Sideart question

demogo

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I've finally gotten around to working on replacing the sideart on my Spy Hunter.

As you may recall, the game has white vinyl sideart with an additional sticker that has the car picture, etc.

I am replacing the sticker with the car picture and generally cleaning up the white vinyl sideart as best I can. I'm not looking for perfection, just looking for the white vinyl to look reasonably good and I'll be using the 'dry' method of applying the new Prok car sticker.

So after taking off the original looks-like-crap car sticker, things looked pretty good on the white vinyl underneath but there are two thin scratches that are noticeable.

One of them (in the 1st picture) is in the upper left corner that will be covered by the new Prok car sticker.

Question 1: Can I get away with simply putting the new car sticker over this scratch in the white vinyl? Will it show and be obvious under the new car sticker?

As you can see in the second picture there is also a thin scratch below where the new sideart will go. Prok and others have suggested filling scratches in vinyl with Evercoat Metal Glaze and I may end up doing that if that's the only reasonable option available.

But it's a thin scratch.

Question 2: Is there no other half-way reasonable solution available that may not be perfect but will be less noticeable?

I'm afraid of filling it and then having to paint that long thin line across the cab, especially because the vinyl is not pure white there, it's kind of a cream color.

Whatcha think, folks?
 

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I'd have to hit the entire surface of the vinyl because it's pretty much uniform except where the old car sticker was.

I think it's that color by design; every one I've ever seen is that same creamy white color and the color difference doesn't fit the outline of the old sticker exactly.

Prok has suggested that I use Greased Lightning for general cleanup and I'll give that a shot tomorrow but I'm pretty sure that's not gonna change the color.

How do you think I'll come out with putting the new Prok art over the scratch in the first picture? Will it show?
 
If you can feel it with your finger, then it will show after you put the art on - but probably only to you because you'll know where to look to find it. Most people probably wouldn't even notice the scratch with no side art unless you pointed it out to them.

If you can't feel it, you may be able get a white paint pen or even some white out to color the line, then use magic eraser lightly to get the overage off so that only the line has the white coloring in it, effectively making it disappear.

if you CAN feel the scratch, take a razor blade and lightly scrape the area that will be covered by the sticker anyway to get it smoothed down to the level of the original vinyl, the use some simple filler's putty to fill in the scratch, and sand it smooth. Once the sticker is on, no one but you will know it looks like that underneath...
 
Yes, you can feel both lines with your fingers.

I've attached a wide-shot of the game -- the vinyl is in pretty good shape really. The camera is a bit kinder than the human eye -- the bottom line is more apparent when you get a bit closer.

The smaller diagonal one will definitely be covered up by the new sideart so I'll scrape it flush with my trusty xacto knife. By filler do you mean wood filler?

The bottom scratch I'm pretty sure will be below the new car sticker so if there's a relatively painless way to fill it in just so the white vs black contrast isn't as apparent that would be good enough. It doesn't have to be perfect.
 

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By filler do you mean wood filler?

There's some quick and easy putty stuff that comes in a tube that you can use to quickly fill nail holes in walls and stuff. My dad got some that goes on pink then turns white as it dries, and then you can sand it smooth if necessary. Ho bought it at Home Depot or Lowes. Not sure what it was called, but it was a quick touch-up thing..
 
If I'm using the 'dry method' is there a reason to lay the cabinet down for the application?

This sticker is maybe 1/3rd the size of the side.

I've never done this before so I'm trying to figure out why I'd want to lay the cabinet down as many people recommend.
 
If I'm using the 'dry method' is there a reason to lay the cabinet down for the application?

This sticker is maybe 1/3rd the size of the side.

I've never done this before so I'm trying to figure out why I'd want to lay the cabinet down as many people recommend.

CrystalCastlesMoppet.jpg
 
Yes, I have that bookmarked too. :)

That nightmare actually discouraged me from trying my hand at sideart application for a while. :)

But it's time to move past that.

Is there anything really to be gained for laying the game down for a piece of sideart like the one I'm talking about?
 
Well, it's easier to line it up properly because you can hold it out with help while looking at it from all directions, but as you already have a footprint there, that'll help. I use an old gift card as my "squeegee" to smooth it out as I go - about an inch at a time - to make sure there are no air bubble. If you're going to do it upright, make sure someone is there to keep the other end up at about a 30-degree angle and pulled tight, as you methodically smooth it down onto the cab with your squeegee.

If it has premask on it, I usually pull it off first because I don't feel like waiting for the adhesive to set for a day just so I can look at my new art, but otherwise you can stick it, then the next day, spray it with water and it will peel right off the art....
 
Wow!

I just tried your 'shave it down with a razor' to smooth it out before filling it trick.

What I did was use the edge of a very sharp new x-acto blade that was positioned almost parallel to but very lightly touching the scratch and I moved it back and forth a number of times over the length of the scratch and it is now *dramatically* better.

It's still visible but about half as much as before. You can still feel it with your finger but much less than before. There's no need to fill it anymore.

It worked so well that I tried it on the longer scratch on the bottom and I got similar results there.

There is one tiny side effect -- if you shine a bright light on the scratch and look down the length of the cabinet you can see that the area surrounding the scratch now looks like it's been slightly smudged where the razor was at but no one is going to notice that side effect unless they're looking specifically for it.

The appearance of the long scratch itself is dramatically improved to the point where it no longer bothers me having it there. When looked at straight on the scratch is more visible but unless someone is 3' tall they won't be doing that.

Whew!
 
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