Just an idea...... I wonder if, in painting the ashtray and using the decal, you couldn't simulate the embossing. Take the ashtray and first paint it a white to match the decal, then place the decal in position (the lines and numbers/letters) then peel off the line portion. Spray the ashtray the dash color....maybe give it an extra coat....then peel off the numbers/letters and you should have an embossed look. Reposition the line portion of the decal and finish the whole thing with a clearcoat to even out the gloss differences in the line decal and painted numbers/letters and match the same gloss as the rest of the dash paint. You could even do a mock up on a scrap piece of metal using store-bought stick-on numbers and masking tape for the lines......
Mike 73T1 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Knupp" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'Air-Cooled Volkswagen Discussion List'" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, June 08, 2007 00:15 Subject: Re: [vintagvw] Shift pattern decal for ashtray Mike and all, I'm coming to the same conclusion. The K-G has exactly the same pattern silkscreened onto the dashboard -- woodgrain on many models. The typeface is DIN-Mittelschrift (looks a lot like Helvetica or Arial, but the "1" is slightly different). The original, quaintly, has the white diagram and 1,2,3,4,N and R slightly depressed into the original paint, as if it had been hot-stamped. I've got to do a repaint on the ashtray cover to make it match the police-car green (it's RAL6009 Fir Green). I'm thinking of doing a computer reproduction of the pattern, taking it to a local place that makes silk screens (they do most of Ford Motor Co's work), then screening it on using a white styrene ink that would etch the car paint slightly. The other possibility would be to use the positive to have a die-cut vinyl graphic made (I do that routinely for police logos, etc.). They wouldn't be etched into the paint then -- they would stick to the surface of the paint instead. But I could make up several hundred of them and market them to recoup the cost a bit. Why can't things be simple? Bert Knupp in Music City USA |__n__ (_____)º (Ô\_|_/Ô) ü ° ° ü Polizeikäfer 1970 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mike Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 10:57 PM To: Air-Cooled Volkswagen Discussion List Subject: Re: [vintagvw] Shift pattern decal for ashtray Bert..... I think all the shift patterns were silk-screened onto the ashtray cover. My '73 (with padded dash) has the pattern painted on over the pebble-grain plastic. I have seen OEM replacements of the ashtray cover for the later models.... I would think with the wealth of graphics software out there it would be possible to create a decal....finding a graphics shop would be a good place to start. Or, a local artisan or shop that does silk-screening. Mike 73T1 _______________________________________________ vintagvw site list [email protected] http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw _______________________________________________ vintagvw site list [email protected] http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw
