Bloodshot #0 platinum. (kinda)

[cjv]

I can understand that members are irritated with how things look, but perhaps Wally was trying to come up with something to fit in and it got away from him?

I'm not sure whether he lied or is telling the truth or what happened, but maybe we should give him a chance to come clean. I like this board beacuse it is always filled with reasonable people, which is uncommon on the internet.

Sounds good I always like trying to come up with ways to resolve conflicts. I think you, FormerReader, made the first step in offering a reasonably safe offer, although Im not sure the rest of the board is as merciful. The next step would be for Wally to provide admission of his fabrication, IF it is just that.

I don't think things have gotten to the point where no one is willing to listen to him. I think everyone would be happy to hear his explanation.

I think the longer it goes without one, the more difficult it will become. Maybe he just made a mistake and didn't want to scan it initially. Okay, fine. But tell us that. Maybe he was in the middle of doing it and he couldn't wait to see what the final product was like. Fine. Maybe he did it, but his copy was not very well done (first time and all) but he knew it would work better with practice - so he just posted it.

But he needs to say something. And he needs to provide actual images, IMO.

Chris

[Rufusharley]

Been a while sense we've had some crazy *SQUEE* *SQUEE* around here. kind a' fun.

[wallywest1980]

Okay, so since I've been getting dragged through the mud on here while I've been working, let me clear a few things up. First. You are right, that is the stock photo. I snagged a copy of it to use as reference when I was working on the copy, and apparently goofed and put the reference shot up instead of my scan. They do look a bit alike, as it is the same cover, accidents happen, my appologizes, no deciet was intended. Second, as someone pointed out, my credability ispretty well shot at this point, so short of video, which will be coming as soon as one of my other platinum covers comes in, the best proof I can give you is to let you hold the book itself. So below is a VERY detailed tutorial on how I did it, please suspend your *SQUEE* until you have tried it. Keep in mind that I have over 20 years experience in customizing and painting, great results are always linked to the amount of skill you have. I appologize to anyone who owns a real bloodshot platinum for doing this, and if one turns up on ebay in a week, I wouldn't trust it.


You read any further at your own risk. Every customizer uses a different method, what works for me may be a pain in the arse for you, so do some research and tinker a bit first if you haven't done anything.






Step one. Stop thinking of the chromium covers as a piece of paper. They are plastic and foil with ink in between layers. Believe it or not this is a huge step.

Step two. Carefully remove staples and set everything aside except the cover.

Step three. Put on your gloves and mix up some industrial grade carboxylic acid in a spray bottle. You will probably have to find a place online to order some, and there are probably a dozen better ways to do what you are going to do to the cover with it, but this is what I used. A very fine mist is good. You want about a .05 mix, or about a drop per ounce. Fair warning, this stuff stinks to high heaven, you are going to want a respirator, goggles, and a well ventalated space, not your apartment, think garage.

Step four. Spray the top courner of the cover on the foil side. Just a little goes a long way. Wait a while, time will very, but the acid will soften the bond between foil and plastic.

Step five. You should be seeing hints of delamination, if not add a little more of your spray, it's a bit of an art. If it doesn't show delamination after a second spray, adjust your mix by a drop or two. If the bond has softened, take a fresh exacto blade and separate the foil from the cover, gentley so you don't leave creases. And as a note, don't peel the corner as far as it will go, keep some delamination ahead of the pull, or you will end up with a stutter effect, like pulling a clear sticker off of a plastic case. Patiences is a key.

Step six. Continue to Spray and peel, though now, spray at the seam between foil and cover, as in not at the back of the foil, wipe off any access with a soft cloth.

Step seven. When you reach the center seam of the book, stop. You only have to get to the logo box, and keeping the backcover intact will help with registration later. If you are doing a clear cover, simpley keep going.

