Direct to Object Ink Printing

[ljudice]

wonder if this technology will make it to the MR industry:

https://www.xerox.com/digital-printing/continuous-feed-printer/direct-to-object-inkjet-printer/enus.html#

[Philip H]

I bet the first use will be printed Jewel boxes.   

[C855B]

Interesting. Isn't MTL using something similar already? Like for their wood-sided billboard reefers and graffiti cars?

The Xerox printer has the same issue as the one MTL uses - you can see the process raster dots, and the resulting soft edges. 1200x1200 resolution sounds good, but in four-color (CMYK) process, that's only going to give you a rough dot. I didn't notice stochastic dithering, but that's awfully hard to determine from the videos when they wouldn't keep the damn camera still, always panning the samples.

In so many words, too rough for models at this point. The packaging and "product personalization" markets are a natural for products that can tolerate the "cheaply done" appearance and gamut limitations. However, I see it advancing alongside 3D printing. Not today, probably not tomorrow, but maybe 5-10 years from now.

[randgust]

Didn't the Kato / Amtrak special run "Pacific Parlor' car use direct-on-shell print technology of some kind?  I got one, it was good but not excellent.

http://www.katousa.com/N/AMT-ElCap/156-0950.jpg

[Philip H]

Didn't the Kato / Amtrak special run "Pacific Parlor' car use direct-on-shell print technology of some kind?  I got one, it was good but not excellent.

http://www.katousa.com/N/AMT-ElCap/156-0950.jpg

 i could swear they used the same inkjet pad thingy Rapido uses.

[C855B]

Didn't the Kato / Amtrak special run "Pacific Parlor' car use direct-on-shell print technology of some kind?  I got one, it was good but not excellent.

http://www.katousa.com/N/AMT-ElCap/156-0950.jpg

Yeah, you're right. I have one as well, having enjoyed the 1:1 version a couple of times. The printing is slightly blurry, you can see the dots, and that's certainly an artifact of not quite enough resolution.

[JMaurer1]

I'm sure that someone at MT will chime in here, but unless I'm totally wrong, they HAVE been using something like that for awhile now, but there have been complaints about the cars having 'fuzzy' printing on them. These printers just can't print hard solid lines yet and (just like a dot matrix printer) blend colors by printing different 'dots' of ink. When you look closely at the cars, it can easily be seen. As already said, I think they are still using the printer for adding the graffiti and weathering to some cars.

Found the other threads:

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=28938.msg307815#msg307815

Also has great examples of the 'problems' of using this technology

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=30151.msg330983#msg330983

 

[peteski]

Many companies use similar technology already.  Probably not the same exact printer but they are also oink jet heads printing directly on the model.  Kato and MTL are couple that have been using this for several years now. I also noticed that a new Fleischmann diesel I picked up was also partially decorated using this technology.  I started that thread JMaurer1 linked to in his post and I should update it with some more current examples.

Tichy Trains decals are also printed using similar technology (ink jet with UV curable ink).  In many cases you can easily tell that the decoration has been done with an ink jet printer instead of Tampo pad printing. The ink-jet ink is often bumpy and shiny. Goes on fairly thick (much thicker than decals or Tampo print).  MTL must have upgraded their printer once or twice as the quality of their ink jet printed decoration has greatly improved since the first time they used it (when they released their Meat Series reefers).  They also seem to clear coat the printed images.  I still prefer Tampo-printed decorations, but the ink jet technology is perfect for graffiti or weathering.  But we are getting close to where the ink jet printing will be a viable replacement for Tampo printing. At least IMO.

[peteski]

i could swear they used the same inkjet pad thingy Rapido uses.

Rapido also used ink jets?  In which cars?  I have few and they all look to me masked/painted and then Tampo-printed.