rheauljj

I have an electronic image I'd like to put on the tail of my airplane but I need some advice as how best to proceed. Are there companies that I can send the image to and they can make me a fuel proof image?

Any advice will be appreciated.

da Rock

I got Mighty Mouse from the internet as a jpg. Adjusted his size with PaintShopPro but any paint program will do, and printed him out on office label paper. Sprayed the paper with 3 or 4 coats of clear polyurethane to fuel proof.

Most PC printers don't have white ink in them so M.Mouse was done on white paper and trimmed to suit. I gave the polyurethane over a week to cure.

This picture was taken in January of 2006. He looks just as good today.

Flying freak

id give there guys a call
http://www.badbradgraphics.com

Aslo i *THINK* its minniflyer (mod) on here that has his own vynel cutter might want to see if he can cut stuff ..

somegeek

My Feedback: (2)

That looks great daRock! Did you apply anything over it once you placed the sticker?

somegeek

Campy

My Feedback: (1)

I use Ultracote clear to fuel proof my decals. I print them on my inkjet, then after the ink is dry I give them 2 light - medium coats of Ultracote clear BEFORE CUTTING THEM OUT.

somegeek

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Do you have to seal the edge once it's in place on the plane?

somegeek

rheauljj

When you spray the polyurethane onto the printed inkjet paper, does it penetrate to seal the cut edges? Or should I do another polyurethane coat to the cut image?

da Rock

Seal the edges?

Depends on the location.

None of the ones I've done as described has shown any lifting. All that I did that way had no extra edge sealing. However, I must tell you that none of them is placed where they encounter wet conditions. If you look at the Old Gunfighter decal on the tail of the Tiger60, you'll see one that actually gets wet every flying session. At the end of the day, the tail has a very light film of oil. The horizontal stab has enough that spraying with water/windex solution is needed down there. Force of habit pushes me to spray the entire tail so that one gets water/windex on it. It's not shown any lifting and that model has been flying a couple of times a week (at the very least), every week since maybe the middle of last summer.

However, there have been a couple that I knew would be in at-risk locations and those I did entirely different. I did not spray the printed sheet with anything. Because the plan was to cover them with clear Ultracote. That works like a charm. See the attached picture of the P47. That one was where I thought there would be a possibility of raw fuel and hot exhaust. So the print was simply cut out and applied. And a cover of clear Ultracote film was ironed on with about a 1/4" overlap. Work from the center out slowly with the iron on the suggested Ultracote low setting. Bulletproof. That model flew back in the middle of 2006. I haven't flown it a lot, but it has been out enough to prove the film covering didn't do anything bad like blow bubbles in the heat. It's as invisible today as it was back in June '06.

somegeek

My Feedback: (2)

Great info - thanks!

somegeek

P.S. - cool Stooges avatar - I miss watching them on TV... though YouTube does have a few episodes. Little Rascals too.

IL2windhawk

I haven't tested this idea yet, but I'm planning to cover my stickers with a layer of clear monocoat.