Where can I get custom vinyl paint masks cut?

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Arrma RC's
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I'm painting a body and want some custom stuff in the graphics. I've gotten the graphics formatted into .SVG files, which is what most of these cutters use. I just need to find a place to have it "printed" on a cutter. There are home machines like the cricut and silouette that do it, and I'm sure there are professional machines as well.

Does anyone have any experience sending something out like this to get printed? I'm not sure if I should look for someone local at like a sign shop, or buy online.
 
I'm painting a body and want some custom stuff in the graphics. I've gotten the graphics formatted into .SVG files, which is what most of these cutters use. I just need to find a place to have it "printed" on a cutter. There are home machines like the cricut and silouette that do it, and I'm sure there are professional machines as well.

Does anyone have any experience sending something out like this to get printed? I'm not sure if I should look for someone local at like a sign shop, or buy online.

I thought about buying one of those cricut or silhouette style machines for exactly this reason. I imagine it would take some searching but maybe somebody at ebay that sells vinyl cutouts would be interested in doing your design? There could even be a local mom into scrapbooking that would have a machine and be able to do your design....
Sign shops as you mentioned are also a good place to explore and may welcome the work right now. Worth calling some up imo.
 
The cricut machines are awesome for exactly this task. When my wife first got hers I was the one teaching her how to use it. Now I have my own. I would try to find someone local with a cricut machine. If it is small enough you will have your cuts way faster than going to a sign shop where they prioritize commercial customers.
 
My wife and I both have the cricut maker. For the stuff we throw at it (stickers, iron-on vinyl logos, balsa wood carving, drawings) it does the job really well and with great speed. My wife uses hers to cut fabrics as well.

I would definitely say spend the money on the maker if you were looking at it. Get a roll of transfer tape for your vinyl stickers and get some heat-transfer vinyl to play with. On top of that, down the road you will want to invest in a really good laser printer. That allows you to print designs onto the vinyl base sheet and just cut it out. The cricut software has an option called "print cut" which is what the name implies. You print the design and then cut it.
 
My wife and I both have the cricut maker. For the stuff we throw at it (stickers, iron-on vinyl logos, balsa wood carving, drawings) it does the job really well and with great speed. My wife uses hers to cut fabrics as well.

I would definitely say spend the money on the maker if you were looking at it. Get a roll of transfer tape for your vinyl stickers and get some heat-transfer vinyl to play with. On top of that, down the road you will want to invest in a really good laser printer. That allows you to print designs onto the vinyl base sheet and just cut it out. The cricut software has an option called "print cut" which is what the name implies. You print the design and then cut it.

I have a Brother monochrome lazer printer. Not sure if this is enough but I do like it.

So the Cricut Maker is a winner? Do we need a monthly subscription to use all software features? I looked at so many and don't remember but I'll look again at that one tonight
 
I have a Brother monochrome lazer printer. Not sure if this is enough but I do like it.

So the Cricut Maker is a winner? Do we need a monthly subscription to use all software features? I looked at so many and don't remember but I'll look again at that one tonight

The design space is free (from what I recall) and I don't see any kind of charge on my accounts for any cricut service so I'm going off that ?

The cricut maker is definitely the winner. It has the most cutting force of any of the existing models AND its got bluetooth. If you're in range of the maker you don't need wires. Once it's connected to your computer (bluetooth or wired) when you want to print it just shares the printer tied to your computer. It's a good machine overall and for the price I would do it again.
 
will the supplied SVG be properly scaled? I can cut them out of 12x12 vinyl sheets but it's going to be a pita to remove since I have outdoor rated stuff. I usually cut stencils out of shelf paper but not sure how it'd work on a body.
 
I've looked at this guys stuff a few times https://xxxmain.com/collections/paint-masks I promise it is not a porn site, I am sure he would be willing to hook a brotha up.

