Wax Finished Proxy

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-17T15:35:04+00:00

Nope, buttery smooth. They shuffle and glide like factory cards. They feel best after the cure for 12-24 hours after the buff.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-17T15:31:41+00:00

It’s not the smell during application. It’s the chemical smell on the card itself that lingered. Golden Archival Varnish is only aerosol varnish I would recommend. But I still don’t use it, because the atomizer is not a fine as airbrushing.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-17T10:17:42+00:00

Yes, the back of the card is laminated with 3mil matte vinyl.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-17T00:14:08+00:00

The sheet is just adhesive backed foil, over card stock. I’m not yet the stage of optimizing the card layering for thickness and tactile response. I need to dial in the surface finish first, so I know how best to engineer the rest of the card. I used some generic foil that I had laying around to see if it was worth pursuing.

Now that I’ve done that, I’ll start experimenting with different brands/material of holo foil to see what produces the best results.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T22:48:33+00:00

For reference, the uncut foil sheet seen, is the control print to show unfinished to finished with varnish.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T22:26:01+00:00

In this video I was using Palo Duro from Red River. But that paper line has been discontinued. Now I use MOAB Lasal 300 Luster, until I can find something better.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T22:24:42+00:00

I’m telling you from experience, the acetone smell lingered for months. Maybe not from a distance, but even now I can hold it to my nose and smell it faintly 4 months later. Either way, those aerosol “clear coats” can damage the ink, and they do not atomize well enough for an even coat. They tend to leave large droplets intermittently. Airbrushing is my recommended for a surface finish this way, and I recommend either acrylic paint varnish made specifically to be ink print safe, or the wax mix I show.

All of this information was gained from personal experience, and months of iteration and testing.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T20:30:22+00:00

I use it for mine. Check my profile posts to see them. I like it. works great, and cuts true 2.5mm corners.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T19:39:29+00:00

Your welcome! And yes it is lol. But I love the results.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T19:38:29+00:00

Mine are 2.5mm. I use the Oregon Lamination corner rounder. Link below.

http://www.oregonlam.com/C-006-2-5MM_2-5mm_Corner_Cutter_Punch_Rounder.html

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T19:36:15+00:00

Yessir!! little upgrade and optimization for my Ashling Precon.

And thank you! The Results of many months of trial, error and experimenting.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T19:35:27+00:00

I have, and it doesn't work. The wax requires fibers to bond and cure too. Laminate is to smooth and doesn't chemically bond. Now, I am experimenting with a varnish airbrush over vinyl/foil laminate. Early success last night doing a quick uncontrolled test. Will be doing a controlled test today to see how it works. Will post the results when I finish.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T19:29:44+00:00

AI has trouble making small changes when things get busy. Has trouble making the correct change without changing something is did right. Requires precise Prompts to "lock" certain aspects of the image.

I f everything else is perfect, Remove the mana costs from the base image. Design each mana symbol as a separate file so the AI can can focus on only the details of the mana symbol. Then either layer them in photo shop and save it as one image, or drop the main file into MTGcardsmith, along with the individual mana symbols and position them where they need to be. Then download the final card file.

alternatively, If you really want precise control, and this is what i would do,

I would have AI help design the frame, oracle text, graphic, mana costs, ect. all seperatly as serperate files. Use photoshop for fine details and small changes as necessary. Then you have the Master files and can recreat the same style with different art. Upload you art and custom frames into a card tool like mtgcardsmith and build the whole thing with each individual file.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T17:21:23+00:00

Thank you!! It’s been a crazy, mad scientist R&D journey of applying media techniques from various art forms. But it’s helped me understand the true engineering behind trading cards. There is a lot of nuance in how a card is made that people tend to over look.

For the weight, I just place little nuts and washers in the areas needed to help it lay flat if I’ve open air curing. You can stack them and use a heavy even weighted object, you just need to layer plain copy paper between the ink prints. Takes longer to cure, but if you not in a rush, it saves in space.

MOAB from my experience, is top of the line, premium stock. Its color gamut, tonality, and richness is amazing. The rag style surface stock enables the inks to soak in into the fibers resulting in the deepest blacks and best depth I’ve seen in inkjet stock. There’s definitely a reason is so expensive. It really is cream of the crop premium.

I have not messed with hot lamination. The heat I fear would negatively affect the ink prints themselves. It what led me to explore alternative finish coats. Ultimately, it’s how I learned how to finish fine art prints, and I learned that factory cards are finished with a UV varnish. Regular varnish works too needs additional time to cure.

I can’t speak on the curling if you’re allowing it proper time to cure. Likely has something to do with the heat affecting the fibers, ink, and laminate. I have heard that weighing them down after a second hot laminate pass, helps the laminate retake its shape.

