Laser Printed Models revisited

[John Wagenseil]

I have been building models printed on my laser printer. I have not turned on my ink jet for so long the heads are probably clogged and would either need a blow out, or finally giving up on the printer and replacing it. It is Epson C88, which for most part has worked well, I do not care for the new ink jet printers I have seen, I do not want an all in one, and home grade printer construction seen flimsier than it was.

Back to laser printing. I have not been able to completely avoid print crackle at folds, but I have been able to lessen it.

I print on laser print paper using the printer setting that maximizes pigment adhesion to the paper.
I laminate the paper to thicker card by coating the back side with glue and sticking it to the card stock. (A flexible icing spreader from a kitchen supply store is good for spreading glue.)
I put the laminated sheets between wax paper, one wax paper sheet above, one below, then put the wax paper/laminate sandwich between several sheets of newspaper, top and bottom, and put that on a flat surface, then put a sheet of thick glass or a flat metal plate on top of that and pile more weights on top of that and leave it alone for at least a day.
The wax paper is non stick and semi permeable so it will wick the moisture from the glue into the newspaper. The glued up sheet will dry flat and wrinkle free, even if you use water based glue or paste. The weighted plate will squeeze out the excess adhesive and will prevent wrinkling even if you use high water content glue.

When the laminated sheet is dry, spray it with a clear spray or paint it with acrylic floor wax or gesso. This can also be done first before laminating. Flatten between layers of wax paper and newspaper if you are using a water based coating, or weight the edges of the paper if the clear fixative is a non water based solvent.

The surface of the print is a lot more durable with this treatment.

Using colored paper as the laminate also makes the uncolored edges less obvious.