Best printer to use?

[multivac]

I'm interested in what printer models people use to print their Scalescenes kits.

 

I'm using an Epson C80 (which keeps drying out)at the moment but looking for a replacement preferably a laser.

 

Maybe we could set this as a poll?

[traction]

My last printer was a HP psc2175 (all in one type of thing)

 

That just packed up, wouldn't turn on so just bought a HP eprint all in one, it's very good but the software drive restricts it's useability.

 

I will clarify that, when you select something to print, a pop up box appears which gives you options to choose from, paper type and size etc.

Well on the new printer they have removed the option to select how big you want print out at.

I was able to select a % size, so I could print something out at 20% or 35% of original size, thats now gone!!

Why cripple a printer with really poor drivers?

 

My choice of printer would give this option, I believe Epson still have it.

 

What I will say is I ALWAYS use original ink, tried re-manufactured rubbish and it was just that!

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

I use an Epson R300. I have just completed a five foot real length Scalescenes wall on my 00 layout. Computer inkjet printers are notorious for not printing what you see on screen. I notice that most of the concrete comes out green. I solved the roadways asphalt by printing in greyscale but the wall cappings have been installed as pale green.

 

I call it oolitic wiffenstone.

 

It is really important that you use the really very best paper. Smiths premium inkjet paper is good and is quite heavy and cuts well. Card is either mountboard from the Range in A3 size or Smiths foamboard which is good but a bit fragile in terms of easy to dent.

 

I have had no trouble with ink dissolving or smearing. I use Roket Card Glue.

 

I like Scalescenes. real modelling and a good result for a modest investment and 'all you can eat' for the money and a few freebies for gap fillers. I am currently building the inspection pits.

[Dolpher]

After years of misery and crippling expense using Inkjet printers I have changed to using a colour laser printer. I have had a Samsung CLP310 for nearly two years and I can't fault it. Scalescenes prints are crisp, well saturated with colour, free of colour casts and fade free (so far) and running costs are much lower than inkjets. Laser prints also have the advantage of not running or smudging when you use watercolours to add weathering effects. The slight sheen that laser prints have is sorted by using a good matt varnish on the finished model. The quality is fine for most domestic tasks too but I do use an internet printing service for any photographs for display.

[number9]

Having encountered problems with a Lexmark inkjet, even with fairly new Lexmark cartridges I found a good deal on a Samsung laser printer (CLP310) over two years ago. I'm on the third set of toner cartridges and so far not had a problem. I concur with the points made by Dolpher about this laser printer.

[SNCF stephen]

I am considering an upgrade to the Samsung CLP320. Can anyone tell me (roughly) how many sheets you get before having to purchase the (expensive) refills? I have heard numbers between 500 and 1000

 

Thanks

[noiseboy72]

I use an OKi Laser with generic re-fills at home. Quick, cheap and they work very well for anything non-photographic. by upping the print density, it is quite possible to get a few thou of relief on the print, with white mortar sitting back behind the bricks.

 

We now have a 12x8 Dye-Sub Lab Photo printer at work. This is brilliant for photo prints, including making shop logos and station boards of the enamal variety. At 90p per print running cost, one does need to check one's work first before hitting print though!

 

To rejuvinate inkjets that dry out, invest £3.80 in a bottle of ink jet cleaner. It works on HPs & Lexmarks with the head built into the cartridge and also the Epsons with the seperate caridge system. A couple of drops, a wipe over with a paper towel and a cleaning cycle and the printer is back as new. I have 5 Epsons and an A3 HP for site work and all clog up from time to time. This stuff has ungooed them all, even when the ink was really crusted on the head in one case.

[Katier]

I use an oldish HP Deskjet 1220C and find it great. Works really well although the colour cartridges to run out fairly quickly. Black can be refilled but colour best to use HP own.

[Gwiwer]

Using a now-superseded Epson Stylus Photo RX510 which gives crisp clear prints, faithfully reproduces the colour allowing for a little variation between the light emitted on the screen and the hard copy finished article (don't get me started on the physics - I just understand there's a difference). Colours from brochures are faithfully matched when scanning or copying. Also have a more recent Epson Stylus Photo TX700W which is every bit as good but won't take A4 premium glossy photo paper, only postcard size at that weight. Both are quite light on ink as well.

[SNCF stephen]

I took the plunge and the Samsung printer arrived this morning. On one of my current modelling projects the detail is awesome, although for some reason at extreme close ups my bubblejet printer is slightly better. However that is only very close up and at anywhere near normal viewing distance the laserjet is better.

