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Stencil or Vinyl?


LadyG

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I've painted the boat, pretty decent job [for an amateur]

Now I need to put up names, should I use a stencil or  vinyl lettering?. 

I am using funky monkeyboatnames graphics? [no connection]

Edited by LadyG
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It was such a long time ago that I can't remember - and the boat is 80+ miles away, so that I can't check,

But, but, but - I asked The Management and she said we used vinyl.

If that's so they've managed pretty well as it's around 20 years ago and they're still in a reasonable state. 

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Stencil on mine, for both the name and index number. Don't do what I did, have the name letters curved, as letters in a straight line on a surface curving in two dimensions don't look level, even when they are. I chose stencil so the colour would be the same as the cream, or red of the paintwork. The company I got the stencils from aren't trading any more. They also did the curly flourishes at each end as part of their on-line design tool.

Jen

stencil.jpg.51018a9b3a03c4dd367d7f285a0d7182.jpg

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2 minutes ago, Murflynn said:

are you suggesting that the good lady's surfaces might be other than smooth and blemish-free?

I am, they never are, always bits and dust settle on it however good you are. I suggest before applying the letters to wet and dry all over with at least 600 paper then T cut, rub away all traces of T cut and then apply the lettering.

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1 hour ago, bizzard said:

I am, they never are, always bits and dust settle on it however good you are. I suggest before applying the letters to wet and dry all over with at least 600 paper then T cut, rub away all traces of T cut and then apply the lettering.

I would hesitate to apply letters to the good lady's surfaces, even after rubbing them with T-Cut and 600 wet'n'dry.    .............. not good for the complexion, don't ya know?

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Have used Funky Monkey letters on my first boat.Excellent quality.Been on five years now and they look as new.

More than I can say for the boat,as it has been neglected.

Be careful putting them on,because it's very easy to get them wrinkly.

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Just now, Mad Harold said:

Have used Funky Monkey letters on my first boat.Excellent quality.Been on five years now and they look as new.

More than I can say for the boat,as it has been neglected.

Be careful putting them on,because it's very easy to get them wrinkly.

We used vinyl lettering on Gamebird in 2002 and it still looks good. The Kelpie head on KELPIE (from a photo Iain took) was also done in vinyl. We were told by the chap who made the vinyl to put some washing up liquid on the area where the vinyl is to go and then it is easy to slide the vinyl into place and then smooth it out from the centre. This gets rid of any bubbles of washing up liquid and you don't get wrinkles.  It worked perfectly!

 

haggis

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2 hours ago, haggis said:

We used vinyl lettering on Gamebird in 2002 and it still looks good. The Kelpie head on KELPIE (from a photo Iain took) was also done in vinyl. We were told by the chap who made the vinyl to put some washing up liquid on the area where the vinyl is to go and then it is easy to slide the vinyl into place and then smooth it out from the centre. This gets rid of any bubbles of washing up liquid and you don't get wrinkles.  It worked perfectly!

 

haggis

I'm guessing you might mean water with washing up liquid in it. I've done this on a couple of vans and with window film. It works very well. I'm not sure that neat washing up liquid would work. 

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1 minute ago, stegra said:

I'm guessing you might mean water with washing up liquid in it. I've done this on a couple of vans and with window film. It works very well. I'm not sure that neat washing up liquid would work. 

You are probably right. I honestly couldn't remember if I diluted the washing up liquid or not but I remember being told to use "thick" washing up liquid so I assumed that we didn't dilute it. The important thing was to make it thick enough to slide the vinyl into place.

 

Haggis

 

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So I was intrigued by the soapy water. For some reason I remembered that it was called 'slip solution' so I looked it up. (Funny how the mind can recall something useless from 29 years ago but can't remember the name of someone you were introduced to a minute earlier.) Reading up, it seems that a spray bottle of water with just a few drops of Fairy is best. 

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.t-shirtforums.com/vinyl-signs-decals/t46019.html%3famp=1

 

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7 hours ago, dave moore said:

Your call of course. As a signwriter my initial response is “ neither “, but vinyl may well be the way to go. Using stencils, you would still need to buy paint and brushes, proper ones are not cheap. Hope this helps.

Dave

Yep, I've got artist brushes and paint. Using the stencil, I assumed I don't need the special long bristle type brush ?

The sides are flat [between portholes for the name, so I think straight would look OK, not sure how to do some lettering [13 letters and numbers along the top at the back, it does curve up, but there would be an identical problem with vinyl

I may send for a small test stencil, see how I get on, then decide if I can cope.

 

Edited by LadyG
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1 hour ago, LadyG said:

Yep, I've got artist brushes and paint. Using the stencil, I assumed I don't need the special long bristle type brush ?

The sides are flat [between portholes for the name, so I think straight would look OK, not sure how to do some lettering [13 letters and numbers along the top at the back, it does curve up, but there would be an identical problem with vinyl

I may send for a small test stencil, see how I get on, then decide if I can cope.

 

Perhaps test it on a boat index number? I used the Craftmaster signwriting enamel. This is very heavily pigment loaded, so will go on in one coat. Just used ordinary brushes, as the stencil takes care of giving neat edges. Funky Monkey offer curved letters as an option on both stick on lettering and stencils.

 

Jen

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27 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Perhaps test it on a boat index number? I used the Craftmaster signwriting enamel. This is very heavily pigment loaded, so will go on in one coat. Just used ordinary brushes, as the stencil takes care of giving neat edges. Funky Monkey offer curved letters as an option on both stick on lettering and stencils.

 

Jen

yes, correct, but I only want to start level,then rise at the stern, whereas they have a symmetrical curve  

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2 minutes ago, LadyG said:

yes, correct, but I only want to start level,then rise at the stern, whereas they have a symmetrical curve  

Complicated. You might have to design it on a vector graphics program, then find someone who can cut a stencil from an svg file.

 

Jen

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If you cut a comb in to the stencil at the end you want to curve, then you could lay out the curve as you stick down the stencil. Would need a lot of care, but would be easier to maintain the letter spacing. So, cutting most of the way between letters, but leaving a tag at the inside of the radius.

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8 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

If you cut a comb in to the stencil at the end you want to curve, then you could lay out the curve as you stick down the stencil. Would need a lot of care, but would be easier to maintain the letter spacing. So, cutting most of the way between letters, but leaving a tag at the inside of the radius.

Or you could get a signwriter to do it -- because they'll be able to get it right with minimal fuss and the end result will give you joy whenever you set eyes on it.

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1 hour ago, adam1uk said:

Or you could get a signwriter to do it -- because they'll be able to get it right with minimal fuss and the end result will give you joy whenever you set eyes on it.

Until the soft signwriting paint has shed its pigment or had it polished off and the base colour starts to show through. Not long lasting enough for me plus it then causes "shadows" at repaint time unless the whole thing is taken back to metal.

 

My vote goes for vinyl but I had a very bad experience with the purveyors who specifically target the narrow boat market.

 

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