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#11
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Another thing I have done for making woodgrain decals is;
Print a reversed ink jet image on thin decal paper like Microscale's. When ink is dry, give it a whiff coat of Krylon clear to seal it. Give it a coat of acrylic paint. Let it dry Put the decal painted side down, soak the backing paper thoroughly and lift it off. You look through the decal film to see your image correctly printed against the color you painted. For wood, I then sprayed on colored lacquer toners to get the color I wanted. I can use this method instead of the transfer method by giving my paint coat an additional layer of the polymer emulsion. Large thin decals can be hard to handle and have to be made thicker. But, I want to add the transfer method when I update the DIY Photo finish webpage. Stewart Stewart Schooley wrote: Pat, I am concerned with doing large sections of a radio or auto dashboard. Transfering a full color image has to work perfectly every time or no one will be interested in it. My method of gainlines only over a basecoat of color means that if there are small problem areas, the same base coat can be used to touch up color and a fine brush could touch up the lines. The people who restore dashboards for $2,000.00 do a lot of handwork touchup in their work. Do you think that Lazertran will do a perfect job every time doing 11" x 17" prints? Can't I do the same thing Lazestran does with polymer emulsion medium? Are there any problems with handling and applying a 11" x 17" decal. By the way, the thinnest and strongest decals I have made were ink jet prints on Canon High-Resolution paper. Gave the print one even coat of clear polyurethane and when dry, removed the paper. Best news of all is that this paper leaves a white film on the back after the paper is removed. It doesn't add to the thickness of the decal and makes the decal opaque. Stewart Pat Kight wrote: Stewart Schooley wrote: Di, I can see it would help a lot if this group knew what I was doing. One note about the Canon color copier. If any of you try this, use the laser paper from a black and white copier in the color machine. It is thinner and removes easier. I use polyurethane to make a super thin and super strong decal from an image printed on Canon High Resolution ink jet paper. Here is the information; I am working on transferring color images from a Canon color copier to another surface. Currently I am using a pure polymer emulsion sold in art supply stores as the glue. Here's my proceedure; Brush the glue onto a surface with a brush. Put the color print face down into the wet glue. Smooth it out with your fingers and wipe off excess coming from the edges with a rag. Wipe away from the paper. Roll it with the little wood wheel used to roll wallpaper seams. Let it dry a few hours. Remove the paper using water, bleach and a small fairly stiff natural bristle brush. Soak it good, keep it wet and use the brush to loosen and brush away the wet pulp. The image will be reversed so you have to print a reversed image to transfer. The glue I am using works well but occasionally I have a few small missing spots. I am looking for something better. Do any of you know of a glue that is easily spreadable, dries clear, is thick enough so that it doesn't soak into the paper, is super strong, and of course, cheap to buy? BTW, for black only prints, get your print from a black and white laser copier. For a quick and dirty testof this method, paint something with any latex or acrylic paint you have, even old house paint. Put any black and white laser print face down on the wet paint and follow the steps above. You know, there's a medium designed for this very job, and the process of producing the transfers is a whole lot easier than you describe. Are you familiar with Lazertran? It's an artist-quality transfer medium which works with Canon (and certain other other) color laser copiers to produce a standard waterslip decal which can be adhered to almost any surface - paper, glass, wood, metal, fabric, plaster, even dimensional surfaces. Great stuff, and it provides a crisp, clear. Take a look at http://www.lazertran.com/ (I'm not affiliated with the company, I'm just one heck of a satisfied customer). |
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#12
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Stewart Schooley wrote:
I am concerned with doing large sections of a radio or auto dashboard. Transfering a full color image has to work perfectly every time or no one will be interested in it. My method of gainlines only over a basecoat of color means that if there are small problem areas, the same base coat can be used to touch up color and a fine brush could touch up the lines. You could do exactly the same thing with Lazertran - I've seen some wonderful work done using black-only decals over painted base colors. And you can paint on top of it just fine once it's dry. Do you think that Lazertran will do a perfect job every time doing 11" x 17" prints? The prints are as perfect as photocopying can make them. This is a fine-art medium, and the professional artists who use it wouldn't settle for less. Can't I do the same thing Lazestran does with polymer emulsion medium? Possibly, but it's bound to be more labor intensive and, I would think, prone to cracking, unevenness of coating and other errors. If you're good at doing it your way, then by all means continue, but I wonder how easy it will be to pass your skill on to others. Are there any problems with handling and applying a 11" x 17" decal. It might be, but there's nothing saying you have to make a single decal out of the entire sheet. I often use one sheet to make a number of different images. If you choose to make a continuous 11 x 17 pattern, the decal can be cut into manageable pieces and tiled together on the working surface so that the pattern matches perfectly. It isn't even difficult, with a little practice, since you apply the decal wet and it can easily be slid around on the surface to get the right pattern match. One thing I like about it is that you can use a heat gun or blow dryer, after squeegeeing out the water and any small bubbles, and the decal will conform to the slightest curve, dip or dent in the surface to which you're applying it. I've seen plaster eggs covered with the stuff - not a wrinkle to be seen. By the way, the thinnest and strongest decals I have made were ink jet prints on Canon High-Resolution paper. Gave the print one even coat of clear polyurethane and when dry, removed the paper. Best news of all is that this paper leaves a white film on the back after the paper is removed. It doesn't add to the thickness of the decal and makes the decal opaque. Lazerjet does have an inkjet decal medium which results in an opaque background, if that's what you're after, with no coating required. You might order a sample pack and fool around with it, but really, it was just a suggestion for an alternate approach. -- Pat Kight |
#13
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In article , says...