Step eight. Now that you can see the logo box, breakout the ink remover from homedepot and the fine paint brushes. Remember to buy the good stuff, the right tool always makes a job easier, so don't cheap out. You have to wipe the access off the brush before you put it to the cover, otherwise it will run and smeer the ink. This is going to be time consuming. A little will come off at a time, so be patient. And the ONLY thing you are removing is the white in the logobox, so be careful. This is also the point where if you wanted to do a pink cover you would skip all of this and mix up some red fabric dye and paint the back of the logo box with it, it'll leach through and turn the white pink. And you can use brown to make white ivory on say, XO #0.

Step nine. You should have exposed the price at this point, remove it as well. The black is a little more stubborn, don't know why.

Step ten. The logo box is probably a little fogged right? You need some Mothers Aluminum mag polish from VIP and some Q-tips, or the disposable felt paint brushes you find at a hobby shop. Gentley polish any of the clear spots on the logobox. Take you time and it'll come out nice and clear, be careful as this stuff will take off ink, chrome or paint. It also resurfaces DVDs quite nicely.

Step eleven. With an little water and dawn, wipe down the surfaces that will be put back together, you need to remove any residue that might fog, so this may have to be done more than once, let them dry.

Step twelve. You are going to need a bottle of solvset from your local hobby shop, it's for making decals soft so they set in seams, it should be near the paint and glue. A hair dryer, and a way to press the book. Mix the solvset about a third of it's volume to water. As in, if you have three ounces of solveset, add an ounce of water. throw it in a spray bottle. now add one drop of the Carboxylic acid to the bottle. Shake well.

Step thirteen. Spray both sides of the laminate with a very small amount of the mix. while it is still wet, slide the peices back in place, making sure they register together at the courners. Wipe off the access.

Step fourteen. Use the hairdryer to warm up the foil side of the book, doesn't have to melt, just warm will do.

Step fifteen. press the cover undersomething heavy while it's still warm and wet. Give it a couple of hours. As a note, stick a piece of memory foam or something similar under the book and place the cover glossy side up. The foam will help keep the embossing intact.

Step sixteen. Wipe the cover down on both sides with a screen cleaning type cloth. Check for defects.

Step seventeen. If it looks all good, Reassemble the book and bend the staples back.

There you go, even a monkey could follow that and get something. Put some effort and skill into it and you can go make a killing on ebay, or flood the market, your choice. Anyone who needs more proof that it can be done needs to try this for themselves, you don't even need to use bloodshot 0, any chromium book that's built like this will work, so grab something out of the dollar bin and give it a go.

[SJS4]

Hey guys, check out this picture of me. I was getting back into my helicopter and a f'n shark came out of the water and almost ate me!!!

i lol'd

[GGSAE]

Okay, so since I've been getting dragged through the mud on here while I've been working, let me clear a few things up. First. You are right, that is the stock photo. I snagged a copy of it to use as reference when I was working on the copy, and apparently goofed and put the reference shot up instead of my scan. They do look a bit alike, as it is the same cover, accidents happen, my appologizes, no deciet was intended. Second, as someone pointed out, my credability ispretty well shot at this point, so short of video, which will be coming as soon as one of my other platinum covers comes in, the best proof I can give you is to let you hold the book itself. So below is a VERY detailed tutorial on how I did it, please suspend your *SQUEE* until you have tried it. Keep in mind that I have over 20 years experience in customizing and painting, great results are always linked to the amount of skill you have. I appologize to anyone who owns a real bloodshot platinum for doing this, and if one turns up on ebay in a week, I wouldn't trust it.


You read any further at your own risk. Every customizer uses a different method, what works for me may be a pain in the arse for you, so do some research and tinker a bit first if you haven't done anything.






Step one. Stop thinking of the chromium covers as a piece of paper. They are plastic and foil with ink in between layers. Believe it or not this is a huge step.

Step two. Carefully remove staples and set everything aside except the cover.

