Has anyone managed to laminate (protect in plastic) the dials?

Does anyone make blank plastic dials?

Where's the hobby section where questions like this should go, along with the custom repainted ships photos and game boards?

I've used clear coat acrylic spray (non-yellowing) on my dials and other high use cardboard pieces. I've also put thin washers between my dial faces to help the wear. So far so good, but go easy on the acrylic spray. One of my dials is not like the rest...

I've Seen some on the combat companies store page, under x-wing.

They have some universal dials

i use the clear packing tape to cover the printed faces of the dials, then trim away the excess. it works great, is simple, easy, and inexpensive.

I really cant se any wear and tear on my manoeuvre dials!
And if there were, Ive got plenty of spare dials ^^

I gloss coat all of my cardboard pieces. It really helps protect them, and I use nylon washers in my dials as well.

I did all my dials with contact paper and a nylon washer. A few of my early ones were rubbing pretty badly even without extreme amounts of use or abuse.

with Wave 4, I am going to try skipping the contact paper and just using the washers, since they have improved the coating on the cardboard punch. I think they will be ok, but if I start to see color wearing off the dials, I will go back and cover them too.

I can see the edges of laminae or tape lifting and collecting debris over time with use and reapplying causing more finish wear than normal use when all is said and done. That plus the time involved has me deterred from the process.

A spray on sealant may be a better alternative if you choose to protect the cardboard faces on dials and ship bases.

Been waiting on that sub-section for so very long...

I gloss coat all of my cardboard pieces. It really helps protect them, and I use nylon washers in my dials as well.

That seems to be the easiest solution to implement to protect the dials.

To the OP, for the dials you can use any spay varnish that one would use to seal miniatures after painting them. The nylon washers can be picked up at any home improvement store like Lowes or Home Depot. The size you need is 5/16"....they are a perfect fit for the center piece that holds the dials together.

Despite the new token pieces having a very thin laminate on them now, I still treat my dials with matte finish clear contact paper before I assemble them.

I don't bother protecting the outside, although if it wears so thin that the ship name wears off, that could be a problem.

I did the same thing as Eagle.

Clear coat and washers seems to work great.

I really cant se any wear and tear on my manoeuvre dials!

And if there were, Ive got plenty of spare dials ^^

Dude yer NOT playing enough!

http://twitter.com/cainokray/status/483992453372846081/photo/1

From Amazon.com - Plaid 12-Ounce Patricia Nimocks Clear Acrylic Sealers, Gloss.

I've put several coats on just about everything, arrange pieces on newspaper, spray in a garage or outside as the vapor is pretty strong. Also, it is pretty hot in the garage (Southern California) and I've left the sprayed pieces out for a few days to "bake". The dials can be a bit sticky for about a week after but then it works great. Will see about adding the nylon washers just for the heck of it.

Finally got around to clear coating dials and adding washers. I can't paint / re-paint but I can spray clear coat! I put a Rainbow Loom rubber band under each one to keep the dial from sticking to the cardboard underneath.

The right size washer is the key to getting this right. I researched a lot and found the perfect fit washer. It's an M8 pack from Pro Bolt. They're smooth, very thin, and fit perfect around the dial insert. They even come in black.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JGUGQCG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I made a replacement from acrylic sheet for my bomber dial but took some time and as yet have made no more

Has anyone managed to laminate (protect in plastic) the dials?

Does anyone make blank plastic dials?

Where's the hobby section where questions like this should go, along with the custom repainted ships photos and game boards?

No where. Unfortunately. We've been waiting for one for a long time. And we're still waiting.

Use some cyanoacrylate (super) glue on the edges. The glues seeps in slightly and within a few seconds becomes rock hard.

I bought some self laminating stuff at an office store, but I should've done what that guy did with the packing tape. It's just like it for the dials. Simple and cheap. And it works.

Because the models come pre-painted there really is no hobby section, however FFG doesn't prohibit repainting models. You could almost argue that the easy to paint over acrylic in a sort of passive way encourages repaints.

I spray the outside of my dials and all my play tokens (good lord I've got so many unpunched tokes in my file cabinet it wimpers), with a spray fixative, then I put a piece of clear contact/shelf paper between the dials. This seems to make them pretty bullet proof and the contact paper can be peeled off and replaced from time to time.

Another thing to extend the life of your dials is turn them from the outer rim instead of the top and bottom, if you get into that habit your dials will have almost no wear.

As others have said use washers to protect the dial face. Then paint or just varnish the exterior.

I've painted a lot of mine to match the painted ship it goes with.

This way its obvious what dial belongs to what ship.

Red dial for the tie with red marking

Blue for the blue marked tie and so on.

Im working on doing this for all my ships and dials.

I use con-tact brand adhesive to protect mine. It's not permanent, so you can reposition it to get it just right, and it won't mess up your dials. If you don't feel like trimming it yourself, you can find ones precision cut on Etsy.

I am a man, so I use Bacon. Nothing else really comes close.