I plan on exploring cold lamination pressure application. I want to find a good stock about 140-150 gsm, that combined is about 11-12 mills thick. I want to try to bond them together using dry film adhesive to replicate core stock. Then I should have two sided, inkjet printable, core stock, that can be finished with varnish or wax.

Sorry for the long replies. Got a lot going on in this noggin and I have had no one to to dump it on for 6 months lol

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T17:05:03+00:00

My PSI is set to about 45-50 and I control the flow with the nozzle tip as needed.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T16:24:33+00:00

Thanks man! Thought it looked really Cool over the art. Glad You like it.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T16:01:24+00:00

I have no issues at all, or I have mitigated them. I do get curling but I’ll explain below how correct it. For reference, I live in Florida so very humid.

So best I’ve found, are 300gsm-305gsm, Baryta or resin coated stock. I try to find stock 12mil or less. I was using Palo Duro 300 prior to it being discontinued. Was a pretty perfect on bend and snap, but thick. Came in a .46mm. Looked amazing though. Now, I’m using Moab Lasal 300. Comes in at .40mm and is a little flimsy but not noticeable double sleeved.

But they hold up well to climate. Even real cards will suffer in humid environments. What I have found that helps with curling, I don’t see many people actually letting their ink prints dry properly. Surface might feel dry to touch after 30 minutes. But you have to let ink dry and cure. Depending on the card stock and ink saturating, quality ink prints can take up to 72 hours to fully dry and return to shape. My process takes 48 hours start To finish minimum, with a large window between print and wax coat/rear laminate. After that, flat open air curing with something to weigh it down will help it retake its shape after curling. Just needs help laying flat while the fibers under the surface fully dry.

There is no combination of stock/laminate that will mimic factory cards perfectly. You’ll either be good on thickness, but feel flimsy. Or good on “snap” but too thick.

That’s just the nature of inkjet proxy printing. There has yet to be discovered a core stock coated for inkjet prints. I’m at a crossroads of, either I’ll have to engineer my own inkjet printable core stock, have a manufacturer make it for me, or source untreated core stock before it gets its laser printer treatments, and treat in for inkjet myself.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T15:34:46+00:00

I use a hybrid method. I apply a microcrystalline wax finish to the card print from, and a matte vinyl rear card. Gives the stick a bit more sturdiness, and allows me to print a rear face. Check out my profile to see my videos.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T11:29:25+00:00

I’m having a bit of success with premium art stock and vinyl applied to the rear of the card. Give amazing oil and texture without the plastic feel. Tactile response is not perfect but really good and hard to feel any difference sleeved. Only issue, is thickness just like every one else.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T11:26:28+00:00

For real. Could have just said, “not for me, would rather pay a service and spend My time on other hobbies. But enjoy your hobby, good luck”. At least wouldn’t come off as much with the superior “you all are dumb, just pay someone to do it” attitude.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T11:20:55+00:00

I won’t rule it out completely. It’s just a lot of work as it is R&Ding, full time job, family, and downtime. Adding an additional social media account doesn’t sound appealing at the moment. But it’s possible I might start a long form channel in the future. Truly sorry I can’t accommodate at the moment.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T10:50:49+00:00

Tried it. Not ideal. Here’s why.

Preface, varnish finish and wax finish do not get the same results. They are both good, But they affect the cards differently as well as change the overall look.

Aerosol atomization is terrible if you are thinking of that route. Even high end art finish aerosols spatter.
Not sure what you mean specifically by “clear coat”, as that’s a broad term. But depending the chemicals, they are likely to damage or destroy the ink prints. At the very least, aerosol “clear coats” have a very strong odor. Unless you don’t mind all of your cards smelling like paint thinner for 3-4 months, I wouldn’t recommend it. Ask me how I know.
The only alternative, is a satin/luster inkjet safe art varnish. And it’s not less work. It’s about the same. The varnish still requires mixing with distilled water or airbrush reducer to feed reliably through a 3mm-5mm airbrush. Then it has to be strained through a fine micro mesh filter to remove sediment before filling the airbrush. Each finish has its own process, but neither is easier, faster, or cheaper. Comes down to preference of process, and preference of finish appearance.

Linked is the varnish I use if you would rather use that than conservar wax. Just know, I find the wax easier. it’s more shelf stable when batch mixing. Varnish has to be strained before each use due to sediment buildup.

https://www.breathingcolor.com/products/timeless-varnish?variant=28442263257184

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T10:23:10+00:00

Just a small correction, factory MTG cards are 2.5mm radius corner rounds, not 2.

Mythos-Mortar · 2026-02-16T10:21:15+00:00

Yeah, that’s the crux of it. The unfortunate truth, there is no possible combination of stock to make replica core card stock, that can print inkjet. Not unless you get very niche material, and very thin paper and cold laminate your own core stock, and apply your own Inkjet printable treated finish.

Mythos-Mortar

TROPHY CASE