Hmmm... Not a bad idea at all. My fabricator for die-cut lettering (I use Letter-Rite, in the Chicago area) can also cut masking tape to order, mounted on a low-tack backing strip. That would make the job you describe even better, and it would produce that debossed look.
Good tip! Bert -----Original Message----- >From: Mike <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Jun 8, 2007 8:37 AM >To: Air-Cooled Volkswagen Discussion List <[email protected]> >Subject: Re: [vintagvw] Shift pattern decal for ashtray > >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 _______________________________________________ vintagvw site list [email protected] http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw
