"Color laser printer for fine decals?" Topic

Does anyone have a recommendation for a color laser printer for making decals? Any ideas about what kind of technical details I should be paying attention to?

Thanks,
Mark

Most modern color laser printers print at 600-1,200 DPI (Dots Per Inch). The DPI resolution is not the issue with them. It is whether you want/need white ink -- they don't print white, only RGB and Black toner, typically on top of white paper…

They will print fine on paper. You may need special print sheets if you want something other than peel-n-stick label paper for your decals. Their resolution is high enough, but the materials they will print upon, may limit your options.

If you want water-transfer decals, lasers likely won't work, but I'm not an expert on those.

Bear in mind laser printers transfer the toner image via electrostatic transfer to the paper sheet, which then is pressed between a heated teflon-coated roller on top, pressing the plastic toner beads into the paper beneath, with a hard rubber roller on the bottom side. The plastic toner beads are literally melted into the paper's surface, being pressed between two heated rollers -- the pressure and the heat may adversely affect any water-transfer plastic substrate. Cheers!

If you want white you either have to paint a patch of white and apply a clear background decal on top, or use white background decal paper and have a steady hand and a very sharp blade.

(I've made decals with an Inkjet, works fine. Just need to apply 2 coats of spray varnish on the decal before you can apply it)

I've done some white label paper decals, on mini's. I had to use PVA Glue to attach them, although I've used Mod Podge, as well. Both work, but a clear seal coat is highly recommended.

The label paper works best on smooth surfaces, but I've done it on convex shaped shields. You will have some slight wrinkling as the paper is not very flexible when applying it to spherical surfaces. At arm's-length viewing, the wrinkles will be hard to detect. If you apply a dark wash, I suggest a clear coat first, to seal the label paper, in order to prevent the paper from absorbing too much of the dark wash/stain. Cheers!

I use an inkjet printer to make decals (waterslide)

The biggest issue with a laser printer is that you have to use a whole sheet at once, you can't use partial sheets. I very rarely have a whole sheet of decals to print at once

I did experiment with getting a sheet of laser decals printed at a print shop. The printer and decal sheet were not compatible and there was smearing of the decals

John

I have a color laser printer. I have used the white waterslide and clear. It does NOT print white. Used them for my 1/1600 Trek ships.

Thanks.

John

Interesting discussion. I have two WWII Greek tanks, and I recently found that at least one had what I would think was a unit marking on the side of the hull. It's fairly simple, a white diamond with a black or dark cross or maybe four bladed propeller (why?). I had been thinking about trying to print decals for the tanks (meaning I need four at most) because nobody is going to waste time manufacturing that for sale. However, it sounds like a white diamond on a dark green tank is pretty much a non-starter in decals. I guess I will just have to paint the thing <sigh>.

Useful discussion, at least for me.

Grelber

Actually, I've made decals and left the white bits clear. This works great because I prime in white. I'm just hoping to get better print resolution
, and was wondering what folks' experiences had been.