ImagesMagUK_January_2021

STEP-BY-STEP: HIGH-BUILD SCREEN PRINT First, the artwork is created. The logo is a three-colour print – PMS 430 C Grey, PMS 361 C Green and PMS 2727 C Blue – finished off with a textured clear coat. Adequate tension is fundamental; however, when printing high-build, the tension becomes more critical to ensure a smooth, crisp release of the inks. High-solid- content emulsions or capillary films can be used to create a high-build stencil. Milosj used a 400 micron capillary film on a 43T screen for the base grey, and ChromaBlue emulsion for the other screens. They were all exposed in a NuArc MSP 3140 exposure unit from M&R. PMS 430 Grey was mixed using the Wilflex Epic Rio Pantone mixing system and mixed into a blend of Wilflex Epic Cork base and Wilflex Epic Sculputure base. Different ratios of the bases will give a slightly different – and, more importantly, unique – look and feel to the print. Use squeegees with a shoreness of 75–85 and a sharp square edge, being mindful to cut the ink in the stencil and not rush. Slow flood speed is important in order to fill the stencil. The film was then printed by an Epson Stylus Pro 4550. Begin with a good quality 'shirt' with a smooth surface to achieve the best results (the Stanley/Stella Creator T-shirt was used here) as this negates the need for a flat underbase, which would require a fifth screen. The reason that rough-surfaced shirts benefit from a flat underbase is because plastisol will release more easily to the ink than to the cotton. This is especially true when printing high-build. Clean platens are also a prerequisite, as they should be for any print. The grey ink [printed here on a camo shirt] was double stroked through the high- build stencil, flashed using an Acosgraf Spyder flash, double stroked again and flashed to give a nice, smooth surface to over-print. 1 3 5 2 4 6 www.images-magazine.com JANUARY 2021 images 21 TIPS & TECHNIQUES