Inkjet Printed Cardstock

[jacq01]

  Russ, 

  the grey cells have been activated to ponder the construction details AND where my name would appear on the credit list.

  Jacq

[Fred H.]

Hope I'm posting this in the most appropriate thread. Russ, I've bought the last three years worth of The Modeler's Annual (all within the last 10 days) and I've been studying your cardstock thoughts/ideas. I found a VERY interesting online source for various building surfaces (wood, brick, stone, etc.) and developed a work-around for the fact that the artwork comes delivered in a .pdf file. Here's my question: You mention that you haven't been able to get photo paper to work well for you. Have you tried "Photo Supreme" by Staples? It's a double-side, matte finish in 61lb (230g/m2). Brightness isn't marked on the label but seems pretty good to me... probably in the 95+ range.

[finescalerr]

I think I have some here, Fred, or something very similar. That and all similar photo papers have a very thin coating on each side to minimize capillary action and enhance ink saturation. When you scribe or otherwise work with such papers, bits of that coating may flake off leaving minute white specks. I know of no way to recolor those specks to match the rest of the print.

If you can come up with a way to protect the coating and make the printed paper rugged enough to withstand a lot of handling I'll adopt your method at once and switch to matte photo paper.

Russ

[Fred H.]

I thought you'd probably had experience with this paper, Russ. What I'm working on are some background buildings for an indoor 1:24 layout I'm finishing for my adult son, Will. The buildings will be at least 6-8 feet from the viewers and won't get any handling. There are a few foreground structures that will be scratch built. I'm going to give this a whirl and will definitely post some photos with progress (in a separate thread).

-- Fred H.

[finescalerr]

You may be okay with background buildings. The handling that ruined my attempts with photo papers was during construction where I had to drill holes or attach parts. Once a tool slipped very slightly under only the slightest pressure but it was enough to chip the paper, a problem I've never had with printed Strathmore or Wausau ExactIndex or Lanaquarrelle. I also discovered some minor damage from simply setting a model down on my work surface.

No matter what paper you use, printed artwork needs protection.

Russ

[mabloodhound]

Russ,
I wanted to try something else for my cardstock models.   I've been using just 110# cardstock from Staples in the past.
You mention Lanaquarrelle and when I started looking, I found it is available in 140# or 300# and in rough, cold press, or hot press.
Which product do you normally use for printing on.   I have an excellent Canon photo printer i9900 so it will handle most anything (except plywood LOL).

[finescalerr]

Dave, the useful Lanaquarelle paper is the 140 pound cold press. Don't spend a lot of money on it. I accidentally bought enough to last two lifetimes so for the price of postage and a big envelope I'll send you a few pieces. It takes inkjet printing pretty well with good saturation and not too much capillary action. The tricky part is protecting the surface because, with handling, fibers have a tendency to disengage from the surface. Matte varnish and/or a spray like Dullcote may help.

When you scribe it, the suface is all but indistinguishable from basswood. A few critical modelers looked at a sample under magnification and confirmed that. Its texture also is very good for brick.

If you want a less "weathered" surface, even for wood with peeling paint, you also should look at Strathmore Bristol Velum, available at any Michaels craft store and most art stores. You may distress the suface with a wire brush without raising fibers or tearing the finish. I am using strips for clapboard and they are closer to scale than wood in 1:48 with a more convincing surface texture.

Russ