Step three. Put on your gloves and mix up some industrial grade carboxylic acid in a spray bottle. You will probably have to find a place online to order some, and there are probably a dozen better ways to do what you are going to do to the cover with it, but this is what I used. A very fine mist is good. You want about a .05 mix, or about a drop per ounce. Fair warning, this stuff stinks to high heaven, you are going to want a respirator, goggles, and a well ventalated space, not your apartment, think garage.

Step four. Spray the top courner of the cover on the foil side. Just a little goes a long way. Wait a while, time will very, but the acid will soften the bond between foil and plastic.

Step five. You should be seeing hints of delamination, if not add a little more of your spray, it's a bit of an art. If it doesn't show delamination after a second spray, adjust your mix by a drop or two. If the bond has softened, take a fresh exacto blade and separate the foil from the cover, gentley so you don't leave creases. And as a note, don't peel the corner as far as it will go, keep some delamination ahead of the pull, or you will end up with a stutter effect, like pulling a clear sticker off of a plastic case. Patiences is a key.

Step six. Continue to Spray and peel, though now, spray at the seam between foil and cover, as in not at the back of the foil, wipe off any access with a soft cloth.

Step seven. When you reach the center seam of the book, stop. You only have to get to the logo box, and keeping the backcover intact will help with registration later. If you are doing a clear cover, simpley keep going.

Step eight. Now that you can see the logo box, breakout the ink remover from homedepot and the fine paint brushes. Remember to buy the good stuff, the right tool always makes a job easier, so don't cheap out. You have to wipe the access off the brush before you put it to the cover, otherwise it will run and smeer the ink. This is going to be time consuming. A little will come off at a time, so be patient. And the ONLY thing you are removing is the white in the logobox, so be careful. This is also the point where if you wanted to do a pink cover you would skip all of this and mix up some red fabric dye and paint the back of the logo box with it, it'll leach through and turn the white pink. And you can use brown to make white ivory on say, XO #0.

Step nine. You should have exposed the price at this point, remove it as well. The black is a little more stubborn, don't know why.

Step ten. The logo box is probably a little fogged right? You need some Mothers Aluminum mag polish from VIP and some Q-tips, or the disposable felt paint brushes you find at a hobby shop. Gentley polish any of the clear spots on the logobox. Take you time and it'll come out nice and clear, be careful as this stuff will take off ink, chrome or paint. It also resurfaces DVDs quite nicely.

Step eleven. With an little water and dawn, wipe down the surfaces that will be put back together, you need to remove any residue that might fog, so this may have to be done more than once, let them dry.

Step twelve. You are going to need a bottle of solvset from your local hobby shop, it's for making decals soft so they set in seams, it should be near the paint and glue. A hair dryer, and a way to press the book. Mix the solvset about a third of it's volume to water. As in, if you have three ounces of solveset, add an ounce of water. throw it in a spray bottle. now add one drop of the Carboxylic acid to the bottle. Shake well.

Step thirteen. Spray both sides of the laminate with a very small amount of the mix. while it is still wet, slide the peices back in place, making sure they register together at the courners. Wipe off the access.

Step fourteen. Use the hairdryer to warm up the foil side of the book, doesn't have to melt, just warm will do.

Step fifteen. press the cover undersomething heavy while it's still warm and wet. Give it a couple of hours. As a note, stick a piece of memory foam or something similar under the book and place the cover glossy side up. The foam will help keep the embossing intact.

Step sixteen. Wipe the cover down on both sides with a screen cleaning type cloth. Check for defects.

Step seventeen. If it looks all good, Reassemble the book and bend the staples back.

There you go, even a monkey could follow that and get something. Put some effort and skill into it and you can go make a killing on ebay, or flood the market, your choice. Anyone who needs more proof that it can be done needs to try this for themselves, you don't even need to use bloodshot 0, any chromium book that's built like this will work, so grab something out of the dollar bin and give it a go.

