For years I had been meaning to give it a try and finally did so last weekend.
I had my suspicions given that inkjet ink is dodgy at best (especially when wet) and seem to have been proven right.
I used Testors paper and bonder and followed all the instructions to the letter.
Prudently, I decided to try the first decal on a piece of scrap from a kitbash.
Not only did the film immediately curl up upon leaving the paper, but about 60% of the ink came off the film. Repeat attempts yield the same result. Even permanent marker wouldn’t stay on the film.
I have plenty of experience applying decals to armor and aircraft models and have never seen anything so fundamentally useless. Even old, yellowed, thick Revell decals from a 1950’s Cutty Sark kit look better!
Has anybody ever had any real success with inkjet decals? (Nobody I have talked to has even tried it.)
I have used testors decal paper on my Sandy Southern R.R. Locos. I have found that I must let the printed decals set over nite to dry the ink. Then I spray very lightly with a coat of testors sealer, I repeat very lightly, when that is dry, I spray a heaver coat.I think you mabe leaving the decal in the water to long. Imerse it in water only for a few seconds, then place it on a paper towel for a few minutes, then put the decal on the model and holding the decal with the point of a knife, slide the paper out from under the decal. Use setting solution on it and blot off the moister. the setting solution will let you move the decal around till its where you want it. Let it dry until the next day, then spray with dull clear. I hope this works for you.
I’m not being snide , I have have answered this question so many times, I have tried many papers for ink jets , the best I’ve found to this point is the paper from Micro-Mark. This is not to say other brands are bad. I’ve heard many people talk about what they use to seal them with. I use krylon Crystal clear spray. Yes let those decals dry really well before sealing. 2. Seal them well. I spray them several times with light coats. At my photo bucket site (my website is being redone) under vehicles , all the vehicles shown are decals from an ink jet printer. Under Motive Power all my fictional short line locos all done with ink jet decals. Signs for my latest strip mall project all done with inkjet decals. The main thing is to learn through experience especially the sealing part. I have let decals I sealed with Krylon in water by accident for hours , no problem. It takes time to learn the process for yourself , but it’s worth it in the long run for special projects.
I’ve used the Testor’s decal paper and sealer. I found that I get the best results with my printer (HP 3930) set on fast draft. The ink cracks up to much on any other setting. I let it dry dry for a few hours the spray it with a heavy coat of the sealer and let it dry overnight. Afterwards I cut them out and apply them as I would any other water transfer decal.
I set my printer,Epson photoRX500, two steps darker too. I agree its better to let the prints dry overnight before you seal. Again ,first coat very light. I have better luck using very litle water. I use a yogurt lid with just a few drops of water ,enuf to wet the paper then wait for a few minutes to soften the glue.PS I’m using micromark paper.
I just purchased an R380, does yours use the Claria ink ? It seems to dry very fast , I’m still in the process of learning best techniques with the new printer and ink. Previously I used an older Epson Photo 780. Is the 500 a wide format printer ?
My Epson copier is about 4 yrs. old, a dinosaur in elctronic years. It just uses Epson ink which we get at Costco for $65 a shot,thats per set of cartridges. No question thats where they make their money. Between my decals and the wifes scrapbooking they do quite well. I haven’t used the decals for railroad so much as custom decals for some airplanes I was makin for some old guys who flew commercial back inthe 50s and WWII.
Yeah , after I asked my stupid question I looked it up on the Epson site, saw it was a multi-function machine. This new R380 I just unpacked Saturday is a gem , for $100.00 it reads memory cards , thumb drives , has a screen to review them without the computer at all. will print directly from the memory cards. Pretty high resolution too. Got so many buttons I have to use the book! That doesn’t happen to me very often. Produces great decals so far.
I’d argue that printers are the one thing that lasts for a long time in the computer world. There’s still a fair number of companies using dot matrix printers for invoices. Kinda hard to make the carbon copies all at once with an inkjet.
If you’re burning through a good deal of ink reklein, you might benefit from a color laser printer. sure they have a high initial cost, but when the $100 cartridge does 2000-7500 pages (or more) before running out, that initial outset of price isn’t so out of line anymore. IIRC, inkjet cartridges can print about 450-500 pages before running dry. These numbers are at roughly 5% coverage (IIRC single spaced 12pt Times New Roman covering an entire page is roughly 5% black coverage).
I’ve had very good luck printing ink-jet decals with my HP 722C, which is getting on in years now. I use a decal paper called Experts Choice, because that’s what I could find. It’s the only one I’ve used, so I can’t rate it vs. any others.
I use Microscale’s Liquid Decal Sealer. I generally wait a day after printing, and then at least 12 hours after each of 2 coats of the sealer.
For a smooth decal that looks the way you printed it, you need a smooth, flat surface. I use a satin finish overcoat if the surface isn’t smooth and glossy. After the decals are set, I give it another hit of spray.
For structures, I apply the decal directly to the rough surface. This breaks up the image a bit, and the signs look old and weathered. Then I use Dul-Cote to protect the decals.
Funny how prices are going down on printers these days too. I think I paid around $280 and now I see they are around $180. May have to look into a laser machine. The way my wife is using up ink. She’s a good ole girl, bless her heart, but she leaves the printer empty of paper and ink when shes done, and guess who gets to fill it. Not a big deal really but it’d be nice to show up at a machine thats ready. This is OT but do you guys who have computer knowledge have a preferance on equipment and software for transferring vinyl LPs to CDs?