http://pages.cthome.net/ptf/photofin/photoFinish.html I recall having discussions with you here in the past, and am familiar with your web site from that exchange. You may have seen my pages too. My craft work is on the "3-D Art Objects" page. http://www.zianet.com/jaxart In any event, I'm really not conversant on faux finishes since it's not my field of interest. I got into this thread to try and help with the "I need a special glue" question - and it's digressed from there to faux finishes, etc. |
#14
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Pat ,
You make a convincing case for Lazertran and I certainly appreciate the information. I checked Michaels and Dick Blick and they don't carry it. At this point, I am not going to order Lazertran, but I do plan to try their ink jet decal paper later. Right now I have painted boards ready for me to apply large images. I will be using Minwax's Polycrylic, Liquitex's Gloss Medium and Varnish, and Liquitex's Gel Medium. This time I will allow them to dry for four days. Last week I squeezed a gob of Gel Medium out and it took four days to fully harden. Apparently, a long curing time is necessary for all polymer emulsions. There is one other thing I should make you aware of. From past experience, I know that radio guys are tecnical types and are scared off by anything that sounds like art work. If the Minwax Polycrylic works as well as the polymer emulsions, they will be more willing to try it because they can buy it in a hardware store and that is familiar to them. Art materials are not familiar to them. I'll come back to this thread next week with a report on my larger tests. Stewart Pat Kight wrote: Stewart Schooley wrote: I am concerned with doing large sections of a radio or auto dashboard. Transfering a full color image has to work perfectly every time or no one will be interested in it. My method of gainlines only over a basecoat of color means that if there are small problem areas, the same base coat can be used to touch up color and a fine brush could touch up the lines. You could do exactly the same thing with Lazertran - I've seen some wonderful work done using black-only decals over painted base colors. And you can paint on top of it just fine once it's dry. Do you think that Lazertran will do a perfect job every time doing 11" x 17" prints? The prints are as perfect as photocopying can make them. This is a fine-art medium, and the professional artists who use it wouldn't settle for less. Can't I do the same thing Lazestran does with polymer emulsion medium? Possibly, but it's bound to be more labor intensive and, I would think, prone to cracking, unevenness of coating and other errors. If you're good at doing it your way, then by all means continue, but I wonder how easy it will be to pass your skill on to others. Are there any problems with handling and applying a 11" x 17" decal. It might be, but there's nothing saying you have to make a single decal out of the entire sheet. I often use one sheet to make a number of different images. If you choose to make a continuous 11 x 17 pattern, the decal can be cut into manageable pieces and tiled together on the working surface so that the pattern matches perfectly. It isn't even difficult, with a little practice, since you apply the decal wet and it can easily be slid around on the surface to get the right pattern match. One thing I like about it is that you can use a heat gun or blow dryer, after squeegeeing out the water and any small bubbles, and the decal will conform to the slightest curve, dip or dent in the surface to which you're applying it. I've seen plaster eggs covered with the stuff - not a wrinkle to be seen. By the way, the thinnest and strongest decals I have made were ink jet prints on Canon High-Resolution paper. Gave the print one even coat of clear polyurethane and when dry, removed the paper. Best news of all is that this paper leaves a white film on the back after the paper is removed. It doesn't add to the thickness of the decal and makes the decal opaque. Lazerjet does have an inkjet decal medium which results in an opaque background, if that's what you're after, with no coating required. You might order a sample pack and fool around with it, but really, it was just a suggestion for an alternate approach. |
#15
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Di,
I remember Jaxart, but didn't remember your name. Nothing personal, I'll soon be 73 and I have a lot of "senior moments". Posting here has resulted in more than I expected . Pat's info about Lazertran told me about something I had never heard about before. About 5 years ago I refinished a radio cabinet for my son. That's when I found radio newsgroups and forums and learned about the problems they had fixing the old woodgrain photofinish. I decide that with my background in art I could help them. It has been a lot of fun and, as you know, any artist would appreciate the opportunity to explore new materials and challenges. I don't make a dime on it , but it is rewarding when someone e-mails me with a success story using my information. Stewart Di Monbak wrote: In article , says... http://pages.cthome.net/ptf/photofin/photoFinish.html I recall having discussions with you here in the past, and am familiar with your web site from that exchange. You may have seen my pages too. My craft work is on the "3-D Art Objects" page. http://www.zianet.com/jaxart In any event, I'm really not conversant on faux finishes since it's not my field of interest. I got into this thread to try and help with the "I need a special glue" question - and it's digressed from there to faux finishes, etc. |
#16
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#17
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Di Monbak wrote:
In article , says... Right now I have painted boards ready for me to apply large images. I will be using Minwax's Polycrylic, Liquitex's Gloss Medium and Varnish, I'll jump in here and say that all of them are, as far as I know, the same product as the Rhoplex we were discussing. What makes the difference is the modifiers some manufacturers use to instill particular properties to their acrylic formulations - gelling agents, retarders, UV filtering, etc. I buy the Minwax Polycrylic by the gallon at Home Depot as it works much better for me as a "varnish" than some of the "artist grade" acrylic varnishes which sell for a much higher price simply because they are sold in "art stores." That's a good rule of thumb for art supplies in general. I almost always hit the hardware store before I hit the craft store when I'm looking for finishes, adhesives, solvents, paintbrushes, fasteners, etc. A real eye-opener, glue-wise, came when I learned that the popular silicon craft glue, E-6000 is the same glue, made by the same manufacturer, as the "GOOP" line ... and that a tube of "Crafters GOOP" costs at least a buck more than a same-sized tube of "Hardware GOOP" ... yet, according to the manufacturer, they are the exact same adhesive. I just wish the really good, old-fashioned hardware stores around here hadn't all been run out of business by the big box stores. I miss buying screws and nails from opened bins from guys who actually knew the merchandise they were selling. -- Pat Kight |
#18
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