Thanks for coming clean throughout all this. Although I'm sure it's many people will find this controversial, it's better to have knowledge that different colored 'error' books can be counterfeited. And if this can be done for BS Plat, all the others like it (Venom Black) most likely could be counterfeited, and it's important this knowledge is shared with the whole community. It seems to take considerable effort to do that, if you make extra fakes would you sell me one for $20? I think it would be a neat novelty item, or perhaps even better a board project!

p.s. hopefully the buyer of that last BS Plat can get his money back!

[wallywest1980]

Thanks for coming clean throughout all this. Although I'm sure it's many people will find this controversial, it's better to have knowledge that different colored 'error' books can be counterfeited. And if this can be done for BS Plat, all the others like it (Venom Black) most likely could be counterfeited, and it's important this knowledge is shared with the whole community. It seems to take considerable effort to do that, if you make extra fakes would you sell me one for $20? I think it would be a neat novelty item, or perhaps even better a board project!

p.s. hopefully the buyer of that last BS Plat can get his money back!

That was kind of the point in sharing this, to make other people aware that it can be done, and to be careful buying from someone they dont know. How many people asked the last guy on ebay how or where he got the book? Guessing not a one. $1300 is a lot to plunk down on any book, so think hard and be sure before you buy it. And I should have said something sooner, but I honestly hadn't even looked at the image since I uploaded it, and got a bit *SQUEE* at being called a liar, so it's my bad for not catching it when it was brought up. I'm sure people are going to claim that's BS as well, being thatI am sucha master of photoshop that I used the exact same pic as the site.... really? That makes so muchsense compared toI wasn't paying enough attention and clicked the wrong thumbnail....On a side note, Greg was not the only person I sent that message to, the other person is working on one to confirm that this works. I actually considered offering to do something similar for a vvss type project, maybe red foil in the logo box or something, but time wise, and the fact that it's a doctored book don't really leave a good taste in the mouth you know? It'd be quicker to make flat gold eternalwarriors, cheaper too, but still as dirty to sell them, no I haven't made one, yes I'm considering it, probably copper though, just to be different. And again, i am in NO way saying all of these are fake! I'm sure that twenty five are real, as thatwas confirmed by the printer,now whether that was an error or intentional is anyones guess, but look at the numbers for this book and tell me if it seems off to you,they keep turning up well after twenty five. So again, my appologizes for any confusion or frustration, and take this however you want, whensomeone else tries it you can choose to believe it or not. I don't really care at this point, I just thought you all might like a heads up.

[zoso20]

What about that Ninjak Clear a while back? Think it was a fake? At least it went for cheap.......

[greg]

And again, i am in NO way saying all of these are fake! I'm sure that twenty five are real, as thatwas confirmed by the printer,now whether that was an error or intentional is anyones guess, but look at the numbers for this book and tell me if it seems off to you,they keep turning up well after twenty five. So again, my appologizes for any confusion or frustration, and take this however you want, whensomeone else tries it you can choose to believe it or not. I don't really care at this point, I just thought you all might like a heads up.

You need to stop saying 25. You're basing all your comments on 25... and it's not a good basis.
Discussion prior to 2006 might have said 25, but in the past six years, it's been known there could be 300.
There are probably 300. The notes on this website have said 300 for years (read more than the first paragraph).
http://www.valiantfan.com/valiant/b0platinum.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't know if any of the copies that have turned up are fake, but I do know that 15 out of 300 isn't a ridiculous amount to have been located.

[kevinbastos]

I keep thinking that most of the rest are lingering in some comic storage facility - SOME where.

I want to sift through my guy's stuff this summer. See what he has.

Because of this - I don't think I will ever BUY one. If I stumble across one, however...

I wouldn't advise anyone to buy one that wasn't CGC'd, though. Ever.

I may try this plan sometime - to see if I can make one, though...

[jasont215]

Can you post the image your originally meant to post to clear up the confusion?

[Elveen]

To me, this makes ALL of them fakes!

Bloodshot Plats ARE DEAD!

