Kayak Nose Art

I know these guys - http://www.sharkcamo.com/ - have been brought up on NCKA before.  They make their Shark Camo product for kayaks, so obviously something out there sticks to our yaks.  I'm guessing some kind of commercial-grade vinyl...I have a buddy that does those stick-on graphics for cars (we've all seen those VW Bugs advertising one company or another).  He made the big American flag decals that are on my truck...they've been there for about 6 years now, and have held up really well.  I'll ask him if he knows of a product that will work on kayaks.  He's also a designer, and one of my karate students, so I think I'll hit hit up for some Usagi-artwork for my yak if he finds a product that'll stick.    (What's he gonna say..."naw, Sensei, go get it done somewhere else.") 

I used a HIGH-TECH, Xtra-FAT  *ElMarko!!  first dryrun w/pencil and then ClearCoated it(areosole can)

note.....I want the set of Jaws&Teeth ala chuckE for my next layer. 

Hey Adam~

How has the 'El Marko' held up thus far? How long has it lasted? Do you have to retouch it? it seems to be the easiest way I have seen yet.

The ad claims that remora, pilotfish, lionfish, seasnakes are striped, and repell sharks.
 Those are small animals by mass and IMO none of those species are relevant to GWS behavior.
    GWSs decide from afar and initiate the charge from a distance. Little stripey things would not be seen til after the charge was in progreess....and, we have the general lack of visability issue here on top of that.
 Seems to me only a big, bold killer whale, black and white design would have a snowballs chance of making a Northern Calif white think twice.
Still the visability may well interefere but the big, broad black and white patches can be seen better still.
       I have a white Cobra...all I'd have to do is paint a big black brazil nut shape underneath....hmmmm.
 Steve
 

"future news article"???

 "Kayaker raped by killer whale."
 

Chuck are those urchins on your fence?

Hey Mike.  Good observation.  Those urchin were courtesy of Stu and Freddie.

Was that set of teeth meant to ward off sharks or imply, "LET'S GET IT ON!"

Yup... a little of both.

I used a HIGH-TECH, Xtra-FAT  *ElMarko!!  first dryrun w/pencil and then ClearCoated it(areosole can)

note.....I want the set of Jaws&Teeth ala chuckE for my next layer. 

Hey Adam~

How has the 'El Marko' held up thus far? How long has it lasted? Do you have to retouch it? it seems to be the easiest way I have seen yet.

It has held WELL!  I have only touched it up once, and it went on EASIER than the first, then a spritz of clearcoat and ready for another 6mos. of beating.  I wanted to do it TRIBAL style, but it kept looking like my old "cholo-gang tag"

I wanted to do it TRIBAL style, but it kept looking like my old "cholo-gang tag" 

 

  I wanted to do it TRIBAL style, but it kept looking like my old "cholo-gang tag"

Wait 'til I post pics after I am done!!!!!!!!!!!

I got an email from that friend/student of mine who does stuff like this for a living.  He said:

>I think if you do the art with "cut vinyl" it should be fine. It is the same material we used on the Half-Fast banner. The only thing is that doing it that way will limit the artwork to a few colors. (no blends, gradations, drop shadows, etc.) The colors will be solid color. Otherwise it is great for the application you are describing. I have used cut vinyl for people with boats that need names and numbers on the side and it is still holding up to this day as far as I know.>

Now I'm trying to get him to design something for the front of my Outback.  If I can convince him to trade a couple of private lessons for the artwork and decals I'll post the results here.   

I got an email from that friend/student of mine who does stuff like this for a living.  He said:

>I think if you do the art with "cut vinyl" it should be fine. It is the same material we used on the Half-Fast banner. The only thing is that doing it that way will limit the artwork to a few colors. (no blends, gradations, drop shadows, etc.) The colors will be solid color. Otherwise it is great for the application you are describing. I have used cut vinyl for people with boats that need names and numbers on the side and it is still holding up to this day as far as I know.>

Now I'm trying to get him to design something for the front of my Outback.  If I can convince him to trade a couple of private lessons for the artwork and decals I'll post the results here.   

Decals are ideal if they're being applied to smooth, clean surfaces above the water line.  It would be great to find an easy way to turn art into decals.  I'm curious to see how Usagi's decals turn out.

Decals are ideal if they're being applied to smooth, clean surfaces above the water line.  It would be great to find an easy way to turn art into decals.  I'm curious to see how Usagi's decals turn out.

I think the process is similar to what Bill did on the new NCKA decals (which I managed to get hold of yesterday when I picked up my new Wheeleez cart...thanks, Bill!) .  Just on a grander scale...my buddy made decals for our paintball team, as well as a banner for the same team.  I gave him a few ideas regarding the logo, and he played around for a while and came back with 5-6 variations of the artwork.  Once we decided on the logo it was just a matter of cleaning it up and plugging it into whatever machine he uses to spit out the final product.  Here's an early version of our logo that was used on the banner:

The later version includes our team motto: Accepting nothing less than 100% commitment, half of the time.    Anyhow, I think the process is the same, it's just the material being used that differs.  He prints anything from auto decals to wall-sized photo-quality banners used at conventions.  Crazy stuff.

I'll let you know if and when I "convince" him to come up with an Usagi logo for my kayak.

Mooch and I thought it would be cool to have small "fish kill" stickers for stripers, salmon, halibut, lingcod, sturgeon, and other species.

Mooch and I thought it would be cool to have small "fish kill" stickers for stripers, salmon, halibut, lingcod, sturgeon, and other species.

  Yes!  Just like WW2 fighter planes!  I like it!

Hi Everyone,

I'm the nut case ( ) who wants to make my Hobie Sport look like a WWII Spitfire.  My interest is in photo-realistic (full color) custom printed vinyl graphics. 

I'm now working on a small test print with a company called (appropriately) The Graphics Company.  They wrote me and said:

"Avery came out with a new marine vinyl that is supposed to hold up in any marine application. All of our graphics are finished off with a UV coating."

So far so good, but my family has lots of experience in fine art digital printing and I'm a real stickler for  detail and quality.  I'll be testing the vinyl print on the bottom of my kayak to see if the material can be applied to compound curves, see how well it sticks, and how durable it is.   I'll post my findings on this thread, and if the product turns out well I'll start a new thread.  But this will take time.

Cheerio,
-Matt

Its pretty common to apply vinyl graphics to boats, when company's advertise their product as marine grade or say they can apply to a boat they probably mean a real boat...gel coated fiberglass. The sales people either don't know what polyethylene is or just want to make a sale.  I'd be specific with them and let them know about the potential adhesion issues are.  The vinyl sticker may hold up well against sun and saltwater but that doesn't mean it will stick.