DecalPro Pireps?

[DanH]

Time to letter my panel...or buy placards, or scribble with a sharpie, or something.

I've seen nice work using DecalPro (thanks Skylor). Any pireps out here? The website and the available links seem clear enough about label creation and application. How about durability, and whatever else hasn't come to mind?

http://www.pulsarprofx.com/DecalPRO/index.html

Any other suggestions?

[flyboy1963]

Hey Dan,
you may ignore this as you wish, but consider the following:

after the panel is all done, and pretty and clear coated or whatever for durability, you add a gadget, and need another breaker.
I've decided to pencil in some V speeds that I am still trying to nail down around my ASI. I also found the fuel gauges almost meaningless ( when filling up with 72 litres of fuel, they show 14 gal each etc.,) so I've also marked the gauges with 'hours of fuel remaining to :30 reserve'

Just sayin', what'chagonnadew later ?

[N941WR]

Dan,

I used the DecalPro on my panel because I used textured paint and it came out great. I did not cover the decales after they were on and they are holding up well.

The downside is there is a BIG learning curve. To help with that I posted some things on the panel page of my web site.

[Camillo]

Dan,
I also used DecalPro. It is quite difficult, but doable with a few hours experimenting, realizing and applying small words.

It is more difficult to have more words applied at the same time and even more difficult to have a sentence included in a box.

Black colour (printer colour) is quite simple to work with. White colour is more difficult. On the other side, it is simple to have big images applied. Actually, the bigger and uniform (i.e.: without breaks) is the image, the simpler is the tecnique.

See my results at the "Pannello" page on my website.

[ChiefPilot]

I've used DecalPro on R/C models before and it works well for what it is. As others have said, there is a learning curve.

For my RV project, I considered and then rejected any decal approach - it's just too hard for me to get a large area lined up exactly unless you make one large decal which is (again for me) too unwieldy to use.

I went with Front Panel Express (http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/) instead - the result is an engraved, anodized plate that looks like a million bucks. The downside is that it isn't super cheap - figure $25-$45 depending on your design (tooling changes, coloring, etc.).

[Capflyer]

I had success with the Testors decal kit and some extra blank decal sheets. Found it at the local hobby shop. Do not use the program it comes with though. Do what you want in a word processing program them print on the blank decal sheets. I used my inkjet and they came out fine. The kit comes with a spray that coats over the printed decal sheet and seals the ink so it won't rub off.

I was also able to utilize a jpg of my infinity stick grip and add in the button labels. See here (RV Carol): http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...?t=8495&page=7

Cheap, easy, and worked very well.

[rzbill]

Dan,
I have read some pireps on decalpro and they have veered me away from that product. The letters, even on the well done stuff, did not look crisp enough in the photos for my liking.

While at SnF, I met Paul Story of the Steinair crew and mentioned the lettering problem. He said they make waterslide decals (just like the modelbuilding days) and cut, soak, slide, dry, and then clearcoat (acrylic I think). He showed me an example on a painted panel. It looked great. You had to know where to look (at an angle too) to see any evidence of the clear base film. The clearcoating somewhat melded the base film into the painted panel.

Last night, I did some web mining and found waterslide paper for both inkjet and laserjet. Inkjet REQUIRES topcoating to protect the ink, Laserjet does not although this may be moot for our application. I got the impression that these filmed papers are available from hobby and art stores. (re: the testors comment previously). Probably shop this weekend.

I plan to test these waterslide decals in the coming weeks.

Now.....Here's the holy grail for me.. I may have found a way to make and apply phosphorescent inks. I'm trying to select the right color now because there is a difference in how long each color lasts after light exposure.

If this fails miserably, may just go to engraved plaques. Grrrrrr..

[JonJay]

... I had great experiences working with a local trophy shop. They drew up my concepts from a sketch (they can take a CADD dwg file), we modified it, then made the labels. I used adhesive backed labels for items not held on by switches and non adhesive for the ones that where. They have a lot of products to choose from, material types, back filling, clear for your own backfill, metal, plastic, fonts, sizes, colors, etc.....
I chose black with white back fill. I like the look as it reminds me of the old days of the engraved phenolic. I wanted a traditional look to my panel even though it is a modern layout and has modern instrumentation (EFIS).
When I needed to add something or make a change, they had the originals on file. It was easy to modify and have a new label made. (warning - I have not tried to remove any that where self adhesive yet!) I have only added or modified the non adhesive labels.
They where cheap too...

[mike newall]

Dan seeking advice from the forum........ He is mortal

It depends on what stage your panel is at as to what process you can use.

My wife is a Graphic Designer and can produce all sorts of things on her Mac. We had used Experimental Air to lay out the panel and produce the CAD file to get it water jet cut. So, by that fact, we knew what gauge and switch was going where. I used the file to create a TIFF which Andrea could bring into Quark or Illustrator and then she laid out the lettering for all our switches. The panel was sprayed at this point and before we mounted it, a local screen printer did all the labels direct onto the panel - very nice wok.

Upside - robust, professional etc

Downside - you trap your design fairly early.

I have to make a couple more labels for sub panels and I will be using a local pre print shop to produce some rub downs from a file I create. They are like custom Letraset and a internet search should find someone who can take typed copy and lay them out how you want. Application needs some care though to get them lined up - you may need water based fine OHP pens to lay out the base line.

Now, if you decide that a printed strip on an adhesive carrier is OK - look at the Dymo Rhino. We use that to print labels onto heat shrink for all the electrics - very good, a range of fonts and sizes, costs about $120 for the machine, will print black or white onto clear. for electrics it is fab and has been reported elsewhere on the forums.

Upside - easy, custom letters

Downside - careful application needed to prevent edge marks etc.

If your panel is together Dan, I would definitely look at rub downs if you want a clean, neat panel - just make sure you tell people to keep their fingers off of the panel !!

[William Slaughter]

I haven't tried the DecalPro system yet, but it's currently my intention to give it a try, as it's the only DIY way to get white lettering that I'm aware of, and I'm going with a dark gray panel color. I currently make my own waterslide decals for models and they work great, as long as your lettering is any color but white. On a light colored panel, that's what I would go with.