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But a lot of work, of course. And it kind of defeats the purpose of card modelling, being able to print & paint patterns on parts BEFORE you assemble the model.
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Or does it? If you print on aluminumized card stock is it any different than applying it over the card stock? I've been thinking about building the substrate out of 0.5-1.0 mm card stock, soak with nitrate dope, fill with gesso and sand. Applying aluminum foil over the gesso surface is the art of metal leafing the glue is called size. For this application it would be scaled up to an industrial level from that used in metal leafing.
Panel lines and rivet detail remain problematic. Models with pounce wheel applied rivet detail look essentially that. Rivet detail depends greatly on the sun, angle to the surface, it's relative reflectance and surface textures. This is the stuff that renderer's have to deal with..., and may be what is needed for an interim solution. Render the surface with raised rivet and depressed panel line detail (including overlapped seams) as a gray scale only overlay which is then printed on the aluminumized card stock which is then sized to the waiting surface. Compound surfaces would need to be shaped prior to being mounted after which the surface detail would applied in the form of a clear decal...,
Ultimately applying the gray scales to a photographic mask on the surface for chemical etching would be the end of words for this thought train...,
Of course this is only the gist of the idea and a mountain sized load of work stands in between this and seeing if it actually works...,
Interesting idea though...,
+Gil