any recommendations for metallic (ink jet printer) paper?

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GlenP

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Just wondering if any of our resident cardstock modelers have any experience with metallic papers for printing up cardstock models and any recommendations on what works well with ink jet printers, so you can print patterns on top of the metallic base. Has anyone experimented with applying your own metallic coating to paper? Just wondering. I just got hooked on the Centuri X-24 Bug and thought it would look really cool if you could print the pattern on a metallic paper. I guess you would have to scuff up the paper in the glue tab areas, not sure if white glue or a glue stick would absorb into the metallic coating.
 
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I have not tried building with metallic paper yet, but I have been thinking about trying it for scale models with a metal skin (Atlas, etc.). As far as gluing the sides of the tube together, that's easy - just use an internal glue tab made from a regular piece of cardstock. Scuffing the places where external parts like fins glue together should work - I would scape off the surface layer with an XActo knife for precision. As for printing on the stock, I have no idea if that can be done. My bet is that ink will just pool on the surface and look splotchy, as well as being prone to rubbing off. Laser might work better, but you are still going to be pretty much limited to black - without a white under layer, I doubt that the colors will really show up. You might be better off printing any decoration on a piece of thin white paper and gluing that to the surface. Of course, a clear overcoat will be important for sealing everything, but some may cloud or attack the metallic layer of the paper. Experimentation is definitely going to be needed.
 
My first experiment did not turn out so good, I tried metallic paint with a clear coat over it then tried to print on it, parts of the black ink outlines looked okay, but large regions of uniform color came out very splotchy, maybe I did not let the paint dry long enough. I have used the water slide decal paper where you clear coat the decal after ink jet printing, I thought maybe it would work in reverse order, where you print on a clear coated paper with a metallic base coat.

I have used monocote on airplanes and the trim monocote is handy for details, but I am thinking of printing up an entire 8.5" X 11" metallic sheet on an ink jet printer like for the Centuri X -24 Bug or other cardstock rocket templates.
 
Just wondering if any of our resident cardstock modelers have any experience with metallic papers for printing up cardstock models and any recommendations on what works well with ink jet printers, so you can print patterns on top of the metallic base. Has anyone experimented with applying your own metallic coating to paper? Just wondering. I just got hooked on the Centuri X-24 Bug and thought it would look really cool if you could print the pattern on a metallic paper. I guess you would have to scuff up the paper in the glue tab areas, not sure if white glue or a glue stick would absorb into the metallic coating.

Yes, plenty of experimenting done a few years ago.

There are places that sell inkjet printable metallic cardstock. Try the following URL www dot itsupplies dot com. Not posting the link because not sure if is ok. Check the various brands of papers they have, most have sample packs you can buy. Simply Elegant Pure Silver Inkjet Paper is my favorite. Bought a 24" wide x 100ft long roll. Yes, you will have to seal with a lacquer clear coat.

Here is an example of the Pure Silver-it is the Apollo capsule on the big-un.
View attachment 294431
Edit=added the photo but it would only show once you click the attachment. Some of the papers the other examples are built of are out of business. To see more of the experiments you will need to browse to papermodlers dot com and then search for color testing metallic papers and also a mis-spelled: metalic papers available , two different threads on the experimenting which include other model maker's experiments as well. plenty of links for different brands of metallic cardstock in those threads.

The best option I've found is buying a coating that will allow the printing on almost any thing that will feed through a printer. www dot inkaid1 dot com is cheaper than the others. I've tried it and it works great on some "chrome mirror" adhesive wall paper I bought direct from China.

Once the chrome wallpaper arrived, peeled the protective layer of paper off, sticking it to a sheet of cardstock. Had to leave a 1/4" margin of plain cardstock, if the mirror covers the whole sheet it would not feed properly into my wideformat printer. Used a foam paint brush to apply several thin layers.

Once the printing is done you have to seal with some type of spray sealer, I used gloss on the photos below.

Here are some example photos;
Silver Mirror Wall Paper2.JPGSilver Mirror1.JPGSilver Mirror4.JPGSilver Mirror5.JPG

As you can see, the chrome mirror is very shiny, the third photo shows just how shiny.

Mike
 
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Those look awesome. I had another fail on my attempt to print over laquer on cardstock and was just planning to cut and build a model, paint it with all over with metallic laquer, then use inkjet decals over top of it. I will look that coating up, the results look great. Thanks for the tip!
 
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