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What vinyl is best to use for RC cars & masking??
Now then im a newbie so be gentle. 😳
Im getting a cutter soon and want to get some vinyl in to get me started.
I want to make small decals for starters, small text (under 1 cm high) and up to 5×15 cm logos..
I have NO idea about different vinyls however, i look on a website selling such things and there are so many choices!..
It would need to be fairly thin so there is not a big lip where dirt will get trapped / these cars are fairly small so some thick vinyl would look odd.It would be nice to make 2 colour logos with “layering” (?) but im not entirely sure how easy that is.
The other type of vinyl i want is for creating MASKS for painting rc bodies. An R/C car body is basically a vac-formed sheet of polycarbonate clear plastic, which is painted on the inside.
There are a few companies out there who make precut masks in various designs – flames for example. Ive seen masks made out of sheets of papery material (like regular masking tape almost) – and ive also seen some made from vinyl – but fairly low tack.
I was thinking of going down the vinyl route, so is there anything that is fairly low tack but still strong enough to stick in a complex undulating surface which can be easily removed without tearing or snapping or leaving any residue ?Can anyone reccomend what vinyls i should look at ? and a good choice in application tape for my needs ?
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4 Replies
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Hey Jimmy…
My opinions – as far as the masking you are after I can’t really offer any advice.
However, on the RC car decal front I would highly recommend you just go for some kind of printer. This sets you free from the constraints of simple graphics, an issue made even more complicated by the small sizes you will be dealing with.
Go with a good printer that offers a contour cutting option, and you may not need the masking option either, come to think of it! After all, easier to store your past work on a PC, and when you do crash the car, no paintwork needs to be redone, just bash out a replacement sticker!
Voila!
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hey there
Ideally i would have bought a Gerber edge and a Screen printing setup (for tshirts) but for now ive only made enough cash for a compromise machine that can do both (to a degree).
The sort of decals ill be creating with the plotter cutter will be more simple, sponsor logos etc, nothing too exciting for now – to go alongside the other decals i do.
I currently use a gerber edge2 (not mine) for doing decals and i get great results but beyond a couple of colours the costs get a bit too high.
I have seen gerber edge1’s kicking about for cheap, other than the resolution being not as high (300×300 vs 600×300) is there much difference ?I dont know about other printers than the gerber but i could do good business with something that could print in colour (and white) with a hard wearing finish similar to the edge. cutting isnt so important for printed decals on clear vinyl.
Hopefully the plotter cutter will bring in enough money to help pay for a printer (gerber or other) in the future but for now i have to find some vinyls which are suitable.
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I do a bit of rc racing. Mainly 1/8 nitro offroad & 1/10 electric offroad. I do masks for a m8 that paints shells. There is a mask vinyl available & he gets v.good results. dunno about prints.
Heres one he done for me
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Nice one, i do 10th off road myself. What vinyl mask do you use ? what should i look out for ? i have an airbrush and paints sitting about waiting for me to make some masks.
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