Decal ink running after Future applied

MillenniumFalsehood · Post by **MillenniumFalsehood** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 2:23 pm

I have a big problem. I made a set of decals for my 1:2500 scale fleet and they've been applied and Futured for about two months. When I took them out of their storage case, I found that the inks had melted together. Also the carrier film had wrinkled. What could cause this?

Aptivaboy · Post by **Aptivaboy** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:05 pm

What type of ink did you use?

If a laser printer, then did you spray a fixative on first? If an inkjet printer, then did you allow enough time for the ink to completely - and I mean completely - dry? I found that my inkjet inks ran even weeks after being printed. I believe they weren't dry completely, even after a couple of days, when I clear coated them.

I found that my inkjet aztec decals worked fine if sprayed with a fixative, which I got from Micromark awhile back. The ones I sprayed with Testors clear or Future ran over a period of time. Metalizer clear works pretty well, too.

DX-SFX · Post by **DX-SFX** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 4:50 pm

If they were printed onto ink jet decal film, some inks continue to merge whether you spray fixer on them or not.

Lt. Z0mBe · Post by **Lt. Z0mBe** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:27 pm

Also, what, if any, solvents did you use to apply the decals? Was the Future undercoat the decals were applied to dry? Was the basecoat under the Future COMPLETELY cured?

Kenny

CaptainHawk1 · Post by **CaptainHawk1** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:05 pm

Their not sealed well enough and that's the answer. Whether I'm making my own or I buy aftermarket, I always seal, seal and seal again. You really can't seal too much. Future should not ever hurt decals that have been thoroughly sealed.

-Shawn

epaulk · Post by **epaulk** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 2:59 pm

Hi everyone!

IMO, the key is the drying speed. If the clear is a slow dryer, like future, it will be have more time to moisturize the ink and consequentially the ink will be altered. The faster the clear dry, less the time it have to moisturize the ink. For my decals, I only use automotive clear, the type that not uses activator/catalyzer. Like acrylic lacquer o lacquer. This type of clear has other advantages, like it can be thinned a lot, that way you can apply more layers and it dry very thin. This type of clear gets dry to the touch in about 20 seconds. However, as others mention before, I always wait at least 48 hours before I apply the clear.

This is sample:

http://www.modelosaescala.com/forum/upl ... C01541.jpg

For more pictures click here:

www.modelosaescala.com/forum2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11

Julius Orange · Post by **Julius Orange** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 3:54 am

*BUMP*

Although the late CaptainHawk1 was correct, I have come across the same thing recently that you did Millenium and the problem was that I followed MicroMark's instruction on the decal paper and set my printer to the transparency setting which (at least for my Epson) is no good at all (and this is something that I know better not to do). It pumps way too much color out and quite frankly, the paper isn't designed for that much color. The best results I've had have been on the basic default settings (Plain Paper, Text). That "melting" effect will not occur and then you can can just seal and go. And no, you don't have to wait more than an hour for the paper to be ready for sealing.

Cheers.

nash30 · Post by **nash30** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 6:30 am

Aptivaboy wrote:What type of ink did you use?

If a laser printer, then did you spray a fixative on first? If an inkjet printer, then did you allow enough time for the ink to completely - and I mean completely - dry? I found that my inkjet inks ran even weeks after being printed. I believe they weren't dry completely, even after a couple of days, when I clear coated them. ink

I found that my inkjet aztec decals worked fine if sprayed with a fixative, which I got from Micromark awhile back. The ones I sprayed with Testors clear or Future ran over a period of time. Metalizer clear works pretty well, too.

Is it true that the spray fixative is really the key step to sealing an inkjet decal? no other option?

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 10:08 am

Glorfindel · Post by **Glorfindel** » Sat May 19, 2012 6:21 am

Ty I recently made my own registry decals for a Battle of Midway Buffalo and ran into the same issue with the ink running when I AB Future over to seal them. I had read you should do exactly that but the result was disastrous. I then researched a bit more and found you can apply Microscale Liquid Decal Film over the top of the freshly printed decals to seal in the ink to prevent it from running. This I brushed on by hand and found it to work wonderfully.

Kylwell, Spray Fixative...you mean the artist fixative to seal in pencil, pastel, even colored inks? Hmmm I have this and it never occurred to me to spray it on the decals after printing them. I'm curious as to how Fixative would react when the decal is placed in water for setting. If this is true it is very good to know.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Sat May 19, 2012 9:51 am

Yup, same stuff. Meant to seal paints, pastels, pencils, etc from further layers I tried it one day and found it to be thinner (doesn't leave a step when the decal is applied) than any other sealer I'd tried.