Housesparrow Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 (edited) Not sure what a mono color printer is. Simon I have a laser printer that prints out black text/lines. Presumably, it might be usable for some stuff that doesn't involve color. Would be fun to draw up stuff with vector drawings that could be printed out I think. Edited February 5, 2016 by Housesparrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 I've used other decal papers before, including the old standard microscale clear sheets. Lasers work fine on these too and I'm still using them in some instances (for example to print outlines on solid colour sheets to cut shapes) but for proper decal printing better use a specific paper. Bare Metal's Experts Choice paper can be had in a version specifically designed for laser printers, it's today my choice. Even with a simpler black only printer it's possible to print a lot of useful things: serial numbers, codes, stencils, low-vis insignia and markings... When I look at what I print I see that a large part of the artworks involve black only. It sure is fun and it's not too difficult, I always suggest giving this a try Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Cornes Posted February 5, 2016 Author Share Posted February 5, 2016 I think the biggest risk is the toner not fusing to the decal sheet, you then run the risk of the toner getting on the rollers. If that happens you're in trouble but it's a fairly small risk. That's exactly what happened with the printer I used at my office. It cleaned up well enough because its working fine now but Staples printed my decals without any trouble. My Little Cars order for more Experts Choice laser paper turned up today so that shows just how good Paul is at getting orders out!, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foghorn Leghorn Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 That's exactly what happened with the printer I used at my office. It cleaned up well enough because its working fine now In which case, count yourself lucky. 15+ years ago I was in sole charge of a £30,000 glorified OCE photocopier (yes, you read that right, £30K). I was dying to print my own decals at the time, and the engineer said it 'shouldn't cause problems', but I checkened out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Cornes Posted February 5, 2016 Author Share Posted February 5, 2016 I do indeed count myself lucky Foghorn - imagine the shame!! You're right, these printers/copiers cost sily money. We've just had 3 new machines and they replaced 3, one of which was bought around 7 years ago and I think it cost about £15,000 and struck me as being equivalent to a car! Mind you it did getting on for 2 1/2 million copies before it started to creak. The new ones have Kyocera innards but it is somehow reassuring to get someone else to do it for you, especialy when the results are great. I will be going to Staples next week to get another 4 sets done. I'm hoping I'm right about it being 65p a copy plus £3 'set up' cost as these copies get cheaper every time! It has to be said that rossm spent a considerable amount of time tweaking the artwork to get the right shades of RAF roundel red and blue so you do have to be careful with the artwork in case your scan prints out in horrible shades!! I thank goodness for Britmodeller (again!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Cornes Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share Posted February 8, 2016 4 more sheets printed by Staples, cost £5.60 so thats roughly £4 a sheet if you include the cost of the paper from Little Cars. Tremendous value and all I have to do now is spray all 6 sheets with Klear - as Bare Metal/Experts Choice haven't told me how to remove MS Liquid Decal Film from an airbrush!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Cornes Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share Posted February 8, 2016 I did Baremetal/Experts Choice a dis-serevice as I have now received a reply. The answer from Randy is The Liquid Decal Film is able to be used as-is in an air-brush. If you would like to dilute/thin it, you may do so using denatured alcohol (NOT Isopropyl / rubbing alcohol). Use 15% - 20% as a base & then experiment/adjust according to desired consistency. Use denatured alcohol to clean your air-brush - NEVER use water to dilute the product or clean the air-brush! I recommend 30-35 lbs air pressure for the air brush. I hope that this information has been helpful. I don't have any information about using Future/Klear products. You may use any clear hobby based spay paint. So thats de-natured alcohol. Now is that turps or parafin over here? Maybe I'll stick with the Klear option but at least you now know how to thin Microscale Liquid Decal film! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little-cars Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Glad you've got an answer, I'll add that to my website so the word gets around. Denatured alchohol, sounds like Methylated spirits to me. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Cornes Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 Course it is! Elder moment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 That's great Simon ! Denatured alcohol is in my country very easy to find, every supermarket sell this for cleaning and similar use. It's actually also very good to remove acrylic paints, even when old and for this reason is my airbrush cleaner of choice. Not the healthiest thing to spray but much less harmful than the dedicated products I've seen on the market. I'm now looking forward to seeing the results of your work with the decal, please post pictures of the completed models ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I don't see the point of spraying Liquid Decal Film - it is just fine with a brush Although I stopped using LDF altogether - currently I find spraying newly printed decals with Klear works better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Cornes Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 I will probably go down the Klear route - what pressure should you spray at? Not to high otherwise the sheet will get drenched. Yes Giorgio, I will post photos in due course, just need to finish the scratch built ejection seat now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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