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Vinyl Removal Suggestions?

Ironflight

Ironflight

VAF Moderator / Line Boy
Mentor
OK, this one is out of the ordinary…..looking for folks with vinyl experience….I need to remove the vinyl “name badge” on the Valkyrie before the airplane goes to the new owner. I know that I can probably just hot them with a heat gun and scrape them off, but has anyone who’s good with vinyl got a suggestion for removing them “cleanly” so that I can save the letters for posterity? Not to be re-used - just stuck on a sheet of aluminum with minimal distortion. Why? Well…a bit of vanity, a bit of nostalgia. These were made by a sign company for me back in Houston twenty-plus years ago, then put on board a Shuttle locker for a quick couple hundred laps aroudn the earth before being applied to the airplane. Nothing lasts forever, and they aren’t worth damaging the canopy skirt… but it would be nice to keep as a souvenir….

IMG_0697.jpeg
 
Bill is right. It might not be possible to get them removed in one piece but you may want to call AeroGraphics in CO a call 800-336-9633. Just to make sure. Couldn't hurt.....
 
Heat and care is about the only option, but it will distort.
Rapid Tac Vinyl Adhesive Remover is amazing stuff. If you can lift the top edges enough to dab a little and let it work, the decal may release a little at a time. Apply a strip of tape under the decal with plastic mask to prevent any runoff from dripping somewhere you don't want.
 
The “couple of hundred laps around the earth “ seems like a pretty good reason to try to keep them. Best luck doing so.
 
toc pilot said:
In my oppinion, there will be no way to save this. Heat up the letters as you discussed and pull them up. Order a new set from a vinyl supply buisness and have new ones made for posterity.
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Based on my experience removing vinyl, I totally agree.
Perhaps before doing so you could do a crayon rub on some thin paper like is done on headstones, etc.
 
I’m sure to many this will sound crazy, but now that the Rocket is done, you need a new project as well.

That’s a pretty damn cool story, not replaceable, and I too would hate to lose it.

So only one thing to do, build a replacement canopy skirt , and hang that beauty
 
Cut a hole out of the canopy skirt with the letters attached.

Before you do that, make a female mold from that area of the skirt so that you can attach that to the hole in the skirt after you cut out the lettered section, and then lay up new fiberglass on the backside to make the patch. You know a painter or two who can repaint the skirt afterwards. You could even take the canopy to an auto body shop to get painted.

You know fiberglass well enough to do a sanitary job. And the lettering is irreplaceable. The choice is simple!
 
No way to save...I would simply get a good photograph at high resolution and get it vector scanned, then have a good vinyl place make a duplicate.
 
Good luck saving your current decals. If you are going to sacrifice the vinyl: "This is the way" to get off decals without hurting the paint.

Hair dryer and plastic razor blades. If you can peal off the vinyl, get a decal eraser wheel from Amazon:

Decal Eraser Wheel

If you have good paint, you should be able to remove the vinyl without hurting the paint. I HATE vinyl on vehicles. It looks good for a few years, dries out and cracks. I spent two days removing racing stripes from a Ford Mustang using this wheel on a die grinder, with no damage to the paint. Good luck.

Jimmy $
 
3M makes a really nice adhesive remover. If you want I’ll make you a new vinyl.

Now, you really should ask before you sell my airplane. 🤣
 
Take some nice photos and leave them in place for the new owner to do some more laps with. Print up the photos for your hangar wall. Make a new vinyl copy for the new rocket.
 
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