[Blood of Heroes]

That was kind of the point in sharing this, to make other people aware that it can be done, and to be careful buying from someone they dont know. How many people asked the last guy on ebay how or where he got the book? Guessing not a one. $1300 is a lot to plunk down on any book, so think hard and be sure before you buy it. And I should have said something sooner, but I honestly hadn't even looked at the image since I uploaded it, and got a bit *SQUEE* at being called a liar, so it's my bad for not catching it when it was brought up. I'm sure people are going to claim that's BS as well, being thatI am sucha master of photoshop that I used the exact same pic as the site.... really? That makes so muchsense compared toI wasn't paying enough attention and clicked the wrong thumbnail....On a side note, Greg was not the only person I sent that message to, the other person is working on one to confirm that this works. I actually considered offering to do something similar for a vvss type project, maybe red foil in the logo box or something, but time wise, and the fact that it's a doctored book don't really leave a good taste in the mouth you know? It'd be quicker to make flat gold eternalwarriors, cheaper too, but still as dirty to sell them, no I haven't made one, yes I'm considering it, probably copper though, just to be different. And again, i am in NO way saying all of these are fake! I'm sure that twenty five are real, as thatwas confirmed by the printer,now whether that was an error or intentional is anyones guess, but look at the numbers for this book and tell me if it seems off to you,they keep turning up well after twenty five. So again, my appologizes for any confusion or frustration, and take this however you want, whensomeone else tries it you can choose to believe it or not. I don't really care at this point, I just thought you all might like a heads up.

Your description is believable. Admitting that you used the wrong picture is what I (and a lot of others wanted). I apologize for calling you a liar, but with the information at hand, that was the only conclusion I could draw.

As far as the photoshopping goes, anyone who has spent 5 minutes on the interwebs should know that EVERYTHING you see/read should be taken with a grain of salt. Based on your description, it would be easier to photoshop a picture than alter a book like that.

[jmatt]

And I should have said something sooner, but I honestly hadn't even looked at the image since I uploaded it, and got a bit *SQUEE* at being called a liar, so it's my bad for not catching it when it was brought up. ...So again, my appologizes for any confusion or frustration, and take this however you want, whensomeone else tries it you can choose to believe it or not.

If you go on the internet and declare "I just performed a miracle and here's my photographic proof" and then the proof turns out to be fake, you can expect that people will think you made the whole thing up. One would think the person making such a claim would be very careful about the presentation of said evidence (that's why files have names), and rapidly respond when the simple error was pointed out. How hard would it have been to say "Ooops, sorry" and post the correct image?

I'll apologize for calling you a liar if, today, you post the picture you originally intended to post (not the one covered up by all of the other comic books). One would think this would have been done already.

[GGSAE]

Thanks for coming clean throughout all this. Although I'm sure it's many people will find this controversial, it's better to have knowledge that different colored 'error' books can be counterfeited. And if this can be done for BS Plat, all the others like it (Venom Black) most likely could be counterfeited, and it's important this knowledge is shared with the whole community. It seems to take considerable effort to do that, if you make extra fakes would you sell me one for $20? I think it would be a neat novelty item, or perhaps even better a board project!

p.s. hopefully the buyer of that last BS Plat can get his money back!

That was kind of the point in sharing this, to make other people aware that it can be done, and to be careful buying from someone they dont know. How many people asked the last guy on ebay how or where he got the book? Guessing not a one. $1300 is a lot to plunk down on any book, so think hard and be sure before you buy it. And I should have said something sooner, but I honestly hadn't even looked at the image since I uploaded it, and got a bit *SQUEE* at being called a liar, so it's my bad for not catching it when it was brought up. I'm sure people are going to claim that's BS as well, being thatI am sucha master of photoshop that I used the exact same pic as the site.... really? That makes so muchsense compared toI wasn't paying enough attention and clicked the wrong thumbnail....On a side note, Greg was not the only person I sent that message to, the other person is working on one to confirm that this works. I actually considered offering to do something similar for a vvss type project, maybe red foil in the logo box or something, but time wise, and the fact that it's a doctored book don't really leave a good taste in the mouth you know? It'd be quicker to make flat gold eternalwarriors, cheaper too, but still as dirty to sell them, no I haven't made one, yes I'm considering it, probably copper though, just to be different. And again, i am in NO way saying all of these are fake! I'm sure that twenty five are real, as thatwas confirmed by the printer,now whether that was an error or intentional is anyones guess, but look at the numbers for this book and tell me if it seems off to you,they keep turning up well after twenty five. So again, my appologizes for any confusion or frustration, and take this however you want, whensomeone else tries it you can choose to believe it or not. I don't really care at this point, I just thought you all might like a heads up.

