Last night I went to print the decals for my Bug ( Revell 1/48 F/A-18C ) with Testors Custom Decal Maker Kit. I followed the instructions and they did not come out the way I had hoped. When I went to spray the bonder on the decal sheet the ink ran and I am rather fustrated now. I used up an entire clear paper sheet for this wasted it.
I am hoping you guys who use the program can help me out with some questions:
How long should I let the ink dry before applying Bonder spray?
How do I prevent ink from running after I have sprayed the Bonder?
What are the best printer settings for printing the decals? ( I use a Lexmark Z22 Ink Jet Printer)
How much Bonder should be applied that allows decals to adhere to even and uneven surfaces?
it’ll get better, set the printer for best quality and gloss premium paper…let the ink dry for 20-30 minutes to be safe and then LIGHT coats of bonder 2-3…let that dry overnight and you should be on your way,take caution as the decals tend to be a little thin
I know HP does but the are VERY pricey and you color gamut goes way down. Plus you have to use special paper for that ink. The differences between the reg ink and the water resistant ink is the regular is dye ink, and the other is pigmented. Also check your other post in the aircraft section. Gave you some more tips bro
ACK![yuck] I’d probably be better off having my Lexmark ink cartridges refilled with HP ink. We have a shop here that does that. I’ll have to look into that.
I followed everyones advice and solved the ink bleed problem when spraying on bonder with light coats, BUT… Now when I apply TEST decals the ink is getting rubbed off the carrier film and I am only using water to apply the decals.
What am I doing wrong and how do I solve this problem?
Actually it’s both Lone, bonder and ink are coming apart when slide test decals with paint brush onto a test surface. I tried shoring them up with dabbing a puddle of Future over them, letting that dry then re-spraying the bonder over that seemed to help. I went over the decals with 4 light coats of Testors bonder and that should have been enough. Water should not be reacting with the bonder and yet that appear to be what’s happening. It softens up the decal bonder with it. I afraid to see what decal setting solution will do.
I have another idea I am going to try. I printed a new sheet and I am going to start with spraying a few light coats of Krylon Crystal Clear and follow that up with few coats of Testers decal spray. Krylon should protect the ink and the Testors spray should keep the the rest of the decal intact. I’ll let you know how it goes.
(For decals already printed on an Inkjet printer ONLY!)
Print decals and spray on Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic in light coats, about 4 applications, let it dry throughly then take some Future or Brite and dab it on with a paint brush let it form shallow puddles over decals as this will act as a clear film barrier, let dry for 2 to 3 hours… then take the Testors Decal Bonder and go over decals again with 4 light coat applications and let that dry throughly over night. Krylon will insure decals do not bleed ink and with Future and Testors decal bonder will insure decals stay intact and make the carrier film a little thicker but still flexible enough to sink down on uneven surfaces and will stand up to decal setting solutions.