Sideart and cabinet prep

SuperGunGuru

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Hey all,

If you've seen my Simpsons restoration thread you might recall I've got my side art in from mamemarquees.com. Currently my cabinet is sanded smooth, but with no primer applied to it. Scott from mamemarquees suggested I apply a small piece of excess material to the side to see how well it sticks. After leaving it on a few days, it seemed to stick fine, but I feel like it came off too easy and certainly easier than the original art I pulled off. Right now I'm thinking about putting on a coat of lacquer as recommended in in the paperwork that came with the art. The only bad thing is trying to get an even coat I suppose and dealing with applying it in the game room now that it's downstairs. I'm not very experienced in cabinet work and I have to confess I don't understand just how important primer/lacquer can be to a cabinet. Has anyone applied art to bare wood? Will lacquer/primer really help with adhesion?
 
I am in the same boat, just finished painting a Donkey Kong. Next i need to install the side art. I was suprised that there has been issues with them sticking? I just thought that once applied it would be on there forever, glad i saw this post.
 
I am in the same boat, just finished painting a Donkey Kong. Next i need to install the side art. I was suprised that there has been issues with them sticking? I just thought that once applied it would be on there forever, glad i saw this post.
Keep in mind that small test piece I applied was on bare wood with no primer or paint. I'm not at all trying to question mamemarquees or complain about their quality. I'm more or less a noob when it comes to applying side art so I'm just trying to make sure I take all necessary steps to make it work. :)
 
side art will not stick well to bare wood. You want to paint weather it be a clear coat, solid color ect to give the adhesive a good surface to stick to.
 
Make sure of these things:

1. Paint is fully cured (wait at least 2 weeks from paint to sticker)
2. Clean the surface with alcohol to remove oils and contaminants.
3. The adhesive is pressure activated, use a hard squeegee to press it down.

/b
 
Thanks for the replies, guys. I'm glad I didn't learn the hard way by trying to apply to bare wood. Well, I'm going to go with a clear coat in this case since there's no real need to worry about color and the sides weren't originally painted anyway. Any other tips? I obviously want to have a smooth coat without runs, but do I need more than one coat on each side? I'm thinking a foam roller might be my best bet.
 
If you're certain that the cab is fully covered in one coat then one coat should be enough to give the adhesive something to stick to. With any vinyl art and especially full vinyl side art you want to be sure your cab has no imperfections as the littlest bump, scratch or divot will show through most vinyl.
 
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