Well if you decide to do one of any color to prove it's a gag/error comic for cheap, keep me posted. I bought one of the deathmate white error copies, just because I liked the look of it and it was cheap, sort of a novelty item. If it does take a lot of your time, don't bother, I completely understand.

[GGSAE]

To me, this makes ALL of them fakes!

Bloodshot Plats ARE DEAD!

I thought I would entire your discussion Elveen, so you're not just taking with yourself.

I agree that this removes any kind of want list for me on this item. Sure, you could prove some copies are real, and the market for them might be solid still for some, but knowing they can be manufactured just removes the collectivity. It's the same as diamonds. Sure, you can prove their legitimacy, but the fact they can be manufactured from carbon, unlike any other precious metal (to my knowledge), removes any kind of desire from them.

[etos45]

To me, this makes ALL of them fakes!

Bloodshot Plats ARE DEAD!

I thought I would entire your discussion Elveen, so you're not just taking with yourself.

I agree that this removes any kind of want list for me on this item. Sure, you could prove some copies are real, and the market for them might be solid still for some, but knowing they can be manufactured just removes the collectivity. It's the same as diamonds. Sure, you can prove their legitimacy, but the fact they can be manufactured from carbon, unlike any other precious metal (to my knowledge), removes any kind of desire from them.

Well, I never wanted one because I can think of a ton of other comics I can get for that price (or less) that I'd rather have more, so this changes nothing for me.

As for the diamond comment, you need to speak to the ladies... there's still desire.

[etos45]

Can you post the image your originally meant to post to clear up the confusion?

Ditto. I'd like to see more pictures of the book just to get an idea of how the actual custom worked out.

I'd also be curious to see others try this out. Judging from the description, I don't think I could pull this off without ruining the comic (I doubt I could even get the staples out without ruining the comic ).

[llkeithll]

Would be really wicked to make another and take pictures through the whole process.

[BruceReville]

I want you to make me one please

[etos45]

I want you to make me one please

I'm sure he'd be happy to.... for $1300.

[Aram]

I think the real question now is... Can you tell the difference between a fake with this method and real one?

If not then plats are dead. If so then they should still have life in them. Either way if there are actually 300 real copies then I think people have been severely over paying. I mean seriously... I would never pay more for a comic than what a original page from that comic might cost, unless of course I had stacks of disposable cash laying around.

The next question to wally is... How much cash would it take for you to make some of these clearly labeled as a fan project? maybe a "VF" painted in the price area?

I would totally pay 20-30 for one like that maybe even 40-50 though that would be much harder for me personally.

[David_Cody]

I'm with Depluto on this when I say this post has been fascinating.

For sure if there were a fan project featuring Bloodshot Platinum's made from this process, I would be in.

I'm no scientist and I'm the exact opposite, but that laundry list of steps seemed pretty damn geeky to me.

[hulk181man]

Wow! What a thread! Glad I don't have one now...Wally, can you please post your actual results in a new scan?

[400yrs]

Wow! What a thread! Glad I don't have one now...Wally, can you please post your actual results in a new scan?

same

[Rubiks-Q-Bert]

I don't get it. That's a pretty elaborate process which I doubt anyone has done. So you just posted a way to fake the most valuable comic in Valiant.

Why?