I have some of his masks but yet to use.
Also that xxxmain picture glue is an item I've wanted to try out but it's expensive to ship from Canada. Fortunately I finally found out what the stuff is and was able to get an entire quart of the exact same glue formula for $8. The glue dries clear and will allow for cutout pictures or whatever from print magazines (Playboy or Penthouse?) to be glued on the inside of the clear body and painted over.
The design space is free (from what I recall) and I don't see any kind of charge on my accounts for any cricut service so I'm going off that ?

The cricut maker is definitely the winner. It has the most cutting force of any of the existing models AND its got bluetooth. If you're in range of the maker you don't need wires. Once it's connected to your computer (bluetooth or wired) when you want to print it just shares the printer tied to your computer. It's a good machine overall and for the price I would do it again.

Good to know. I'll do more research to see if I can justify the cost. Must be something I can do with it besides rc masks? I don't have a wife or kids so I'll have to put my thinking cap on. Wonder if my nieces and nephew would get some fun from stickers and stuff...or my mom who likes to sew... I just late night ordered a tv and wall mount for the shop so I can watch youtube in my environment and probably shouldn't have. lol
 
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will the supplied SVG be properly scaled? I can cut them out of 12x12 vinyl sheets but it's going to be a pita to remove since I have outdoor rated stuff. I usually cut stencils out of shelf paper but not sure how it'd work on a body.

Yes I properly scaled it on a 8.5x11" background. You do need to use vinyl for paint masking though. I would be afraid of outdoor stuff would leave residue behind. Most popular seems to be "Oracal Oramask 813 Film".

I have some of his masks but yet to use.
Also that xxxmain picture glue is an item I've wanted to try out but it's expensive to ship from Canada. Fortunately I finally found out what the stuff is and was able to get an entire quart of the exact same glue formula for $8. The glue dries clear and will allow for cutout pictures or whatever from print magazines (Playboy or Penthouse?) to be glued on the inside of the clear body and painted over.

I just watched their video on that today. First I have seen of it. That really opens up a lot of possibilities for easy to make graphics. What is the glue you used?

 
What is the glue you used?

Well, this may surprise you but it's this. We're just looking for PVA glue. Also can be called book-binding glue. Dries clear and is flexible and has neutral ph so it doesn't deteriorate paper over time.


1588629668779.png

.

I haven't used it yet but I plan to thin it a little with water and follow the same procedure he did in the video. So far haven't found any cut outs I want to use...or spend the time cutting out. I gave all my cool magazines to the Veteran's Association when I did some cleaning in the house. I have some old indy comic books but nothing stands out. Not sure what I'm gonna use yet so it may not happen on the BRCC body I've been putting off. Any ideas would be great to hear.

1588630407797.png
 
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Just to update thread, the 5iver guys seemed like they wanted to do design, not printing. I emailed xxxmain, but never got a response. I ended up going with decalboy.com. It took a while, and it was $15 for one 8.5"x11" sheet. The vinyl was oracal 813.

I just finished painting and it worked great. I had some pretty fine details in the graphics, and it came out perfect. Some of the process is a little tricky overall, like getting everything perfectly straight, but not too hard. I will post some pics when it is done.
 
Just to update thread, the 5iver guys seemed like they wanted to do design, not printing. I emailed xxxmain, but never got a response. I ended up going with decalboy.com. It took a while, and it was $15 for one 8.5"x11" sheet. The vinyl was oracal 813.

I just finished painting and it worked great. I had some pretty fine details in the graphics, and it came out perfect. Some of the process is a little tricky overall, like getting everything perfectly straight, but not too hard. I will post some pics when it is done.
Sounds worth it ? Can't wait to see
 
Just to update thread, the 5iver guys seemed like they wanted to do design, not printing. I emailed xxxmain, but never got a response. I ended up going with decalboy.com. It took a while, and it was $15 for one 8.5"x11" sheet. The vinyl was oracal 813.

I just finished painting and it worked great. I had some pretty fine details in the graphics, and it came out perfect. Some of the process is a little tricky overall, like getting everything perfectly straight, but not too hard. I will post some pics when it is done.

I contacted xxxmain also and no response. Sucks cause they are a Canadian company and it would have been nice to pay someone locally.
 
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