Let the Bead Spriting Begin!

You are looking at Trevor Belmont from Castlevania 3 in real life! He is indeed my first bead sprite :).

It's always a pleasure when you find something you're able to do and enjoy at the same time. I was browsing on DeviantArt one day and randomly found this picture by Dr. Octoroc. You know that feeling you get  when a ton of COOL! just hits you in the face. Suddenly I wished it was hanging on my wall, then thought maybe I could make something like that, but inevitably reverted to "I can't do anything artsy like that." Immediately, Mr. Honeyman laid on the encouragement and inspiration. So here we are, Perler beads and all. One of my big goals now is to eventually make that Metal Slug Big Tank one day :]

I ordered a set of 4 pegboards, a pack of ironing paper, and a  jar of 22,000 Perler Beads, which seems to be the most economical for starters, but man do you pay the price in spending all that time sorting colors. Currently Raihn's working on a project recreating a Castlevania 3 scene in HD. Hence the CV3 choice. The Trevor sprite is made up of: 286 black, 77 blush, 60 cream, 28 whites, and 7 light blue beads, totaling 458 beads.

I ordered a set of 4 pegboards, a pack of ironing paper, and a  jar of 22,000 Perler Beads, which seems to be the most economical for starters, but man do you pay the price in spending all that time sorting colors. I used PerlerPal to break down the image, though eventually I would like to make my own sprites.

The skeleton is made up of 333 beads (although it's missing one of its arm), and the block is made of 256. Would be fun to try to recreate the first level of CV3 and hang them along a wall.

There were some problems and mistakes I made while making the skeleton. The main problem is ironing: 1) the head is uneven, so some beads have fused completely and others are melted unevenly, 2) make sure to flatten the ironing paper and its creases because they can transfer onto the sprite as it gets heated and cooled, 3) let the bead sprite cool and detach from the ironing paper on its own -- do not pull it off because it can distort and ruin the plastic that is still fusing.

I guess there are a couple ways you can finish your bead sprites from looking at other people's work on the internet. You can either iron it so the beads melts completely and becomes a square, or you can fuse the entire back side completely and don't iron the other side at all. Either way will give it a consistent look.