[KiloWhiskey1]

I am at the stage of painting/powder coating my instrument panel and would like to use a silk screen process for the labels.

Any advice on the following would be much appreciated:

Feedback on quality?

Suggested vendors?

Sequence of process? (ie, do I have it powder coated 1st and then send to have labels printed on, or does the printer also paint the panel?)

Any other points I need to know?

Thanks very much for the help!

Keith

 

[jabarr]

Keith, talk to Don Roberts down at the squadron. He has become quite talented at the DecalPro system. He did his 4 and Marks 6 panel. I will have him do mine soon.
Jon

 

[mike newall]

I recently used Steve at

http://www.aircraftspecialty.com/

To produce the CAD file for my panel. It wasn't easy to get the panel across as I am in the UK, so I got it water jet cut over here.

However, they do offer labelling and powder coating services and I must say, they were very good to deal with.

 

[RV7Ron]

Another option that I am considering is doing a full vinyl wrap with your labels printed right on the vinyl. I already discussed it with a local vinyl shop and they said they had done if for aircraft before with good results. Just another data point...

 

[pmccoy]

I tried Decal Pro but was not happy with the durability after they were applied. They looked great, but I was able to scratch them off. At least in my application, the clear coat did not seem to protect them like I had hoped. This might have just been how it interacted with the powder coating that I used. In any case, I went with a different approach.

I ended up creating a pdf file that had each group of labels that I needed. This was taken to a sign engraving shop. They engraved the labels on very thin flat matte black finished plastic with an adhesive back. The results turned out great. At least this application worked well for me.

 

[Noah]

I tried Decal Pro but was not happy with the durability after they were applied. They looked great, but I was able to scratch them off.

Another disadvantage you might consider is panel changes or upgrades later on. It is very difficult to remove these labels, or to add new ones that look identical to the original existing ones.

For that reason I went with individual local labels made by Avgrafix, which are very easily modified or added to later:

http://www.avgrafix.com/

 

[rleffler]

You can also go to your local print shop. Most of them can print dry transfer labels. All you have to do is to clear coat afterwards to make them more durable. Pretty easy and straight forward.

If you apply them crooked, you can use a piece of tape to remove. Just make sure you have multiple copies of each label and/or graphic in case there are any application mistakes.

Usually it's a fixed price for anything you can fit on a 8.5x11 sheet for a single color. You can use your favorite application to generate the text and graphics, then just give the printer a PDF file of the final output.

Here are a couple of my panel inserts:

 

[KiloWhiskey1]

Thanks for all the replies!

Thanks to everyone that replied and for those that sent pics. There are a lot of very good looking options. I spoke with Steve at Aircraft Specialty and decided to go with them. I like the permanent look of the silk screen process and he can do the CAD layout, powder coating, and printing all in house.

I'll post a few pics when it's done.

Keith

 

[tim2542]

Silk screen

I drew all the labels and graphics on the PC and took it in to a T shirt silk screener. I had to try several until I found a guy who had done something besides T shirts, but it turned out very nice. The ink is somekind of ceramic material and is very hard once it goes thru the oven.
Tim

 

[s24789]

We had our made by Carl at Sebastian Avionics in Merritt Island florida. Sent him our ideas and he sent us back the decals. Cannot remember the price but is was not much, they look professional, and took 5 minutes to install.

 

[KiloWhiskey1]

Follow up and Pirep on Aircraft Specialty

I wanted to follow up on my previous post with a pirep for Aircraft Specialty. I was looking for a one stop shop to have my panel powder coated and labeled and decided to go with Steve T. at: http://www.aircraftspecialty.com. On a previous RV build I used stick on labels and had some issues with them staying put, so this time I had my mind set on a more permanent process.

I spoke with Steve on 6/28, shipped him my panel on 6/29, and received it back completed on 7/8. How's that for a quick turnaround!!

The entire experience went flawlessly and Steve was really great to work with. He was basically open to anything that I wanted to do. I picked a black semi-gloss base color with silver lettering. Here is a picture of the final product. If you click on the picture it will take you to an album with some additional shots.

If you need your panel painted and lettered, I would highly recommend Steve!

 

[crabandy]

Looks great!

 

[crabandy]

The dry transfers etc look great, but since I'm adding to my panel as I go I needed to keep it adaptable and cheap. Hasty Awards in Ottawa usually make trophys and medals, but they also make a darn nice panel label for under $20! Here is the first test label...