 

Thanks to the OP for starting this thread as it was most useful.

[dave flint]

Im about to embark on some scale scenes models, but haven't taken the plunge yet. This thread did catch my eye though !

 

Like other, I'm got sick of inkjet printers gumming up through lack of use. I eventually bought a dell 1320cn, which is a big black box thats a couple of years old now. It does excellent prints, and being a single pass printer can cope with thicker types of paper.

 

I can highly recommend one, and they do seem to be available at bargain prices - just over £100 on some sites.

 

It can connect to a network too (via wire though), so if you don't have the space, you cam hide one in a cupboard say, and have a long cat 5 wire to it.

[Chubber]

 

Like other, I'm got sick of inkjet printers gumming up through lack of use.

 

 

Me too!

 

 

I wonder if any boffins out there could devise a programme/function key that would

 

a. Turn on the printer with the initial start of of the computer each day

 

b. Print out a small colour picture, say, the size of a postage stamp with a black border in the corner of an A4 sheet?

 

 

Then you could turn round the paper 4 times and be sure all was well when you came to need the printer for that important rush job. It would surely work out more economical than 'head-cleaning' [a manufacturers euphemism for 'waste lots of ink 'cos our product isn't reliable..'] which uses up ink from all cartridges, not just the one that's below par. Rant over,

 

 

Doug

[brossard]

I am considering an upgrade to the Samsung CLP320. Can anyone tell me (roughly) how many sheets you get before having to purchase the (expensive) refills? I have heard numbers between 500 and 1000

 

Thanks

 

I'm with Dolpher and Number9 - I have had several ink jet printers in the past - all a wash out (due mainly to ink drying out). I got a Samsung CLX-2160N about 2 years ago and it's been a great tool. The cartridges are pricey but I think you get something like 1000 pages from the colour ones and 1500 from the black (I probably got a dozen sheets from inkjet before it dried out). I got a package deal from Staples - all 4 cartridges for $183 CDN (~115 GBP before VAT if my math is good). Compared to the price of ink, this seems good value to me. They'll last me more than 2 years (in fact I still have the original black cartidge in the machine).

 

First cost for the printer is about $200 CDN (I see the CLP-325 is on sale at Staples for $99 CDN). Mine also does colour scans (an absolute must) and photocopies. You will need to get transparencies designed for laser printer in order to print Scalescenes windows.

 

John

[alfsboy]

its worth bearing in mind that even cheaper Epson printers have a feature to manually set them up as required .The difference is staggering .I once set up my screen and old Epson printer to match .I did it the hard way with a photographers digital colour card but there are devices now to do it easily . People admired my results and were amazed at the C760 printer I was using.Onwe pro photographer asked me where I got my prints done and couldnt believe they were inkjet .It might well be worth delving into the inner recesses of the printers software to colorcync or set manually .It could even be worth converting the scalescenes sheet into a jpeg and working on it in photoshop or similar My art student daughter used to blow up jpegs to an enormous resolution and then clean it all up in photoshop and altering colours .She then reduced that down to size and quality was amazing .I didnt know ink jets could get detail so tiny .

only a thought .

[Dorsetmike]

]Another vote for OKI colour lasers, I've had mine for about 5 years now, just got the first toner refill pack (Clone not OKI) So far I've used it for transfers(decals) for Worsley works Maunsell coach kits, back scenes and Scalescenes kits. Slight problems with colours on the Scalescene items, but fairly easy to fix, fiddling with the printer colour set up, different set ups.can be saved and called up as required. My printer will cope with banner paper up to 1M long, ideal for backscenes!

 

For the Scalescene stuff I print to A4 label stock, no messy glues.

 

One tip for retaining walls or bridges, I use plastic strip, angle or sheet and cover with scalescene brick or stone as in pics below;

pic 1, plastic angle (6' lengths from B&Q) supports a plastic bed,

pic 2 bed covered with belt sander fine grade strip,

pic 3 painted road bed grey, Scalescenes paving for pavement, stick on Scalescenes Random Ashlar, piers cut from from styrene ceiling tile or that card covered foam board, also covered in random ashlar

 

.

 

 

[Peter & Seth]

The Samsung CLP-310 is no longer available on Amazon.co.uk (I found it elsewhere) but I'm guessing the CLP-320 is it's replacement? It's on offer for £77.00 with free P&P. Seems like a bargain. But printers are always cheap - it's the replacement cartridges that are the killer...

