Letters on Hypalon

[Wakadui]

Need some ideas on lettering (for state registration) of my new dinghy made of Hypalon fabric. West Marine guy suggested I paint them on (20 bucks) or send in an order for a glued-on customized plate (total cost 60 bucks). Vinyl letters don't work I've been told. I never had success with stenciling (edges run/drip). 60 bucks for customized plate seems a bit excessive.
Ideas?

[Khagan1227]

I have the same problem. I'm going to try a piece of tyvek with letters spray painted on it, then mount the tyvek using velcro glued using repair glue to the dink and velcro sewed to the tyvek.

[capngeo]

I've had mild success with Krylon Fusion Plastic Paint

Also plain old permanent marker holds up pretty well too

[SailFastTri]

I've used the stick-on letters for 15 years on Hypalon. They can come off if rubbed hard or repeatedly, but generally no problem. I end up replacing one or two letters a year, if that much. Wipe clean with solvents before applying.

You can use a stencil and spray, but the best way to do that is buy the type of plastic stick-on letters that punch out of rectangular backing, and discard the letters themselves, then stick on the rectangles all lined up together and spray. Remove the "stencil" when dry.

[capngeo]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

I've used the stick-on letters for 15 years on Hypalon. They can come off if rubbed hard or repeatedly, but generally no problem. I end up replacing one or two letters a year, if that much. Wipe clean with solvents before applying.

You can use a stencil and spray, but the best way to do that is buy the type of plastic stick-on letters that punch out of rectangular backing, and discard the letters themselves, then stick on the rectangles all lined up together and spray. Remove the "stencil" when dry.

For perfect one use stencils, go to your local sign shop and have him cut it out of transfer paper... works perfect!

[David_Old_Jersey]

helps not to be too fussy on the results

You can also reverse stencil, by sticking on cheap lettering and masking off around - and simply painting over the top (and them removing the letters). Of course with a paint brush hard not to get some paint creep as Hypalon has a bit of a weave in it so not mirror smooth.

I have never sprayed on - but that because I have always just used whatever paint was around . On the antitheft / easy identifying angle, adding a few stripes is easy enough. and although a permanent maker will fade down fairly quickly nonetheless will never really dissapear - maybe use on the inside of the dink to write on some identification?

FWIW. over here we use our own boat names on the Dinks (sometimes with T/t added) - but not such a problem (none) with folks using dinks ashore to identify empty boats.

[doug86]

I recently purchased the hypalon glue on plate, and I am very impressed so far. Can be purchased for $45 w/free shipping here:
REGISTRATION NUMBERS FOR BOATS - Inflatable Boats

I haven't tried a Sharpie paint pen on hypalon, but I use those oil based paint pens to mark many things around my boat, and the paint seems to stick quite well to most surfaces. Perhaps with a stencil kit you could achieve good results.

[Troubadour52993]

I used the paint from West Marine, works really well. I taped on the stencils, traced them with a pen, then removed the stencils and used a small brush to paint inside the lines.

The paint is available cheaper without the stencil kit from the manufacturer if I recall correctly.

The little pot of paint is enough to stencil four or five dinks, if you are in a situation where you can share.

[thinwater]

A Sharpie will work but will fade in 6 months.

A small brush and latex paint works well. And as others have said, it's a boat, not art.

[doug86]

Originally Posted by thinwater

A Sharpie will work but will fade in 6 months.

It's not the usual Sharpie Marker that I'm talking about. They also make a "paint pen" that uses oil based permanent paint instead of ink. We use them to mark mooring buoys on Block Island, and they don't fade even after a number of seasons. Oh, and the paint sticks to the plastic mooring buoys quite well.

[Sunspot Baby]

Check out this link. I have used these on two of my dinghies and they work well.

BoatNumberPlate.com

George

[bstreep]

We used the dinghy lettering kit from Defender. It's been a couple of years - and no signs of failure on our hypalon dinghy.

[rabrown10]

I used Fastsigns in Ft Lauderdale. I think they are a franchise. Just give them the boat number and get two copies. They are very thin and stick well. Looks new after about a year. Maybe a bit more expensive but easy to apply.

[missnmountains]

We just purchased a piece of plexiglass cut it in two and stuck the WM numbers to it. Once this was completed, we drilled two holes in the top of each piece and we hang it off of the line that runs along the top of the tubes.

This works great because you can flip the plates to the inside while it is covered and on the stern of the boat.

Ken

[Free Agent]

Originally Posted by capngeo

I've had mild success with Krylon Fusion Plastic Paint

Also plain old permanent marker holds up pretty well too

How about painting a rectangle then applying the letters onto the paint?