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noelf

Well Known Member
I am debating either painting a checkerboard pattern on the bottom of my flaps, or applying a vinyl graphic pattern instead of the paint. The cost of the paint stencil vs the graphing approach is a wash, and I have the paint.

The question is the longer term durability of one approach over the other, and if some touch up is needed at a later date, which works better?

Any comments from the flyers that have checkerboard flaps?
 
my experience with vinyl underwing...

Hey Noel, since nobody has commented yet, I'll say that my vinyl registration letters underwing are 7 years old, and look like the day they were installed.....even though they go over rivets, and bridge panels, they have not aged one bit, primarily because they are never in the sun!

I would suggest 2 mil high performance vinyl on your lower flap skins would pretty much last forever. ....should you damage one somehow, it would be very easy to peel one square off, and replace.
Ensure the paint is well cured before installing, should you go this route.

Pretty easy for a vinyl shop to taper, angle or otherwise customize the look as well, ( true for the mask & paint also...just sayin! :))
 
vinyl

I agree , use the vinyl , I have a body shop so paint is not a big deal , but, I will use the vinyl for trim that I may want to remove someday ! It is a lot easier to heat gun the vinyl to remove it than it is to strip the paint off and repaint it ! I am considering some stars and bars on my 8 , THEY WILL BE VINYL . :D
 
I painted my checkerboards on the lower flaps and the rudder. Of course I am painting my entire airplane so it is wasn't a big decision. I used the paint mask by Vince at flyboys, they done a great job and it wasn't that expensive.

Bird
 
Nothing against vinyl, but it's a whole lot less expensive to paint a checkerboard. To paint all you need is a roll of 1/16" 3M Fineline tape and a roll of 3M green making tape. These took about an hour.

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....for whom? :)

DanH said:
Nothing against vinyl, but it's a whole lot less expensive to paint a checkerboard. To paint all you need is a roll of 1/16" 3M Fineline tape and a roll of 3M green making tape. These took about an hour.
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hey Dan, that's not fair....it took YOU an hour! it would take ME longer just to measure out the 3 x 16 grid! (I have no real love of vinyl)
for the record, after I got it laid out, it would use 10 sq. ft. of vinyl worth about 5 bucks. The fineline tape and paint supplies is definitely worth more than that to those of us that have to buy retail.

and Labour?
.....of course, you have those elves that work for free, as long as you don't feed them after midnite, right!??!? :)
 
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Dan, Question is

did you paint the flap pattern before you attached the flaps? Could you paint on the checkers without removing the flaps? Vinyl checkers could be attached without removing the flaps.
 
Does anyone Know of a company that will make 3X3 square decals. If so I will lay the pattern out on my own and do it instead of a large sheet.
 
If you need vinyl...

We hit print to your specs.

You clean the bottom of the flap and squeegee the graphic on.

If we can help, just follow the link in my signature or PM.

Regards,

Scott
 
flyboy1963 said:
Hey Noel, since nobody has commented yet, I'll say that my vinyl registration letters underwing are 7 years old, and look like the day they were installed.....even though they go over rivets, and bridge panels, they have not aged one bit, primarily because they are never in the sun!

I would suggest 2 mil high performance vinyl on your lower flap skins would pretty much last forever. ....should you damage one somehow, it would be very easy to peel one square off, and replace.
Ensure the paint is well cured before installing, should you go this route.

Pretty easy for a vinyl shop to taper, angle or otherwise customize the look as well, ( true for the mask & paint also...just sayin! :))
Click to expand...

I agree, however we use 3.5mil 3M cast Vinyl

This plane has ZERO paint. Completely covered in Vinyl... I think we can handle a few checkerboards ;)

(Just put the wheel pants on... wrapping those this week.)

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Vinyl is pretty darn simple, order a large sheet of vinyl decal from edecals.com, cut it to 3X3 squares and apply the squares one at a time, take your time go slow and it turns out great.

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I wonder if a clever vinyl shop could make two flaps' worth from one flap-sized square of vinyl... The removed squares on one flap becoming the squares for the other flap...
 
too clever Rob!

yes, you can, except that you'd end up with the opposite of the pattern on the other flap, not the mirror of it!....sure, you could stagger it over one square and get the pattern back.:)
...but really, when I've tried it, it's been an hour's extra labour to save $5 vinyl.
rarely worth it.
 
