so in the
'post your builds' thread, there is a ton of good information, questions and answers on everything from basic, to highly advanced builds and techniques. its quickly grown into an amazing resource, but its also quickly grown too large to find that info in. most of us have answered the same questions over and over again.
the idea for these 'the official x thread', is to get the information on 'x' (build/technique) all in one place so its easier to find, and consolidate the questions/answers/discussion a little bit, and leave that other thread for pics, chat and encouragement. links to all the 'official' threads are
collected here, have a look through the rest for tips on everything from planning a build in steam-engine, beginner to advanced builds, and even coil photography. here is the official alien thread...
coil info:
default aliens have three equal sized cores, wrapped with 'alien' wrap, which is made by making a single core clapton thats 1/3 of your final width (if you are making 3x 26 gauge aliens, your decore is made on one 26 gauge wire), sliding off the clapton wraps, and stretching them out before you wrap them onto your final cores. this gives the wraps a wavy appearance and does some interesting things for wicking.
you can use alien wrap on any kind of cores you want, you just have to make your decore clapton on a core thats ~1/3 of your final cores. some examples are staples, framed staples, framed multicore, twisted strands etc etc etc
there are some variations in alien wrap styles like stitched, interlock, enigma, hedgehog, razorback and tsuka as well.
first tip: if you want perfect aliens, you have to be able to make your decore from start to finish with no mistakes, tight spacing and equal tension.
second tip: your decore clapton should be about 40-50% longer than you want your final alien wire to be.
pic: alien framed staples in alliance v2
heres a pretty classic video tutorial: