OHIO CHAPTER OF THE SS-CC
By: Rich
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Okay, now to the MRE bags.
These were printed on standard printer paper, the color is already there. I did go check some of the pouches of MREs that my son has for his Scout camping and hunting. Hey, when I retired we had the MREs but they were in dark brown bags. I think the next time I try to print these I'll first try some light yellow paper then a medium yellow. I think that will improve the color a bit. Again, the price is right and these are easy to work with. Again, this is my interpretation as to how to assemble these. This a pic of the sheet. |
| To the left are some bags that I have already assembled with stick glue. To the right are the remainder already sliced from the page. |
| You can see the fold which is over the edge of the ruler. Do not make a sharp fold here, just enough so that you can work with the bag during assembly. |
| I trimmed the corners and sliced out triangles at the center to make these easier to work the way I had planned. Much like the cuts in the MRE box itself. |
| Now the outer edges have had sharper edges folded in place. I used the stainless steel eraser cap of a mechanical pencil to burnish the folds. |
| I first pressed the two glued edges together until I was pleased with the even edges. Then I again used the mechanical pencil to press the glued edges tight. |
| This is twelve of these bags with the side edges held in a chip clip for curing. I left them alone for a full day before attempting to fill. |
| I sliced different widths of the scrap card stock then folded to differing sizes to loosely represent the boxes and pouches inside and tucked several inside each pouch. What, they don't look right in the flat tone of the printer paper? |
| I shot them with several coats of Krylon Gloss Clear. These are still damp and have a dimpled texture since I just brought them inside. I took the pic quickly and after they cured over night I packed everything up to ship. Sorry, should have taken a final shot before that, but the bumps in the texture did smooth over. The final product is a bag with a sheen similar to the real MRE bag even though it is paper. |
| Bonus pic for you WWII buffs. These K Ration boxes are great. For those of you who have not visited the site, there are printables available to just about everybody. Hope to see some Brits in the future. |
| Many, many thanks to Point Man for these and all of his beautiful artwork in scale. And, to all the supporting members of the SS-CC |
| Some nifty assembly tips here old buddy that I will definitely be keeping in mind. I have to agree Point Man and the SS-CC have done a great job on those printables. Special thanks for sending this cool how-to in and sharing it with us. - GL |
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