Stencilling Equipment and Techniques

[rob love]

Here at the museum we used decals for a short while, but have replaced pretty much all of them with either stencils or, in most cases, sign painting. We will generally either use the stencil to mark out the numbers or symbol we want. We use a laundry pencil to outline. For paint, the sign paint, which comes in little pint cans cannot be beat. It does not run, and can be had in off-white, which gives it a vintage look. Don't cheap out on the brush either. Lots of light and a steady hand, and the stencilling begins. Clive is far better at it than I am, but mine is getting better.

For larger or non-standard decals, printing it out on the computer then cutting out the letters works very well, as you can adjust the lettering to whatever size you like. Again, this is just for tracing out before hand painting. A day ot two later, a cloth with some water will remove any of the laundry pencil marking that remains after the painting.

Problem with spray painting is you will always have some overspray, or the paint will sneak under the stencil. Back in my armoured corp days, we used to use a small piece of sponge wrapped in electrical tape like a mushroom, and do the pitty pat thing. Makes for a neat texture, but again, the paint tends to sneak under the stencil a bit.

Another tip is if you are painting stencils on a door, and the door can come off, then take it off and put it on some saw horses. Far bet6ter to do it right the first time than have to live with amateur workl.