Where do you get your vinyl? I would like some to test out paint ideas. I was even thinking of cheap shelf paper. Maybe just some poster type paint - then wash it off. Anyone try that?
 
DanH,
I can't imagine how you can do that in an hour. Forget the time for the second color but just masking would take me a few hours.
Can you share your process?
I get the 1/16" Fineline tape to build the checkerboard but it would take a while to fill each square with green tape. I assume your squares are a 1/16" apart. Do you cut your green tape with a razor on the Fineline and it seals back up? Do you do one square at time or run a line of tape and then cut out every other square.
I would really like to know as I may paint the flaps tomorrow.
I am doing base/clear so time is important.
Thanks.
 
I buy my vinyl at signwarehouse.com and have been very happy with both the products, and the service. Don't try to move each square, throw out the ones you don't want to transfer (called "weeding") and move the others at one time with transfer tape. Tape the whole thing in place with a hinge tape, flip the sheet over, remove the backing, and flip it back and rub it down. Be careful not to get air bubbles. You can get a spray to help allow bubbles to escape when putting the vinyl down.

Bob
 
sounds 'experimental' :)

rockwoodrv9 said:
Where do you get your vinyl? I would like some to test out paint ideas. I was even thinking of cheap shelf paper. Maybe just some poster type paint - then wash it off. Anyone try that?
Click to expand...

rocky....there are a hundred ways to do it. You are right; almost anything sticky will work as a mask, then you can try painting with poster paint or whatever. The only criteria is the mask must be waterproof, or solvent proof depending on your paint, and that the edges seal well enough to give you a nice clean line.
If you really just want to see 'how it looks' for a while, inquire at some of the suppliers online, and I'm sure you'll see 'removable' vinyl sheeting you can buy by the yard. It sticks pretty well to a smooth surface like a painted flap, but just isn't as stable as the premium automotive products. The vinyl will shrink, the adhesive will harden an yellow etc. etc. but I'm sure it would be fine for 6 - 12 months, if you are hangared....even more.

there's lots of application advice and how-to's on youtube, some even by reputable vendors!:rolleyes:
 
Thanks Perry. I am just thinking of for a couple hours or so. Mostly to check basic colors. I have my design in ACAD and know what it will be, but I would like to test it on the plane to make sure the lines line up well with the wings and other parts.

I saw a bunch of different color painters masking tape at lowes today and even something like that would work. Heck, the first primer I bought would work for gray, it came off so easy like it wasn't even there!

I think I will get some vinyl by the yard. It isn't too expensive and may be the easiest and my wife will get a better idea on what it will look like. Thanks for the advice.
 
Lowes aviation supply????

...ok, so for a very temporary thing, just use mactac or similar removable shelf liner or what have you.

'hmmm, a little hard to find in black perhaps, but quite a few other colours etc.
I've occasionally seen 2" electrical tape.
good luck!
 
The ones with the little ducks or flowers are not going on my airplane no matter what!!

Actually, I talked with friend who does car wraps today and he is going to get me some pieces of leftover vinyl I can mess with and see what it looks like. I saw a car wrapped and I was pretty impressed. I have seen pictures of planes and it could be an alternative to paint. Im not sure Im there yet, but it sure looked good on the car.

Back to the checkerboard, I am going to try that with some of the scrap vinyl I get to see how it works butting the squares together. I have a slide cutter for photos and want to see if that will give a clean cut.
 
I am going to have to call DanH out on this one:) "about an hour" I don'tthink so.
Masking two flaps was three hours. Forget the extra color and waiting for it to be tape ready.
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All done

I finished the flap checkers yesterday and I learned a few things.
Fineline tape will not conform to the shin overlap.
I should have cut the tape at the seam and layed another piece on top of it as the tape is about the thickness of the skin.
I used a heavy weight paper cut out to tape in place. I figured it would be easier than using a couple of stripes of wider tape.
When using solvent to clean, it stuck the paper to the fresh paint. Most of it cleaned up and is not visible after clearcoat.
I should have started the first outboard squares full size.
Never let anyone crawl under the plane to see the imperfections.
From three feet away they look perfect.
Overall I am very happy with the outcome. This learning how to paint is hard but rewarding.
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vinyl

I tried starting with mask tape on my rudder, I didn't like the space between the black corners so I went with vinyl.

Use a 3M tape designed for hight speed.
 
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