I have come up with a good way to do the arrows and the small vertical line that vanishes with the light sanding. I will post in once sec..
Custom Model Decals - Custom Printed Water Mount Decals for Models I am going to have these guys make a batch. There is not a lot of people that do their own, and I understand why. For those that do, the above link.. I was thinking about it last night. I do a lot of RC jets, custom vinyl and paints with them. Decals are huge with RC. Then thought why the hell not with the F cars. The quality on decals these days is superb. Remember this is just part of the process though, and it's really the final touch. I know how one of the vendors finishes his, and it's a very good method as well. Anyway, Just trying to help the community.
Word of warning though, the application of the above takes great skill, steady hands. You screw up the above mentioned decal and you have to resand, repaint and by then you might as well or should have sent it to one of the mentioned companies.
That is very helpful for those that are DIY guys and want to use decals. We don't use decals and never will as I believe a professional service should be of the highest quality possible but for a DIY guy, that's great Thank you for posting. Also, those won't work so good on parts like this Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Interesting. I've been looking for the easiest way to duplicate the circles on the 348 vents I refinished. Will these stick to paint with a little texture?
I believe so. I stuck those decals on all sorts of strange surfaces (depron, plastics, corrugated foam etc)
Scince were posting pics of buttons heres mine. The strip of buttons on the left are for Maserati. All on others are for Ferrari. Note the before and after of the Hazard buttons. I did these myself and they are for my own cars. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Often those can just have the clear soft touch cleaned off. But when the base paint is damaged they need a fully refinish with laser etching as the OEM did
Let Me start off straight away by saying that I have no dog in this fight, one way or another, and I am in no way claiming or promoting one product or the other as being the better choice, this is just an observation from a curious owner! I can appreciate that the markings on your end product pretty much replicate the factory version exactly, which is ideal, especially for those who are fanatical about every detail of their car restoration being as per factory (and having seen some of the restorations of different models on Fchat - [jealous] Some restorations have been carried out to a mind blowing standard! [/jealous] ), and, I can appreciate how the laser printed markings are perfect for illuminated switch restoration. You promote the fact that you do not use decals in your process as an indication of superiority to your main rival in this business (Let's not waste time beating about the bush here - That is the purpose of the statements/comments being made about decals), and in this post, seem to be very keen to emphasis the "DIY" aspect of decals (the implication [to Me at least], being that they look blatantly amateurish and unprofessional), but have you actually compared the finish of decals (including water-slide transfers/decals), with your laser printed markings? With the air vent markings for example, just how much difference is there between the two methods of re-marking the parts? - Do the decals really look that unprofessional?, or do they look the same as the original factory markings? (Note: I'm not asking if the markings are created the same way as the factory original markings, I'm just asking if they LOOK the same). I would also add that I'm not asking for a direct comparison of both companies products, in some sort of "washing powder challenge" that we used to get between rival companies in order to prove which one is the best, I'm merely asking if your company has tried using decals and water-slide transfer/decals of your own manufacture, in order to compare the finish of all possible options, before declaring the decals to be unprofessional and DIY looking? My reason for asking is that, whilst there are will be some owners for whom having everything "Factory correct" will be a must, I suspect that for most owners of these cars, so long as the replacement markings didn't look like they were cut out with a pair of scissors, and they replicated the factory markings correctly, then they wouldn't be that concerned as to whether the markings were a decal or laser printed. And most new buyers of these cars would be completely oblivious (and wouldn't even care!), as to whether the markings are decals or laser printed. As I say, I have no dog in this fight, I cleaned up My 348's sticky parts Myself and all it really cost Me was a bit of time (it was a ball-ache of a job but I refuse to pay someone else to do something I can do Myself - Especially if the only cost is time!), and have already been considering using water-slide decals to put the dots/circles back on My vents (for what the marking's do, it makes sense to Me rather than having to go to the expense of sending off all the vents off just to have the markings put back on). I was just wondering what supporting evidence you have that shows this idea to be amateurish, unprofessional and so obviously "DIY"?
Phil, Thank you for your post. I originally posted in this thread because the OP's first post had a reference to my company and that we could maybe use these decals. So, I responded that we do not use decals and never will. The OP then edited his post and removed reference on my company. I started off as a DIY guy too. In fact, in many ways I still am as I have 3 355's and I'm doing extensive work on two of them - all on my own so that makes me a DIY guy Many, many folks on this forum have been greatly successful at doing there own work and I think it's great. Nothing more satisfying than getting your hands dirty. Regarding decals, sure, they can be a decent solution but they won't last as long as the work we are doing. As a sponsor, we are here to promote are services for those that have a need and wish to send parts to us and many guys are not interested in being a DIY'er. So, we promote like any business so the people in need understand the difference. And, it's just not about laser vs. decal - it's about getting the art work exact - what's the point of doing any of it if the art work does not match the original? There will always be different types of owners: Ones that want perfect, ones that want close enough, ones that just don't give a crap. Ones that do a great job in their own basement or garage. I respect all of the above - it's their cars to do as they wish. Edit: Phil, I should also add to your point that cleaning off a part is much different than refinishing a part. Cleaning vents leaves them bare plastic. A refinished vent (IMHO), DIY or Pro, looks much better than the bare plastic, but that's me
Well said Dave. 4rePhill, I think most F owners are the type to have someone else do it professionally. I am in the minority group of DIY'rs. Then an even smaller group within that, that can do a lot of maintenance, if not everything myself. - I have connections locally for a lot of the things that people would have to send out for (machining, coatings etc). I am not sure what you are saying in your post though, as obviously I don't have a business in this and Lorenzo355 does not do anything for peoples Ferrari's. So I am not sure there is a fight?
Phil, Your post gave me a chuckle. There is so much angst over originality and how many miles I can drive on my Ferrari before it is worthless. I just don't get that. There is nothing better than the "patina of use" I get from years of service of my over and under shotgun. When I see Barry's 550 nose peppered from race track debris, I know that's a man who knows how to enjoy life. Both services appear fantastic even for a concourse resto, but I have only experienced the fine work of the originator, "Sticky No More" who I am pretty sure is not using stick on decals. And if they are they sure fooled me because they look factory OEM. I have only seen pictures of Dave's and it looks great. Long before there were the "DE-stickifyer" services it was just me and a can of "easy off" oven cleaner. I think on one of my Ferraris I went a little far and took those directional arrows off my A/C vent rings. Guess what I figured out which way to turn the A/C vent ring even without the arrows. So now everyone go out for a drive today. I promise a smile on your face and your car value intact.
I did not interpret Dave's comments that DIY is amateurish and unprofessional, I'm not sure how Phil did.
Revisiting this subject some years on, has anyone recently produced any decals, specifically the arrows for the 550 etc air vents? I am keen to at least attempt to try and refurbish mine myself. There appears to be soft touch clear coat now available to purchase, so if a good decal can be made for the arrows, the soft coat should cover it well.
I had a decal printer make some for me. Cost was £10 for an A4 sheet, so you can imagine how many I have left over. People in the UK can PM me and I'll post out leftovers for free. I've attached the file you'll need, which I actually got from a thread on here that I can't now find. The end result: Image Unavailable, Please Login
I even think you could do the round buttons with decals - you'd need a black decal the same diameter as the switch, with cutouts for the graphics. Then clear coat over the top. I don't need to do it, but if I do, that's the method I'll be trying. If that doesn't work, a home laser engraver can be had for a few hundred pounds now.
Thanks everyone for your feedback. I managed to find some arrow decals for the 550 air vents that are identical to the originals. With clear coat over the top of them, they seem to be secure, so now ready to reinstall.