 

The "Samsung Rainbow Toner Pack for CLP-320/CLP-325/CLX-3185 Series (Contains Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black)" is listed on Amazon.co.uk for £141! That's double the price of the printer!

 

Does anyone know if the cartridges supplied with the printer are the same capacity as the replacements? I know inkjets tend to come with "demo" cartridges that contain much less ink than the replacements.

 

At home I have a bargain Canon iP2702 inkjet (£20 from Asda) mainly for use by my kids. It does a pretty reasonable job when set to high-quality photographic mode. The better the paper, the better the results. For main structures though I make use of a huge HP LaserJet at work which I feed with top-quality paper/card.

[Barry Ross]

I'd like to reactivate this thread by thanking the contributors for their input which has been enlightening. With today's available choices in mind I have chosen to purchase a Samsung CLP-325W Colour Laser Wireless printer and find it is, after a few minutes setup, printing far better than any ink-jet printer I have used previously. They include Canon, Epson and HP Ink-Jet printers. BTW, I have no afflication with any of these printer companies. My first printout is the Scenecraft platform R008 set. I used standard settings and Office World double sided matt coated inkjet paper with excellent results IMHO. Now if only my modelling skills can match that.

[Campaman]

I use an old Oki laser at home and have access to a Konica Minolta Bizhub at work, I always use standard 80/100gsm copier paper as I find the only advantage of any other paper is if you need it to be thicker for any reason.

[Metalhip]

Whatever you buy I can heartily recommend not buying a Canon LBP 5050 laser printer.

 

I bought one and when the replacement toner cartridges run out it's going in the bin and I'll spend the money on a different brand.It drives me mad with the constant noisy recalibrating and colour adjustment.

 

It boasts about a quick first print,it doesn't say anything about waiting three minutes to do the next one though.

Print one sheet,the printer then recalibrates and colour adjusts even though it did that the last time it was used,it spends longer recalibrating than it does printing.What's the point of recalibrating after it's printed?

 

There is no way to adjust this,I even queried about this laser printer with Canon and got the standard email back about why the inkjet cleans its nozzles and recalibrates,just goes to show they never read emails properly.

 

Allan

[JCL]

Hi there

 

I do lots of prints in my job, and over the years that the following really help when using an ink-jet printer.

1. Always turn the printer off properly. Make sure you switch the printer off on the unit before switching it off at the wall. The printer will often go through a clean-up routine that will withdraw the ink form the printhead; so making it less likely that the printer will gum up. Always print it off when you are done - especially if you are prone to electrical outages in your area.
   
2. For me, using Epson ink on Epson paper means that colour castes are non-existent, I know that the ink is colour-fast for up to 90 years, and my printer won't clog up.
   
3. Be careful if you are using 3rd party inks. A lot of inks are ok or good. Some aren't. The only time that I used 3rd party inks I spent an afternoon deglogging my printer. Your mileage may vary.
   
4. Make sure your paper isn't dusty
   

I don't really want to start a 3rd party ink vs OEM ink debate. Some people get great results from 3rd party ink, if you are happy with your inks then more power to you!

 

There are hundreds, if not thousands of articles about getting rid of colour caste on prints, some highly technical, some not so much. Really your monitor or screen should be "calibrated" first if possible. If your screen is too dark you might be tempted to lighten the image you are printing, and then the printout is too light. If your printouts are always too light, consider turning down the brightness your monitor (or vice versa). There are lots of ways to make sure your monitor and printer are calibrated. Some are expensive, some not so much. You can:

• Read your printer's manual from cover to cover and see what the official recommendations are. There might be different settings for different types of software/paper/image type. This simple step could provide just the information you need to make that perfect print.
  
• invest in the necessary hardware and software to ensure perfect colour rendition - this can be the expensive option.
  
• look up a service on the internet that will provide you with a special file on receipt of a printout on the paper you will use for your kits that you send to them. This file should balance out problems with your printer. Note that if you change your paper, it's possible you might have to do this all over again. Then again, it might be near enough not to worry about it. Not so expensive.
  
• take time to jet to know all the options in your printer and image software and experiment. Cost depends on how quickly you become happy with your results.
  

• Take your printer settings off auto-colour. You want to be in charge of the settings.
  
• Have a small image to hand to use as a test print. You don't want to waste ink and paper unnecessarily.
  
