Vinyl boat names

[Arthur Marshall]

Has anyone here used these precut names? I'm wondering how easy they are to stick on and whether they look reasonable? I've got to do a complete repaint of the boat sides and the current name design is complicated and will be obliterated. My usual signwriter isn't available and I can't afford a professional!

[baldlimey]

Used them twice, they are fine to apply, did you ever cover your school books in sticky black plastic, the trick is to keep the air out. The first time I did them and the second time had a pro but both times they looked good to start but started to peel and flake after a couple of years until I pressure washed them off.

 

My assumption was I had messed it up the first time but as I say I had a pro do it the second time with no more sucess.

 

Pete

[Alan de Enfield]

12 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Has anyone here used these precut names? I'm wondering how easy they are to stick on and whether they look reasonable? I've got to do a complete repaint of the boat sides and the current name design is complicated and will be obliterated. My usual signwriter isn't available and I can't afford a professional!

 

 

Yes they work well if you follow instructions and avoid getting bubbles . I've even managed pictures with all sorts of thin, narrow sections and if I can do it anyone can.

 

 

"SEA WOLF"

 

 

[magnetman]

In these days of excess enforcement there arrr some advantages to having boat name written on the liferings. You hang the life rings somewhere visible. on t'other side you have a different name. I use "M.Y. NIGHTMARE" as the alternative name and some people find it devilishly funny. 

 

I prefer to keep paint and stickers of large letters off the boat. 

[Alan de Enfield]

5 minutes ago, magnetman said:

In these days of excess enforcement there arrr some advantages to having boat name written on the liferings

 

Like this ?

 

 

 

[Bee]

They're good, if you want cream colour don't buy the cheapest - they fade to off white!

[Feeby100]

I used a guy on e bay I find link and put up if can he prints them and the good 

[Tony Brooks]

3 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Has anyone here used these precut names? I'm wondering how easy they are to stick on and whether they look reasonable? I've got to do a complete repaint of the boat sides and the current name design is complicated and will be obliterated. My usual signwriter isn't available and I can't afford a professional!

 

I did. I got them from the set-up who claim to be boaters. I was far from impressed with the company. If I did it again, I would use someone doing more commercial work. When I got them, the names were rolled up in a cardboard tube. Now, I have been instrumental in applying vinyl advertisements to taxis, so had a good idea whet to expect. The vinyl comes between two layers of "paper". The one at the back against the adhesive and one at the front holding the letters in place.  The first thing I noticed was that the back sheet had bubbled so air had got to the adhesive.  It is vital to properly degrease the surface so I used soft cloths and spirit (body panel) wipe. When dry you wet the cabin side with a weak water detergent mix, remove the "paper" in the adhesive side and apply. Then use a squeegee or similar on the outer piece of paper to get the letters flat and expel the water. Next you leave it with the outer "paper" still in place and after the prescribed time carefully pull the "paper" off. All went as expected until the last stage, and that is when I found that some of the letters that had air in contact with the adhesive had not stuck properly.

 

When I told the company what happened, they told me that I was lying and that the air bubbles were not on the adhesive side. They also blamed me for degreasing the cabin side, despite their written instructions telling me to.

 

If I ever had to do it again I would happily use vinyl lettering, they won't be soft like sign writing paint so they polish away, and they won't leave a shadow under new paint.

 

 

[haggis]

We have used vinyl on both boats. Gamebird was in 2002 and includes a two foot high grouse (as in the Grouse whisky logo) and it is still firmly in place, although a bit faded, despite the boat being pressure washed a few times. On kelpie we had a "head down" Kelpie done in vinyl from one of Iains photos and it still looks brand new although it has been on for several years. 

For both sets of vinyl we went to a company which specialises in producing vinyls and installed them as they instructed. Wash the panel thoroughly, apply a light covering of washing up liquid and water mix (this enables you to move the vinyl around till you get it in place, then smooth the vinyl with a credit card or similar to get the washing up liquid and bubbles out. Job done.  

Get good quality vinyl and it is no problem.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

3 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Has anyone here used these precut names? I'm wondering how easy they are to stick on and whether they look reasonable? I've got to do a complete repaint of the boat sides and the current name design is complicated and will be obliterated. My usual signwriter isn't available and I can't afford a professional!

Then pay a non-professional if you can find one 🙂

Vinyl is soulless.

Even a bad painted sign and there’s lots about is more interesting than vinyl. 
There’s even a certain brilliance to some of the horrendous but imaginative home painted jobbies over a vinyl sticker. 
 

Just my way, 🤷‍♀️I’d prefer a badly painted line to a manufactured one. 
 

Are you planning on simplifying the design for the vinyl sticker?

[magnetman]

It seems a shame that graffiti artists come out at night and are not all that communicative. with the skill exhibited on some walls, which I do like, I'm sure some of these people could do a pretty nice boat name even if it was in Times New Roman.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

There’s some great graffiti stuff about now.

I wonder if you were to masking tape the windows and leave the boat somewhere with a sign saying ‘graffiti me’ you’d get a half decent job done,

 

free of charge. 
 

[magnetman]

Graffiti artists have more in common with narrow boat signwriters than some people might realise. 

 

They tend to spell their names wrong. 

