Printer for water slide decals

[eran_k]

I've kind of researched this subject lately, trying to figure out a way to overcome the short comings of "Home" decal printing (transparent inks, no white..)

since all the "Old" solutions like Alps or Oki printers are really old by now.

so i came across what seems like quite expensive solution although it can still be affordable lets say for maybe a group of builders who want to share a printer.

it's an American company called Uninet and the printer model is Icolor560.

there are some videos on YouTube of guys producing excellent looking water slide decals with it (for diecasts).

 

[peteski]

Alps MicroDry printers are ancient and their inks are getting harder to find and pricey, but they are still the best ones for home printing of decals with white undercoat and also for printing standalone white and metallic inks.   Yes there are color laser printers available which can print white either as standalone color oor as an undercoat), but they (and their supplies) are expensive and those still don't have nearly the flexibility of what Alps printers can do.

Some of those white-capable laser printers use CYMW (cyan, yellow, magenta, white) printing where the black toner is replaced with white.  Since there is no black toner, black color is made from 100% density of the CYM toners, resulting in black which is sort of dark muddy brown.

The "good" (read: very expensive) laser printers actually use 5 toners (CYMKW). Those give the best quality printouts.

Edited February 26 by peteski

[eran_k]

If i understood correctly the Unicolor printer uses both a true white and a true black toners

[peteski]

Yes, that one appears to have capabilities close to the old Alps MicroDry printer.

The IColor™ 560 does it all.

1. White overprint® for textile and apparel applications
2. White underprint® for non-transfer applications
3. Dye Sublimation applications
4. Fluorescent colors and Clear
5. Regular CMYK printing
6. Gold and Silver color printing capabilities

And an excerpt from the manual:

The IColor 560 comes
complete with a total of 5 toner cartridges for full color and black printing (CMYK), as well as our exclusive
fluorescent white cartridge. Quickly swap the black for white when you want to add white as a spot color, or to
print a white underprint or overprint in concert with the IColor ProRIP Essentials software. Black can then be
produced using composite black (made from 100% CMY).
You will also have the option to add fluorescent toner or dye sublimation toner upgrade kits, as well as the
exclusive IColor security, clear, gold and silver toner options, at any time.
Please note that vector and line art images, including text, are likely to produce the best results.

However reading further in the manual the printer only has 4 slots for toner cartridges so unlike Alps, when white undercoat is needed, black is replaced with white cartridge resulting in a black made up from CYM colors (page 22 in the manual).  It is also incapable of multi-pass printing which makes Alps unique. With Alps you can print standard colors, white and metallic while the paper remains in the printer for perfect registration.

It is also a $4,000 dollar printer, and the consumables are likely quite pricey too.  While it is likely a viable option for a small decal printing business, it is a bit too rich for most modelers. But as you mentioned, if you can find bunch of builders to make a group purchase, that might be something that would work.