Logos - A sort of How-To (by request)

[NorCalWeekender]

Well, I just put pix up and already velvetgreen contacted me about the details of dropping logos onto a bus simply and cheaply. So bear with me...here's how I did it.

First, I only learned about stencils from the Hoodride forums...and I only found *that* because of the Hoodride Radio podcast...so credit where it's due and check it out.

So I've wanted to put logos on the bus for a long time, but what to do for a camper? Crofty suggested some campground somewhere...cool! So since my camper's from Oregon, I searched for a private campground out there and found Trail's End Campground in Cave Junction. Cool name for the place and the town!

So in Photoshop I created a new 300dpi grayscale image (about 14h X 18w) onto which I drew a tree and then added the text in what's called "Paint Peel" font. The campground name was about a 240pt font and the town name was closer to 200pt. All of that was done in black.

But it was too big for a printer, so I carefully carved the image up into pieces that would fit on 8.5 X 11 and then printed four separate pieces onto cut-up manila folder (you need something thicker to hold up against the paint).

I basically then spent four hours over two days cutting out the black with a box cutter. Mind-numbing work! But after it was all assembled, it basically looked like this:

Since I was going for an aged look anyway, I didn't bother to clean the door first. I taped the stencil to the door first and then taped pages from an old Newsweek around it to catch the overspray. Since the door is curved, I was careful to make sure it laid as flat as possible.

For paint, I just used a dark green glossy primer that I have a few cans of at home. Real simple rattle can stuff. You can use any color you want, really. Shake, shake, shake, and then I just sprayed it gentle, light, and smooth over the stencil. Just hit, hit, hit, hit rather than hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit all over. That causes drips.

Here's the result on the driver door:

When I repeated the process on the passenger side door, the can started crapping out on me, so it didn't turn out as smooth, but it works with the aged look.

Now, the only thing I'm planning to do after this is in about a week...after the paint has *seriously* had time to set in and cure and all that...I am gonna grab some fine sand paper and just scrape over it gently to age it a little more.

And that's about it, really. If anyone else has tips and tricks, share 'em! And I know that, by no means, is this the only way to do them. I know UZI and Crofty have taken different approaches with awesome results!
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9th Owner of a 1971 Tintop Westy

"Eventually, we sold to a guy for $500 who towed it away to live in it in his parents' driveway. We didn't think it would ever avoid the junk heap on that day." -The 3rd Owner, 1995

[UZI]

taylor, looks good, nice job. one thing that may also help overspray from drifting in beind the stencil in the image area is a light dusting of spray adhesive on the back of the stencil. too much and it'll be stuck and tear apart when you lift if off. be sure to let the spray adhesive dry for a couple minutes before hanging the stencil in position.
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Extravagant Lifestyle

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[Yustrn]

I did the same sort of thing but to get the "old" look after it was dry I took some 2000 grit wet sand to it until I got that look I wanted, then I buffed the door (and the rest of the car) till it polished out real nice.

The checkerboard came from Aggro Jo as a sticker.
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[NorCalWeekender]

That's a good idea. I'll keep it in mind for future projects (re: UZI's post).
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9th Owner of a 1971 Tintop Westy

"Eventually, we sold to a guy for $500 who towed it away to live in it in his parents' driveway. We didn't think it would ever avoid the junk heap on that day." -The 3rd Owner, 1995

[bill may]

4 hours maling doing this? should have spent a couple fixin stuff near door handle,before stencil. when you coming back down to san diego for another cookout?
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Admin note: Bill Passed away - July, 2017

1965 panel bus-Kermit
"Camping is cheaper than therapy"
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SBS #100
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=453617

[NorCalWeekender]

[///Mink]

[VWsArent4Hippies]

When I did the stencil on the door of my bus, I printed it off on two pages of computer paper. Then I covered both sides of it with contact paper. Cut it out with a razor blade and youre good to go.

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[KombiMonster]

Looks good Taylor...

I was fortunate to have some vinyl stencils mailed to me!

And access to a paint booth....I sprayed mine with single stage paint...

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FOOK CANCER


*WANTED*

[NorCalWeekender]

Yeah, I read about your logos on the hoodride forum. You lucked out with some really fancy ones!
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9th Owner of a 1971 Tintop Westy

"Eventually, we sold to a guy for $500 who towed it away to live in it in his parents' driveway. We didn't think it would ever avoid the junk heap on that day." -The 3rd Owner, 1995

[Yustrn]

[Erik G]

hey Bro, I think he was trying to pick up on you......
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[6D2]

Nice work guys I might be redoing mine.. I chose the name of my wife's nail salon. I figured the bus gets looks all the time might as well get her name out there.. Mine was cut out of heavy printer paper in a 200pt font she uses as her logo at work. here's the driver's door.

made a clickable thumbnail pic cause it is so big.. oh and instead of spraying it I used a brush and flat black latex paint..
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Chris
The SBS #62

Red Hot Ad Specialties & Stuff...
Shirts and hoodies for shows or clubs.. we ship world wide...
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[crofty]

[UZI]

[middleburgebus64]

uzi do you have a bigger pic of your avtar
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ladyVW:burge is cute

[NorCalWeekender]

[rusbus]

[crofty]

[arthurnugen]

That's cool and it came out really well! Up in the PNW I see a lot of State campgrounds that always have a spot for "campground host" or something similar. Usually some hardcore campers, too. You should add that to your door!
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