Toner Transfer + Powder Coating -> would this work?

[Beo]

Dave, this info is excellent, thanks!

I have some experience with GAC and Liquitex products (mediums, flow-aid, etc), using Vallejo and Reaper acryllics for brush painting metal miniatures. I'm setting up for airbrushing this holiday, and I'm currently working on hooking up an airtank to act as a baffle for my sparmax piston airbrush compressor which seems to have quite a bit of pulsing. Not sure if this solution will work, and I might just try a long coiled hose to baffle the airflow a bit. I don't have a brush yet, but I'm thinking of asking Santa for a gravity fed brush (Badger Patriot or Iwata Revolution) to be a bit more economical on paint and be able to use less air pressure. (Also researching CO2 canister exchanges in my area)

For wet transfer, I picked up GAC-800, which is supposed to reduce "craze" which can happen with transfers. Would you think this product would work as a general clearcoat layer as well... the way you use GAC-200?

Also, do you tend to use more than one airbrush to facilitate changing colors and clearcoat layers? Or do you use a siphon feed brush so you can switch bottles?

[davent]

Hi Travis,
Earlier this year did a small airbrushing tutorial and detailed my toys there so rather then repeat all that here, http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=97942.msg855339#msg855339

I would say if i had to pick only one brush,,, gravity feed with a medium bowl would be the way to go, it takes very little paint to coat a box. I first bought a siphon feed that i could directly use Createx bottles with.

GAC 800; from the website.

GAC 800: Reduced Crazing of Dried Films / Best for Direct Pouring.

Most useful as an additive for acrylic paints when pours/puddles are desired to dry with the same film thickness and smoothness as when wet. Most acrylics will craze, which is the formation of valleys that run through a pour/puddle nullifying the uniformity of the film. Such crazing is the result of shrinkage forces exerted during the drying process. GAC 800 stands alone in its resistance to such film discontinuity.
Dries with good gloss and film flexibility, but with a slight "hazy" quality.
Useful as a modifier when adhesion to chalky surfaces is desired.

Based on this and not having used it, it's probably not the best product for our purposes as it's designed for thick pours and has a hazy (non-transparent?) quality... although the way you would be using it, the final film's only going to be as thick as the toner you're transfering so hazy may not be an issue at all. I'd just give it a run through and see what you think. I first saw transfers being done as paper to paper transfers so no problem finding stuff to experiment with, no need to mess up an enclosure.

I've little to no experience with much of the products available so i've just been going by what i've found in mostly books from the library and some i've purchased, some stuff on the web but i'm an old school lover of books. For interference isolation coats (interlayer clearcoats), the two products i've seen recommended are the GAC100 (or was it 500?) for use on flexible substrates and the GAC200 on rigid substrates so that's what i've been using, mix it with AIrbrush medium for spraying interference coats then also mix it with Self Leveling Gel and distilled water to make a hard, brushable liquid, found that applying this mix with a pallet knife i can quickly build a very smooth, sandable surface before applying the final lacquer. I use a lot of GAC200.

dave

edit; i keep refering to an interference coat but it should be isolation coat

[Beo]

Hey Dave,
  I've been trying this technique using GAC-200, and I'm not having much success. When I try to pour or brush an acrylic layer, it's nowhere near flat. Airbrushing an acrylic layer doesn't lay down enough acrylic (Golden website says that you need 1/32" to 1/16" layer to get a good transfer).
  What I find is that by the time I get most of the paper off, the laser toner starts coming off, especially around edges. Also, I can never get the acrylic around the toner image back to clear... even with as much paper removed as possible, it stays cloudy (not sure if some paper fiber stays embedded).
  Can you clarify how you lay down the acrylic layer before folding down the hinged image? Also, do you think the type of laser toner or paper may be an issue for me?

Thanks,
Travis

[davent]

Hey Dave,
  I've been trying this technique using GAC-200, and I'm not having much success. When I try to pour or brush an acrylic layer, it's nowhere near flat. Airbrushing an acrylic layer doesn't lay down enough acrylic (Golden website says that you need 1/32" to 1/16" layer to get a good transfer).
  What I find is that by the time I get most of the paper off, the laser toner starts coming off, especially around edges. Also, I can never get the acrylic around the toner image back to clear... even with as much paper removed as possible, it stays cloudy (not sure if some paper fiber stays embedded).
  Can you clarify how you lay down the acrylic layer before folding down the hinged image? Also, do you think the type of laser toner or paper may be an issue for me?

Thanks,
Travis

Hi Travis,

When i started playing around i tried using the airbrush and also a small foam roller to apply the GAC but neither applied enough. Now just pour out some of the GAC200 onto the enclosure and move it around with a small brush to ensure there's GAC where i need the transfer. I always tape one edge of the transfer to the enclosure to act as a hinge, flip the transfer out of the way, apply the GAC, flip the transfer back onto the GAC, cover the transfer with waxed paper then smooth it out with a brayer (small rubber roller). At first i just smoothed them out with my fingers which was ok but the brayer works much better. You need to smooth the transfer out immediately after laying it onto the GAC or the paper will start to wrinkle up and crease as it absorbs moisture and the creases are difficult to remove.

For removing the paper, i'll let it dry over night, sand the paper lighttly to get any excess GAC off that surface and allow the paper to absorb water more easily. Spritz the paper and rub for a bit getting most of the paper off. I then let it dry again, maybe 15 minutes, re-wet/rub. Takes three/four cycles to get all the paper fibers. If i get impatient and try to take too much at once i too have rubbed off bits of toner. The GAC will absorb water and get soft and go milky again if left with water on it for too long so it's best to do many gentle scrub sessions. Once the GAC is dry again it will be clear.

For paper i'm just using whatever cheap multi-purpose paper that's in the recycle pile. HP printer and toner, haven't experimented with other printer set-ups so can't comment on that but can't imagine why other's wouldn't work.

Please keep me posted. Take care, dave

Brayer


Medium
 

[Beo]

Thanks Dave, those pictures help!

Using the Brayer, do you use firm pressure, squeezing out excess GAC? Or is it a lighter touch using the roller?

[davent]

Hi Travis, With the brayer i try to squeeze out all the excess medium, what i'm trying to achieve is a layer of medium no thicker then the toner layer on the paper and have the medium feather away to nothing away from the toner so there's no visible edge, never gets to that point but does get pretty close and the edge does disappear with more medium or clearcoats and a bit of sanding. When i apply medium to the whole face  the medium edge is hard to detect but usually i'm just doing small transfers so a small pool of medium to contend with and more chance of a visible edge.

dave