Air Bubbles

[liljohn1368]

I cast this the other day for a guy. When I turned it, it had air bubbles all around the decal. What am I doing wrong? I used spray on mod podge. I sprayed it a few times letting it dry between. I poured and put it in my pressure pot on 70 lb of pressure. I don't know.

 

[lhowell]

Alumilite or PR? If you seal the blank with Mod Podge (water based) and use Alumilite, you need to give the Mod Podge plenty of time to cure. I quit using the stuff and switched to a laser printer due to hazy spots.

I don't have much experience with PR but the blanks I have done with the stuff have come out close to flawless as long as I use the right amount of catalyst and use a slow figure 8 stirring motion.

Other issues especially with Alumilite could be ambient temperature, moisture in the air, finger oils/grease on the blank surface, etc.

My guess though looking at the blank was my first answer in the fact that the Mod Podge didn't have enough time to cure properly or the mod Podge layer was not smooth and created little ridges and such that the resin could not fill?

 

[liljohn1368]

I use silmar 41. And the cure time could be right. I sprayed it that morning and poured it that night. I'll try again and let it cure for a couple days. Thanks for the reply.

 

[EBorraga]

I've found that CA works a lot better to seal the decal with PR. You still have to wait a day or two before you cast

 

[jttheclockman]

You need to also make sure you have the entire decal sealed. Air maybe trapped under it and will escape some place. Sometimes there becomes a air bubble under the decal so make sure it is flat and sealed. CA works great.

 

[WigWag Workshop]

I use a product called MicroSet from Microscale to seal my decals on my scale models, so I am thinking it might work in this situation. I plan on giving it a try very soon, has I have some ideas for a pen using some decals from old model kits.

 

[rd_ab_penman]

I seal my inkjet print Testors Waterslide decals with 2 light coats of Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic coating.

Les

 

[its_virgil]

ditch the mod lodge. use something else to seal. Several good suggestions. Personally, I use thin CA.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[howsitwork]

WigWag

let us know how the Microset works on blanks. Works well on model decals I know. Seem to recall they did a microsol as well?

Regards Ian

 

[WigWag Workshop]

WigWag

let us know how the Microset works on blanks. Works well on model decals I know. Seem to recall they did a microsol as well?

Regards Ian

Yes, they also have Microsol (red) which actually "shrinks" the decal, to help it adhere on non-flat surfaces.