Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

No, I'm not that far yet, but I been thinkin'

I'm hoping to do a good enough job that I can have nice, varnished birch ply sides. I want to put a Staggerwing bird stripe (check out my avatar) on the sides, and want to do it as a surface application or paint stripe, rather than an "inlay".

So...

1.seal, paint the bird stripe, varnish?

2.seal, apply the bird stripe as some sort of vynl, fabric, or something, varnish?

3.Other?

Appreciate thoughts, opinions, or expertise

As to where I ACTUALLY am on the build, my brother and I are going to go weld up the frame tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have pics before the weekend.

Thanks!

David

David...an easy way...take a pic of the plane into a local sign shop. Take in the dimensions and profile of the tear with you. Tell them what you want it to look like, have them cut the vinyl. There will be an artwork charge, unless you can have some buddy do it for you. It needs to be vectorized. Tell them that you want the vinyl "ready to apply" You can either have them lay it on, if you are uncomfortable in doing this, or do it yourself. It goes on after all your finish work is done. There is a ton of vinyl colors available. It's the same stuff as used on graphics on a vehicle, UV resistant.

I think you'll find it easier to do than masking it off and trying to shoot it in paint. As another option, if there are any "old school" pinstripers or old signpainter types around, get them to do it up in 1 Shot Enamel. This pic sort of shows what it looks like, It is a first surface application, (just wiped over the painted surface). Same technique would apply to your needs, just larger graphics. My light green stripes on the body were painted and then just striped using vinyl striping as an accent. Make sure you ask for a right and left version. Just an idea. Doug

Probably a good idea, Doug...although it really wouldn't be that tough to mask and paint, either.

Here's the general plan:

(my apologies to Bledsoe3 for ruining his nice photo)

David

Doug has some good advice, easier, and with the price of paint, maybe cheaper, plus, decals are easy to change out when you get tired of them

John

Doug is always pushin those decals,

Painting can be done relatively easily. I painted my stripes, I was unsure just how wide they might be on your tear. If you decide to go this way....get the 3M fineline tape, available at an auto paint shop in a variety of widths depending on the curves you may want to do. It will give you a killer clean line, no underbleeding. Masking tape won't do it like this stuff, use the masking tape to overlay the fineline to attach the paper. Just make sure you get it all burnished down really well around the hinges and any other relief that you might have to minimize overspray that might get under it. I'd try to keep any of the front details from falling on a hinge however, it keeps the eye off the hinge and focuses on the graphic head....

I only posted the idea of the vinyl not knowing what you had for painting abilities. If you paint it...you can bury it all with clear...and a contrasting pinstripe on the edges would be really tasty! In my opinion...nothing beats the look of paint! Doug

jdarkoregon wrote:Doug is always pushin those decals,

John...not always pushing them...but when someone has a great tear and such a large canvas as you have....does make me think!!! Doug

I'd go the vinyl graphics route. I've done a fair number of them for clients over the years for vehicle graphics. They look great, they're (relatively) easy to apply, they hold up fine to sun and weather and they won't break the bank. Just go with the solid-color vinyl vs. the printed-color vinyl. The color is more durable.

doug hodder wrote:I'd try to keep any of the front details from falling on a hinge however, it keeps the eye off the hinge and focuses on the graphic head....

That's a good point, too...I'll have to make a template and figure out how it falls on the door hinge. With an 8' trailer, it might be best just to keep it all aft of the door, although I like the full-length look.

Or, maybe shorten it so the front details are on the door, and the stripes extend to the rear...wouldn't be masking across the hinges that way, either.

More details to figure out. Good thing I'm not building a house!

David

I always thought it would look cool on a woodie if you could burn them design into the wood then sand and varnish. Keeping the wood contrast. Not sure how it would look finished or how to do it though.

Lucky489 wrote:I always thought it would look cool on a woodie if you could burn them design into the wood then sand and varnish. Keeping the wood contrast. Not sure how it would look finished or how to do it though.

That WOULD be cool!

Be a lot of burning for what I want to do. Guess I could set my clothes iron on it, go work on something else for a while, come back and move the iron...

But maybe burning a pinstripe around the painted design...

David