Bumper #'s : Stick on Vinyl ? Type Of Paint ?

[de_]

Anyone know for certain if stick on vinyl #s is viable ?

Anyone know of a paint that is particularly appropriate for cloth ?

Any other technology we should look at ? Is there some iron on material ?

[Duncan Macdonald]

Tried vinyl in 2008. Lasted about a day at competition. (We ended up using spray paint but the visibility wasn't great.)

2809 uses a stencil and a couple of coats of acrylic paint.

Also: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99938

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Craft stores have fabric paint. Paint pens and certain sharpie products also work well.

[de_]

Thanks for the insight. Sorry I missed the other link.

[jvriezen]

We are going with screen printing this year after several years of less than ideal approaches. I hope it doesn't get rubbed off in the heat of battle. It cost us $50, and some time to set up the exact font/spacing etc so that it would fit on the 11" bumper segment and be the right size -- We did did all the design work.

We just got the fabric back yesterday, and it looks really nice..

[Phyrxes]

We use heat fused vinyl numbers and have had no problems. If you want to go this route, or embroidery if you prefer, I would suggest talking to your schools activities department and see who they use.

[jason701802]

Screen printing or custom embroidery will probably last forever, but we've had a lot of success with silver Sharpies and it's only a fraction of the price.

[Jon Stratis]

We've used screen printing for a number of years, and it's never come off.

[de_]

Dumb question: I am assuming screen printing means silk screen printing which means a trip to a graphics art company. What sort of costs ?

[engunneer]

You can buy a simple screen printing kit at an art store for $50-$100, which will come with everything you need for 8 sets of numbers. It's a pretty neat skill to learn anyway.

[Dad1279]

Screen printing or custom embroidery will probably last forever, but we've had a lot of success with silver Sharpies and it's only a fraction of the price.

We liked silver also, but [R35] changes that...

[jvriezen]

Dumb question: I am assuming screen printing means silk screen printing which means a trip to a graphics art company. What sort of costs ?

A local company charged $12.50 setup fee, and $4 per print. Since our team number only covered 9.5x4", each bumper was $4, so $32 + $12.50. All the mentors thought it was a great idea--- excellent result, no hassle. Especially with the remaining time we had.

[Mr V]

Out team just gets some of the same material used for the bumper covers in white, cuts out the numbers and sews them on. One of our other Mentors has a nice sewing machine she brought in and a couple of our students became pretty good at using it, another skill that isn't bad to have.

Please note this years bumper rules regarding numbers:

[R35]

Teams shall display their team number on the Bumpers in four locations at approximately 90° intervals around the perimeter of the Robot. The numerals must be at least 4 in. high, at least ¾ in. in stroke width, and be either white in color or outlined in white. Team numbers must be clearly visible from a distance of not less than 100 ft, so that judges, referees, and announcers can easily identify competing Robots.

Bold mine, as that is a new requirement this year. So Sharpies aren't likely going to cut it anymore.

[jason701802]

I hadn't noticed R35. It's probably won't be as nice, but you could still outline the silver with a white paint pen. I wonder what the GDC has against silver.