May 18, 2005

Tonight was nothing short of a disaster. It started of really well, I got the panel final wet sanded ready for lettering and clearcoat. I got it done, because my Letraset package had arrived from the UK. Here’s the panel final sanded. I used 2000 grit for this. It’s so smooth now.

Well, I opened it up and I was shocked to find that it looked more like an Ivory colour than white. Hmmm… It also seems a little different to the commercially available rub down lettering I talked about on the previous page. The back felt very tacky, the other lettering doesn’t feel tacky at all. Here’s a picture after I’d already cut out some of the transfers.

So, I tried some test pieces. First I tried it on the matt panel. I was not happy when I peeled away the film to see the lettering nicely rubbed onto the panel, but also there was a ton of residue. Hmmm. This was no good. I tried to remove the residue with Acetone, but the lettering came right off too, as expected. I tried rubbing alcohol, and that too took the lettering off although it was more gentle. It wouldn’t get the adhesive off without rubbing off the letters. I figured it was because the panel had a matt finish, so I drove to the hangar and picked up my paint cutting compound. I polished up a small area of the panel which came out nice, and tried it again. Still the same. Oh crap. Now I’m back to square 1 again to figure out how the heck to do this right.

Here’s the transfer in place. I rubbed it with a soft pencil.

And peeled away to reveal the lettering. Looks nice eh?

Now let’s see that at a different angle…. See the residue around the lettering? This is unacceptable. So, back to the drawing board.

After such a disaster, I decided to go write Letraset an e-mail asking them what they recommend. I’ll let you know what I get for an answer. In the meantime, I did a search for transfer graphics and came up with a site that claims to have a way to make your own rub down transfers with a laser printer, in practically any colour you like, AND leaves no residue. So, I’m researching this a little further. The website is www.pulsar.gs should you be interested. I’ll let you know how I get along. Heck, if it works, you can send me your artworks and I might even produce some for you!