Homemade decal clearcoating problem

Aptivaboy · Post by **Aptivaboy** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:45 pm

Hi, all.

I've got a homemade decal problem. I've printed out several of Carlos Zangrando's wonderful decals. They look great and my H-P inkjet printer prints them nicely. The problem is, when I spray a clearcoat on them they change color, usually from a nice grey (in the case of the Ent-B decals) to a purple or pink color. This has happened using a variety of clearcoats, including Testors enamel gloss, Testor Metalizer clear, Testors decal prep, Tamiya arylic clear, and another non-enamel whose name escapes me. Something is changing the ink colors.

Any ideas on how to cure this? Should I use something else?

Thanks!

Robert

rpauly · Post by **rpauly** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:19 pm

You will get some discoloration regardless, but you can minimize it by allowing the ink to dry thoroughly, and the applying the fixative in several very light, dry coats.

Aptivaboy · Post by **Aptivaboy** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:25 pm

Thanks. I thought it might be a dry time issue, so I let these last ones dry for a couple of days before clearcoating them. Now, I'm wondering it isn't an ink issue. H-P changed their ink formula awhile back for newer printers, so maybe its an ink thing? This didn't happen on my old inkjet printer with old inkjet cartridges.

Joseph Osborn · Post by **Joseph Osborn** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 11:08 pm

I can tell you that the black ink from my HP (cart 56) makes green decals. I had an old Epson that I made a few decals on many years ago and they were black. Regardless of the brand, they all become fuzzy over time.

Aptivaboy · Post by **Aptivaboy** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 2:00 pm

Funny. I use catridge 56 also, and mine come out pinkish-purple. Weird!