• When you are ready to print, your software will probably display the printer settings box. Write all of these settings down along with the paper type and software you're using
  
• Print the image and staple your notes to the printout.
  
• In what way is the printout not as good as you would like? If it's too dark, use your printer settings to lighten the printout a little.
  
• re-do steps 2-4 until you are happy (or until you decide enough is enough!)
  

Important, when you have the best printer driver settings for the paper type you have been testing, if you can, save the printer driver settings with a relevant name. Also, (and at the very least,) make sure you have the settings that worked written down so you can reproduce them. Doing this might cost your time and money, but if you only have small printouts on small pieces of paper, then it shouldn't be too bad, and it will hopefully reduce your frustration and the level of screwed up paper in the bin.

 

When buying a printer of any sort:

• Don't just look at the initial purchase price. Make sure you know how much your printer will cost to run. Try to find a website that tells you how much a printout costs per page so you can compare with other printers.
  
• Read other people's reviews of printers - Amazon is s good for this for example.
  
• Don't just pick one up because you are in Staples/Dixons/Best Buy and there's one on sale. If you can, get the make and model and check it out on the web.
  
• Make sure you have room for the printer you are buying!
  

This is nowhere near comprehensive, just things that worked for me.Cost, time and inclination will determine what you do.

 

I'm not affiliated to Epson in any way. I just happen to use their printers!

 

Epson R1800

Epson 3030

Canon Pixma all in one (not sure of the model number)

 

I hope this helps someone.

[theoldmansminion]

working in a photographic supplier

 

hand on my heart, i can say i hate printers, they are a menace

 

but, if i was to get a "proper" printer....

 

as JCL said about epson, either a epson R1800, R2400 or R2440 and with either a permajet or fotospeed continuous flow system, , very very good,

though to get the best out of them, they mustn't stand for too long, as the heads just get gummed up....then they are a mare.

 

you can also get great profiles from both of these companies that are specifically set for thier own inks, epson inks, and papers, you can download

 

 

at home i use canon MP250 , great picture quality, though dosen't feed so well with a heavier photopaper, of 180 gsm.

 

 

one thing i would suggest about printing though, to get a "base" for your printing, set the printer to its "best" setting for a particular paper, then with agood photo, print it off in normal monitor veiwing light, adjust the screen to be as near as possible to what has been printed off, then in the printer settings, adjust the picture to what you want it to be, if your monitor is good, and the gamma not gone, you should get a pretty reasonable print everytime.

[JCL]

Hi, theoldmansminion - I agree with everything you've said, especially the last line - probably much easier than my old way.

 

One other thing, if you are using a wireless printer, you could find that physically plugging your computer into the printer will give you more printer options and better quality than printing "wirelessly". I never print photos etc wirelessly on the Canon, only text documents.

 

And yes, printers are a menace and the source of more frustration than anything else in the process of making pictures!

[steammad]

 

one thing i would suggest about printing though, to get a "base" for your printing, set the printer to its "best" setting for a particular paper, then with agood photo, print it off in normal monitor veiwing light, adjust the screen to be as near as possible to what has been printed off, then in the printer settings, adjust the picture to what you want it to be, if your monitor is good, and the gamma not gone, you should get a pretty reasonable print everytime.

 

That is a useful piece of advise, I will have to try it

[sagaguy]

Oh dear!,the old problem of what shades of colour you see on the screen doesn`t match the print has been a problem down the years.I had the problem of Scalescenes concrete printing out with a green tinge.One of the problems was using cheap inks in my old Epson R300,when i replaced them with Jettec inks,that fault dissapeared,so has the R300,packed up totally!!!.I replaced it with a Canon Pro9000 but still couldn`t get a match to the screen.I then purchased a Spyder 3 pro screen calibration device,at last,now what i see on the screen,i get from my printer.It was an expensive way to go about it though!!!

 

Cheers,Ray.

[JHWestern]

I read this post with interest; I cannot get decent results with Scalescenes on my humble ink-jet and am bracing myself for the investment in a laser.

 

I picked up on the reference to the Samsung CLP-325W Colour Laser Wireless printer. I would assume that it is as good as the out of production Samsung that got such praise. I have 2 questions in elation to it. First, what paper do you find gives the best results on this printer? Second, can you adjust the % image size? I want to make some distant buildings in a smaller scale, probably reducing to HO or 3mil, with the option of intermediate sizes, so it's quite important for me to be able to reduce the size.