser cutter to do it, i would probably spend a few hours "one-offing" a space invader with a utility knife and probably be somewhat satisfied at the result...... but for 30?? you bet i would pay a company to do it for me since i would get 30 matching ones, instead of 30 dissimilar ones!

Your not putting anyone down just saying mainly people build cause they can

As for getting these custom cut it would be nice but it's a pain in the ass to find someone here and to see that it's costly to get them from usa isn't what i want to pay either

Normally id be happy to pay the costs without the $50 shipping but now that i got a house $50 is quite abit of chunk of change for me now

And to be able to make these at $1 for about 4 invaders and it only takes around 7mins per invader im quite happy to do it

They are pretty much the same cause im using the gridlines on the back with a metal ruler to make sure im doing it straight but they aren't perfect like laser cut versions still it's a cheap and simple way to do it for any type of videogame it be a good way to decorate a kids bedroom aswell

[lilshawn]

If you can't whip out a couple dozen of these in an afternoon than you quite literally can't cut a straight line and should be banned from any diy project

BANNED!

I can't draw a straight line with a ruler, let alone with a saw! 

[NiN^_^NiN]

Why not just cut out a stencil and spray paint them?

This is removeable and wont' leave a sticky residue

Plus depending where you wanna put them you can't always paint or spray paint in that area

This is good for people who either live in a rented place or for a kids room where once they grow up they can be taken down and something more suited for the kids tatse at that time can be put up.

It doesn't even have to be video game pixels so many things u could do with contact paper but it's a cheap and simple diy option

[NiN^_^NiN]

THIS IS BYOAC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We DIY these things cause we can 

well to some people BYOAC stands for "buy" your own arcade controls.... they can't BUILD, so they BUY.

i'm not putting ANYBODY down or anything, just some people lack proper tools, experience, time, or even imagination to be able to do the things they want to do. or they want it so professional that they themselves make it so they are incapable of doing it.

if I was to do this project and was doing only one, since i don't have a laser cutter to do it, i would probably spend a few hours "one-offing" a space invader with a utility knife and probably be somewhat satisfied at the result...... but for 30?? you bet i would pay a company to do it for me since i would get 30 matching ones, instead of 30 dissimilar ones!

For 30 full color characters from a KOF game... sure.. I'd pay to have that done... but for 30 monochrome, simplistic space invaders... I would literally be ashamed to pay money for that.  If you can't whip out a couple dozen of these in an afternoon than you quite literally can't cut a straight line and should be banned from any diy project. 

Now i wouldn't say ashamed all people have different strengths some might not have it building arcade machines but they might in graphic design so they might get a cabinet in good nick and apply their skills to that instead

Everyone's good at something diy so if they can't do something and they pay to get it done/buy it then they shouldn't be ashamed as i said before this is BYOAC we diy things cause we can if we can't we apply our diy skills to another part of the project

[Benevolance]

If they are cut outs, every day he can move the invaders one line closer...

[NiN^_^NiN]

lol now thats a cool idea

I was originally looking to make a small space invader blind that would slowly animate the invader as the sun moved perspective.

I quite like the shadow art stuff so i might do something like that out in the backyard perhaps

[Marsupial]

This thread did inspire me in doing this to my game room:




I couldn't find contact paper without being some motif (wood, flowers, name it) so I ended up getting 12"x12" vinyl squares on ebay (was cheap ennough for my tastes) and made the characters and dots


The kids love it.

Now if I can just have time to complete the cabinet that goes in that room... lol.

[crashwg]

That's pretty amazing Marsupial!  A little Pac-Man meets Ghostbusters action...

[Marsupial]

thanks!

I got the idea doing search for pacman art online - decided last minute to get out of the 8-bit and wanted new artwork ideas.





That last one I find very interesting, I might try to do something like that for my upcoming cab's sideart.

[Benevolance]

Wow, those decals turned out pretty awesome. I think that's a great way to decorate a gaming/arcade space.

[Marsupial]

it sure gives more dimension then plain walls, without taking out all the room. I still want to put posters and other games-related decorations.

[NiN^_^NiN]

Looks great man very nice

How-to Create Space Invaders

Tools
Contact Paper with grid pattern on back
Stanley knife
Metal Ruler
Pencil/Pen
Cutting Mat (Optional)

First grab your coloured contact paper and turn it over

Look at the 8bit character on google images you are gonna use.

For this example we are using the space invaders ship


Now cause most contact paper has a grid on the back of it for cutting this makes it perfect for making diy 8-bit decals

First you need to colour in the pixels with ur pen or pencil


It should look something like this


Now you need to use the stanley knife and ruler and cut the outer edges of the pixels


I have found that cutting vertical first then horizontally works well

You will now have cut out the ship


Turn it over and make sure you are happy with the shape if not trim it where needed


Now if you want it bigger just make 4 squares count as a pixel instead of 1 square for a pixel

E.g.


Now peel the backing off and stick it on the wall


And you how now made a space invader

Here is an example for the red space ship using 1 square as 1 pixel and the blue invader using 4 squares as 1 pixel

[Marsupial]

You are lucky to get contact paper in those shades, I couldn't find any, but the cricut vinyl I got on ebay too have the square guides on the back.

But for the non-8-bit graphics I made, it wasn't very useful. What I did was to print on paper, glue that paper on the back of the vinyl with spray glue and the rest was exactly the same process.

This is a great small project to achieve, very cool.

I dig the space invaders, if I only had a good place to put them

[Jmartinol]

Wow! That’s really easy to make. Cool idea for a game room. I wish they sell construction papers with smaller grids.

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Wall Decals

[Radiomedia2]

R4Crown3DSR4R4 3DS

WOW, cool !!
However, I won't do like this.
Because I'm afraid I can't  help myself to pat them.
And for a long time it will certainly leave many many palm prints.
LOL