Beginning with the critical Mass, I have been using vinyl appliqués and stencils, more with each new airplane as familiarity with the medium increases. My usual technique would have been to apply frisket to the airplane, then do the layout and cutting on the airplane. The prospect of laying out each letter of the left and right side "Critical Mass" graphics was so daunting, I let the airplane sit for two years finished in silver. I considered using decals but feared they wouldn't appear bright enough when applied over a black background. I wasn't anxious to try vinyl stencils or appliqués but couldn't see any other way to reproduce the unusual "Critical Mass" graphics with accuracy and precision. With the Critical Mass, I needed photo realistic, full color logos for the cowling. I was also concerned with the tapering "Critical Mass" lettering down the side of the fuselage in a very characteristic font. Finally, I sought help. A local sign shop was able to produce the cowling logos from a photo that I cleaned up and resized in Photoshop. These were expensive. They costs $30 for a full sheet of left and right logos after I provided the artwork, ready to cut, on a CD.
Kyle Tankersley did the artwork for the fuselage logos and racing numerals. He copied enlarged side view photographs and turned these copies into files for cutting vinyl for a reasonable price. I'm not sure that a sign shop would have even tried to create model size artwork from poor quality photographs, much less done it for a affordable price. By using Kyle, I was dealing with a modeler who understands airplanes and Corel. Who knows whether a sign shop technician would have, or could have, done the quality of artwork actually used. With the data files in hand, I shopped around for someone to cut vinyl for me. I used Callie Graphics in Albuquerque who produced two sets of everything both in stencils and appliqués. I don't recall exactly, but I think these were $20. Faced with the problem of exactly placing the fuselage lettering precisely within the black stripe, I used the appliqués. I'm glad I ordered extras for that first try. The first "Critical Mass" didn't position with the precision I wanted. I had to peel the first "Critical Mass" off, one letter at a time, and replace it. As you can see, the results are all that could be wished for.
I was completely satisfied with the use of the appliqués used on the Critical Mass, but vinyl appliqués are slightly thicker and heavier than paint. When decorating the Millennium Cavalier, I decided to try stencils. At least, that was my first thought. Faced with major masking for each of the three colors in the national insignia, it was obvious that using appliqués for these insignias would save a great deal of work and have a precise appearance. National insignia appliqués were available custom sized to fit specific locations. The rest of the major markings were all painted in yellow using vinyl stencils. This was my first experience using the stencils, They turned out to be an easy to apply and resulted in clean sharp lettering. The stencils had a very nice adhesive tack. Once applied there was no need for any additional preparation before painting, and they peeled off nicely without threatening to pull my finish. I was becoming increasingly a fan of laser cut computer graphics.
If you haven't used vinyl appliqués before, here is a word of caution. National insignia, for example, are commonly built up using a blue vinyl layer, followed by a white layer and then topped with another layer of red bars. If these layers are each two mills thick, the complete National Insignia will be impossible to bury in a coat of clear. Better providers of laser graphics would use a blue vinyl background and printed colors for a much thinner appliqué. Ask before you order. I used Cajun RC Specialties National Insignia. They worked well, but were expensive.
Now, I'm decorating my newest airplane, a Saito 91 powered BBFB Bearcat. This airplane offered the perfect opportunity to save work and produce excellent paint graphics using stencils. The official Navy paint scheme for the Bearcat was basically all white graphics and lettering on an overall glossy Sea Blue. Insignia Blue isn't used when painting the national insignia on Navy Sea Blue backgrounds. Here was an opportunity to do the complete set of graphics with vinyl stencils. I had templates of the graphics from painting the BBQB and liked the appearance of the markings on that airplane very much. I took the templates to Kyle and we entered them into a data file. The markings are the same as the BBQB except that airplane number was changed from "201" to "210". While we were at it, the edge of the stencils were tailored to provide alignment of the graphics. For example, the fuselage side stencil had a half circle cutout to fit the leading edge of the stabilizer, and was cut to fit the wing and flap trailing edge with a notch to indicate the desired location of the flap hinge line. On Kyle's computer it looked like there might be as much as eight square feet of stencils. I expected these to cost about $20. Actually, by the time we had added some extra details such as wheel wells, AMA numbers and red national insignia bars, it finally added up to a total of about fourteen square feet of stencils and cost $40. I e-mailed Callie the data files on a Thursday and received the box of vinyl two days later on Saturday. At first blush the price seemed a bit steep, but considering the amount of work saved and the appearance of the resulting paint job, I decided it was worth the cost.
All seems to be proceeding well. The stencils are in place, the airplane is completely masked and the white will go on today.
Beginning with the Millennium Mustang I have been using laser cut frisket stencils for all of the small lettering on my airplanes. Kyle can cut a sheet of stencils quite reasonably in any size or font. A sheet of stencils can have thirty or forty cleanly cut words or phrases. One simply cuts them out, sticks them on the model, and squirts them with paint. Like my previous airplanes, the new BBFB will have all of the minor graphics applied using Kyle's frisket stencils. The photo of frisket graphics is typical but not the exact set I will be using.
I guess it is hard not to appreciate the many ways computers can simplify some of our jobs while improving quality. Its probably only fitting that an airplane constructed from all laser cut wooden pieces be finished in laser cut graphics.
Al
Callie Graphics
P.O. Box 95138
505-293-2922
Albuquerque, NM 87199-5138
info@callie-graphics.com
Cajun R/C Specialties
306 Mary St.
Broussard LA 70581
(337) 269-5177
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