Name Paint DIY

Hey everyone! I'm closing on my new (1982) Monk 36 and will be renaming her--with the proper ceremonies, offerings, etc., of course--and was wondering if anyone has applied their new name themselves.

I'm considering having a decal made and applying it myself or if its not impossible, I'd like to paint the new name myself.

Either way I'd like to do it myself as a fun first project and one that will give the boat some good new character even if it doesn't come out perfectly. Any advice or experience is greatly appreciated!

I have put names on many different boats over the years. I use vinyl decals. It is simple to do. I put the name and hailing port on our current boat twice now. Once before and once after I painted the boat. It took me about 45 minutes to do it with vinyl. Why would you want to paint it rather than a decal?

Comodave said:

I have put names on many different boats over the years. I use vinyl decals. It is simple to do. I put the name and hailing port on our current boat twice now. Once before and once after I painted the boat. It took me about 45 minutes to do it with vinyl. Why would you want to paint it rather than a decal?

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I just like the idea of painting it by hand--old fashioned and in-duplicable!

alofajoe said:

...Either way I'd like to do it myself as a fun first project and one that will give the boat some good new character even if it doesn't come out perfectly. Any advice or experience is greatly appreciated!

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I saw a video on YouTube of a guy who used a video projector to project the graphics he wanted to paint on his boat. Then he just painted over the projected image. I thought it was a clever idea.

FWIW, I went the vinyl decal route. It's quick and easy. Also easier to change in the future if needed.

alofajoe said:

I just like the idea of painting it by hand--old fashioned and in-duplicable!

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Do it!

Down the road, you can always do vinyl if you wish...

Sort of a hybrid idea for you-
I had a vinyl decal made by a local sign shop, applied it to the name board, removed the letters and then painted them in myself.
I used a sign painters paint (1-Shot) and then applied varnish over it. Worked out well.
You get to choose a font, customize it for your application and paint it yourself.

You can have a sign shop that does vinyl lettering do a custom name for you. IMHO Paint is going to look like paint, and it fades over time.

In modern times you can do so much more with vinyl. My boat name fades from one color to another. Try that in paint.

I did mine in gold leaf. Used vinyl for outline. Go to my blog, grandbankschoices and see process. Very easy.

Vinyl is easy and offers many different options, and if you do not like it, you can easily replace. Paint is much more "permanent". Either way you need to consider what the surface looks like after you remove the old name (presumably vinyl). Often difficult to get rid of the shadow where the previous name lived. Sizing larger and shaping to cover the old shadow may be options.

Around this area, there a fairly large number of boats who have had their names painted on by a professional. His work looks great and always includes a "seagull" symbol in the "graphic". I have also seen some painted names that "look like hell" in my opinion, probably done by the owner.
Personally, vinyl is the way to go. Easy to install by yourself (shop will give pointers and many U-tube videos), unlimited options, look professional, etc.
If you are very talented, and take your time, and do it right, then I guess nothing wrong with hand painting, but I would still go with vinyl.

Well it took me about 15 minutes to order the vinyl name and about 45 minutes to install it. We had just painted the whole boat so I had dealt with enough paint to last me a while. And I have enough other projects to to with my time. And I think that the vinyl looks great.

And, in case it is a concern, my experience is that a vinyl stick -on name lasted 8 years on the stern of my trawler before I sold it. It pretty much looked as new. The new owners even took over another year getting around to changing the name. So vinyl is pretty durable unless you scrape it - same as paint but easier to replace/repair.

Unless you are using 2 part polyurethane paint, most will not last 9 years. I see a lot of faded painted on names.