Hardener for papercraft (not resin)

Reznik

I'm putting together a papercraft model of Hellboy's Good Samaritan, like so

I've done papercraft before and reinforced the cardstock with fiberglass resin and bondo, but in those cases I was painting over top. In this case I'll be printing the sheets in colour, so I don't want to use resin to harden it because it dries kind of amber-ish. Is there anything I can spray/brush on the finished gun that'll dry clear, not warp the cardstock, and not make the ink run?

Usagi

You could just use a two-part epoxy that dries clear

I know there's a ton of marine epoxy that does exactly that, but you might be able to find the same thing in a less-durable/expensive alternative

tapeslinger

Epoxy still falls in the resin subheading and is not exceptionally UV stable in most cases. Sometimes you can get them with additives to slow down UV yellowing, ymmv.

That said, probably going to be the best option overall for laminating. You will have to test for ink stability, but I would look into rapid set laminate like Epoxamite 101 from Smooth - on.

(standard disclosure: technician from a sculpture company, not liable for off-duty advice, etc, etc)

Reznik

That Epoxamite stuff looks awesome. Unfortunately there's no sellers in my area, so I'll have to wait until Monday to call in and order it. But it sounds much nicer to work with than fiberglass resin.

tapeslinger

I definitely prefer it over polyester for laminating, it's a lot less gnarly fume wise. Still want to use a mask and other requisite safety gear.

You may also want to run some kind of under-structure with a piece like this one, but I couldn't say exactly what you should use for that, it sort of depends on what you want from the final product.