 

I'm not sure if things like Bilster  which was meant to be Bilston on a town class Grand Union was deliberate though to be fair. 

 

Most tags, bombs and pieces do have deliberate spelling errors. 

 

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

6 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Most tags, bombs and pieces do have deliberate spelling errors

sounds like you’re ‘down with the youth’, 

where’d you reckon the best place to leave a boat would be for a good graffiti job?

 

 

[magnetman]

Yars ago I was a nuff carn writer down with CWE that's CrimeWavE. This was over 30 yars ago now. Minor gang influences and some tagging nothing special. 

 

These days I think perhaps somewhere near Harrow Road Kensal Green area could be good. Some quality has turned up here at Limehouse cut recently but it seems more arty and gentrified than the real stuff. 

 

 

[MtB]

1 hour ago, magnetman said:

It seems a shame that graffiti artists come out at night and are not all that communicative. with the skill exhibited on some walls, which I do like, I'm sure some of these people could do a pretty nice boat name even if it was in Times New Roman.

 

Many years ago (with the help of an occasional poster here) we persuaded a graffiti artist to come and graffiti my wife's car, if we paid for the paint. He dun an awesome job on it but commented how difficult a job it was, because a) the car was not a vertical wall or train, b) it was daylight and not by torchlight, c) it was stress free as there was no chance of being arrested for vandalism and d) it was weird doing it in the garden of a big rambling tumbledown house in Reading! 

 

 

[Arthur Marshall]

1 hour ago, Goliath said:

Then pay a non-professional if you can find one 🙂

Vinyl is soulless.

Even a bad painted sign and there’s lots about is more interesting than vinyl. 
There’s even a certain brilliance to some of the horrendous but imaginative home painted jobbies over a vinyl sticker. 
 

Just my way, 🤷‍♀️I’d prefer a badly painted line to a manufactured one. 
 

Are you planning on simplifying the design for the vinyl sticker?

Trouble is, I'm sure the girl who did it would do it again but... she's almost terminally unreliable. Last time she left me with a half done job for weeks because her partner's bike had been vandalised and he couldn't cope with the grief. Wrecked my boating plans...

First time she did it, when I'd just got the tub, I was living on it and working and not going anywhere and she did a wonderful job with a terrific castle on the front, but it took four months and about fifty gallons of beer.

But you're right, of course. I'll do the prep, contact her soon and see if she fancies doing it again. If she doesn't, it's the vinyl.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

8 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Trouble is, I'm sure the girl who did it would do it again but... she's almost terminally unreliable. Last time she left me with a half done job for weeks because her partner's bike had been vandalised and he couldn't cope with the grief. Wrecked my boating plans...

First time she did it, when I'd just got the tub, I was living on it and working and not going anywhere and she did a wonderful job with a terrific castle on the front, but it took four months and about fifty gallons of beer.

But you're right, of course. I'll do the prep, contact her soon and see if she fancies doing it again. If she doesn't, it's the vinyl.

you see, there’s a lovely story in all of that. 
and you got to spread the cost 😃

 

🤞

fingers crossed for you she can turn up 

[MtB]

14 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Trouble is, I'm sure the girl who did it would do it again but... she's almost terminally unreliable.

 

I think i might have spotted the problem....

 

 

<Tin hat on>

 

 

 

[sueb]

There is always Neil Ritchie in Churchdown who does the signs for the wrg vans.

[Arthur Marshall]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

 

I think i might have spotted the problem....

 

 

<Tin hat on>

 

 

 

Ah, but... she is an amazing artist, brilliant jeweller, theatre stage set designer and painter... and she was a girl then! Thirty years on, possibly not any more any more nor I'm a lad!

[Tony1]

 

 

That's a coincidence, I need to repaint my hull sides too, but the name lettering is very elaborate vinyl and impossibly tricky to paint around, so I've also been thinking of pulling off the current name to make the painting easier, and getting a new vinyl name. 

 

This firm seem to be ok from what I can see:

 

https://www.vinylletteringonline.co.uk/

 

At the price they charge it doesnt matter if you have to replace it every 3 years or so, in fact its cheap enough you could buy a spare name. 

 

These two ladies used this same vinyl lettering on some stuff in their boat, with a demo of the method shown at 8 mins 40 secs in the video below. 

They reckoned the first one they did was still firmly on after two years at sea.

 

 

 

 

 

[haggis]

11 hours ago, Tony1 said:

 

 

That's a coincidence, I need to repaint my hull sides too, but the name lettering is very elaborate vinyl and impossibly tricky to paint around, so I've also been thinking of pulling off the current name to make the painting easier, and getting a new vinyl name. 

Best way to get vinyl off is to heat it with a hair drier and peel it off. 

[Chewbacka]

You can get vinyl cut stencils which give a painted finish.  One bit of advice I was given was after applying the stencil very lightly spray some paint - just a dusting - to give a faint image of the letters, then remove the stencil.  Then paint.  The edges are now a bit wobbly to give the authentic hand painted look.  Of course if you are unable to paint along a line, then leave the stencil in place, but it will result in a very clean straight edge to your letters.

 

Added - I did leave the stencil in place as the advice given was after I had painted.  Next time I will give it a go.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Chewbacka