G'day again team of amazing Catalina friends!!!!
Vinyl sign writing recommendations?
Should we order online and put on ourselves or should we get it done professionally?
Anyone have recommendations in MDR for a professional and how much we would be looning to pay for it?
As always thank you so much in advance for your hard earned knowledge!!!!
Cheers
Cam, S.V Solasta
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Cameron Wallis
Solasta
MDR
Hi Cam,
With little care, you can easily put it on yourself. My wife and I did ourselves in 2003, it's still going strong.
Lou Bruska
Sojourn
1985 C-36 Mk-I TR #495
Eldean Shipyard
Lake Macatawa (Holland, MI) Lake Michigan
Rallyback@comcast.net
Cam,
Welcome to the forum ! When we took possession of our boat some years ago, it had a name that had no meaning to us so - a name change was in order. The original name letters were 12 inches high and 8 letters long. We removed the original vinyl letters and since they were on the boat for such a long period of time, they left a shadow. ( that is to say that when the original letters were removed- the area underneath them was clearly brighter than the surrounding area)
We removed the old vinyl letters using a plastic scraper razor with a combination of WD-40 and Goo-be-gone. (No easy job)
Now to cover up the 'shadow' left by the old numbers, we chose a name that had meaning to us and clearly longer and had more letters than the original.
We had looked at vinyl letters supplied by Boats-US and applying it ourselves but thought that if we screwed up applying any of the letters - we would have to start all over again. We found a local print shop willing to make the vinyl letters and apply them . The cost of having the print shop do it was only 20% higher than doing it ourselves plus, if he screwed up on a the job, the expense was on him. He did a good job covering the shadow and aligning the letters for a price of $250.00. Where is MDR
Bill
PS; For newer members who maybe haven't seen them yet, the signatures are very helpful for people to know the year and type of your boat, and your location. You can set your signature from My Account->{your user name}. Then select "Edit". The signature is towards the bottom of the page.
Bill Dolan 1990 Catalina C-36 MKI - Hull #1041 'Williwaw'
Std. Rig, Walk Through, Wing Keel
M35, Oberdorfer Conversion,
Home Waters; Charlotte Harbor & The Gulf Islands of Florida
'You are never out of work if you own a boat'
Cam.... I replaced my name a couple of times. It's not difficult at all. I used a heat gun on low setting to get the vinyl to start lifting and it pealed right off. Just apply the new name on a calm (very calm) day as a wind will blow the new vinyl around and it will be difficult to get it in the right position before it catches in the wrong spot.
Chuck Parker
HelenRita 2072 Mk II
2002 Tall Rig - Winged Keel
Atlantic Highlands, NJ
Many good instructional videos on UTube. I prefer the wet method as it allows the decal to adjusted as its being applied. On a previous boat I tried to apply a larger graphic using the dry method, screwed it up and had to have another made.
Gary Smith
93 MK I, Hull #1231
Std rig; wing keel
M35A Oberdorfer conversion
Thank you so much everyone!!!
Ill have a crack at doing it myself.
I have a custom font I have used for the name, anyone got recommendations of where to get ii printed?
Cameron Wallis
Solasta
MDR
We designed our boat name on the Boat US website and found it fairly easy. There are many similar sources. My biggest suggestion is to apply on a windless day.
Paul & Wendy Keyser
"First Light"
Rye NH
2005 C36 MKII #2257
Wing, M35B
Anyone think this will be too difficult to put on?
Cameron Wallis
Solasta
MDR
The whole thing will be on a sheet. You remove the protective plastic and then apply the sticker as a whole on the hull.
It's not hard but if you don't have experience applying large stickers find some way to practice. One thing to make the process more forgiving is misting the surface of the hull with a water spray bottle so you can move or reapply the sticker if needed.
The one issue I had changing the name of my boat was that the paint had faded quite a bit and you could still make the old name after removing the stickers. Not much a problem if the new name is as long or longer than the old one. I ended up painting the stern.
1989 Tall rig #964, Seattle
Attached is my lettering and a photo of the boat to give you a sense of size.
The hailing port is not shown as it is on the transom.
Lou Bruska
Sojourn
1985 C-36 Mk-I TR #495
Eldean Shipyard
Lake Macatawa (Holland, MI) Lake Michigan
Rallyback@comcast.net