Boat Graphics

[Greg4cocokai]

You can get plastic razor blades on Amazon. They work great without scratching.

[pilott]

BoatUS have a nice website where you can design your lettering - various fonts, colors etc.
And they provide good instructions on how to remove old lettering & apply new.
I used the for port of origin lettering, and I'm very happy with the result.

[Painless]

If the lettering was painted on, use “Oven Off” oven cleaner. It will soften the paint and it can be wiped off with a paper towel. It might take two coats wiped between. It will turn white Gel Coat slightly yellow so after all the paint is off brush with white vinegar and the gel coat goes back pure white again.
Vinyl lettering comes off with heat gun as explained in other posts.

[Dan GB]

I went thru this drama of finding vinyl printing for my cat in Fort Lauderdale. Printed for front of both hulls, and smaller panel for the back. I had this notion of printing a colour photo graphic thing. The front X 2 was maybe 15"x40", and the single back 8" x 20".
Priced then up on Fort Lauderdale and got into the whole 'marine' licence to print money thing. Think the cheapest was like $500....
In the end had them done in the UK far south of £100. Just went to ordinary printers who supplied the car vinyl printing game.

[seadago]

I did the same as Dan GB.
Sanded down the old markings, and painted a fresh top coat over, then ordered vinyl decals over the internet. This included lettering and a substantial size graphic.

All I had to do was to provide the graphics on a vector file. The lettering font I chose from a menu online. GBP 280 all inclusive.

I applied the decals myself.

Results below.

[SV Bacchus]

We used Boat Decals and found it to be a very positive experience.

You can upload your own graphic, if you have one. Design your lettering to work with your graphic and they ship it to you. You can also get removal tools/solvents which made removing the old a piece of cake.

[FlyingScot]

Any reputable sign shop can do this. Make sure you pay for the premium vinyl. This is the industry I work in.
SignsNow and FastSigns are two big names.
Many other local shops can do quality work. This is pretty straightforward work.

[roverhi]

If the graphics have been on there awhile, the gel coat underneath will be a noticeably different hue than the surrounding areas. Also, if it's an older boat, especially that hasn't been regularly waxed, the area under the graphic will actually be raised above the surrounding finish. If you aren't covering up old graphics, don't put on new one's. They will just be a PITA when it comes time replace. Stick with just boat name and hailing port.

My new to me boat had a large painted on name about 3' x 2' on the quarter, both sides. Sanded off the paint and buffed out the hull but it's very obvious that there was something there. The area under the old name is both raised above the surrounding gel coat and the gel coat is noticeably discolored. Will have a vinyl graphic made to cover up the old one so it doesn't look bad which is not what I wanted to do.

[tackleandtax]

We went through this process a few years back, we got normal vinyl the first time and it shriveled in the sun and peeled off in about 2 months!

Second time around we went to a guy that only does marine stickers. Must have had them for 2 years now and they still look new.

[ronstory]

We used Alphabet Signs and they have a proof tool online we did everything on the web. The name and the hailing port cost about $30-35 shipped to our door. Definitely get the premium vinyl.

https://www.alphabetsigns.com/signs/...lettering.html

[NECruiser]

I currently own a sign shop and have worked in this industry for many years. We do boats all the time, and I can give you some advice, if you're still looking for some.

The shop will likely charge you hourly for removal, but if it's lettered with vinyl decals, the removal of the old vinyl is easy with a hair dryer or heat gun. Go easy on painted surfaces. This will likely leave behind adhesive gunk that will come off with isopropyl or denatured alcohol. If there's a lot, put some denatured in a spray bottle and hit it hard, then scrape up with a plastic spatula or plastic putty knife (gel-coat only). We have a special adhesive remover spray in the shop but most of the time it's unnecessary. The longer the decal has been on there, the more adhesive residue it will leave behind.

Expect to see a ghost of the old lettering, if nothing else because the wear on the paint/gel coat around the lettering will be different than what's underneath. Depending on the hull, you may also get some UV light color change. Plan for this in your new design. We try to design the new graphic so that it will mostly cover the old artwork area. If there is any chipping paint or delaminating gel-coat, the decal will not last a season. Do NOT clean the surface with 409 or Windex unless you wash afterwards well with clean fresh water. These are degreasers and will degrade the adhesive and shorten the life of the graphic.

We make new lettering with "rapid air egress" adhesive, which makes installing the new graphic easy even for a novice. No bubbles and no wet application needed. Wait until a cloudy day when it's not hot. Direct sun causes glare and can make positioning difficult. Hot days make the vinyl turn to goo while you're trying to install. If you get a full color print, make sure it's a solvent or latex print so it's waterproof, and spring for the overlaminate. This will give it some scratch resistance and also improve UV.

There are some convincing gold leaf vinyls if you want the gold leaf effect but don't want to spring for the added expense. Hope this helps!