Any surface needs decoration. So owners of expensive foreign cars and other prestigious equipment can decide. Even a complex shape can be covered with an exquisite pattern, giving individuality to things. Aquaprint technology serves this purpose. This is not only a design technique, but also an opportunity to open your own small business. Moreover, an aquaprint at home is quite doable.
How to create a drawing
The image applied using this technology can give an expensive and prestigious car an even more elegant look. Of course, to get such a service, it is enough to contact the masters in technical centers. But, having become acquainted with the material below, you will conclude that the whole process is quite feasible at home. The choice of colors and images is quite large. For example, you can make a coating under the skin of reptiles, fur and camouflage. Imitations of wood, steel, stone, aluminum and titanium are very popular. To create an aquaprint with your own hands, you need a spacious room. Its area must be at least twenty meters. It needs to separate the place where all the materials will be stored. Mandatory presence in the work areaall utilities: water supply, ventilation, sewerage. It is necessary to ensure that there is no dust in the room, and the temperature is maintained from 18 to 24 degrees Celsius. Humidity should be between forty and seventy percent.
Technology Feature
The way to cover the most difficult surfaces, called Aqua Print (or immersion printing), was invented by the Japanese in the 80s of the twentieth century. As the name implies, water is required, it is poured into a special container and brought to a temperature of twenty degrees. The process is based on the application of a special film on almost any surface. It immediately performs two functions: it serves as a decoration and protection from the influence of temperatures (in the range from minus forty-five to plus one hundred and fifty degrees Celsius), cracking, and vibration. In addition, a decorative coating helps to prevent the negative effects of various solvents, sea water and ultraviolet radiation. And in this way you can decorate metal, plastic, glass, porcelain, wood, ceramics.
Required material
To make a DIY aquaprint at home, you will need the following: a large bath of water, a boiler, a film, a spray bottle, a thermometer, an air compressor and a timer. For beginners who are going to do immersion printing at home, special kits are available for sale. If you intend to turn this activityin your own business, it is better to purchase special equipment for aquaprinting. To work with paints, varnishes and an activator, you will need a compressor and spray guns.
Preparing the surface for painting
Before you create an aquaprint with your own hands, you need to process the object that is supposed to be decorated. First, it is wiped with a solvent to degrease it. If you are going to decorate the interior of the car, then you first need to remove the rubberized compound. They cover plastic surfaces. If the part is polished, then it is enough just to wipe it. The next step is sanding to remove all the roughness and make the thing perfectly smooth. To prepare the surface of the object for applying the primer, you will need a primer for plastic. It can be purchased at a specialized store. Next, apply an automotive primer and wait for it to dry completely. Only after that the surface is sanded again. Then the part is painted in the main, base color.
Step by step instructions
To make a bathtub for an aquaprint, you can create a special tank with your own hands. For small details at the initial stage of activity, it is enough to take a basin or bucket. Fill a container with water and heat it up. The temperature can range from twenty-nine to thirty-one degrees. Now you need a special film for aquaprint, you can buy it in stores. She carries the future drawing. It must be cut and made along the edges of the notch by two centimeters. Now we need to defineits sticky edge. This can be found out with the help of a simple manipulation: you need to moisten the index and thumb and clamp the film with them. Then it will need to be immersed in water with the side that is sticky. After the drawing must be fixed, and all bubbles must be removed from the surface of the film (for this you can use a hair dryer). An activator spray must be applied on top of it, under its influence the material will become liquid and spread to the edge of the container. Now you need to dip the part that you plan to decorate into the resulting composition. After that, the surface to be decorated must be washed and dried. Then the decorated object must be coated with a protective varnish. Thus, an aquaprint is obtained with your own hands. This is a job that even a beginner can handle. As a result, you will get a very beautiful and high-quality item.
