"Preserving ink on paper models?" Topic

I'm having trouble with ink cracking and scuffing off my paper while I'm building paper models. The smaller the piece, the more handling it suffers, and the more damage I do to the original printing. Combine that with working with glue, and I'm shredding the print.

Any suggestions on how to hold the ink down? I'm tempted to paint it with Modge Podge, or spray it with Testors Dul-Coat, but I worry about warping.

thx

Artist's "fixative" might work. It's a spray-on coating designed to prevent smearing of charcoal, pencil and ink drawings. I don't recall a brand name, but it's sold at art supply shops and probably hobby places like Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and Jo-Ann. I would think it should do the trick.

Do you use a laser printer?

Inkjet printers generally do not suffer from flacking as opposed to laser printers.

What Parzival said.

Also what Parzival said.

A cheap alternative some artists use as a fixative is Auquanet hairspray.

I find prints from my ink jet printer smear if they get wet. I spray with same Acrylic That I put on figures. It works quite well. Right now I'm using plastercraft acrylic matte which I got at Michael's pretty cheap.

Print on a color copier. The process melts, presses and fuses the ink into the paper.

DM

Don's answer is the best one. You can also airbrush a layer of acrylic medium onto the paper. In fact, if the layer is thick enough, you can then wet the paper and remove it and have a completely flexible skin which can then be applied to something else. Of course, that's beyond most paper modelling.

However, if you're forced to use an inkjet, I find that Testor's Dullcote works much better than artists' fixative to stop colours from rubbing off and (worse) reacting with moisture. The colour will still rub off slightly, but not nearly as badly.