Star size?

[N1VSM]

I'm clearly thinking to hard about this ...

The 20" star that goes on the hood - how is that measured? I can think of several possibilities:

1: draw a circle with a 20" radius - inscribe a star so that the 5 points lie on the circle
2: number the points of the star 1, 2, 3, 4, 5: The line from point 1 to point 3 is 20"
3: number the points 1-5: draw a line from point 3 to 4. A line drawn from the midpoint of that line to point 1 on the star is 20"

I have more interpretations, but they just get more bizarre. My guess is option #1 or #2.

Any insight?

[mike_l]

OK, here is the method I used. Sort of a bastardization of your option #1.

The star's diameter is measured from edge to edge, through the center point, so 10" would be your radius. I started with a piece of poster board material (about $1-$2 at Walmart), picked a center point, then marked the star points "azimuths" by using a protractor and putting a mark at 72 degree increments all the way around, giving me 5 equally spaced points in a 360 degree circle. Then, I measured out the 10" along these marks to give me the points and I connected the dots. I checked it to make sure it looked right, cut the star out, taped it to my hood in a couple spots (first I marked the center point on my hood), lined up the star using a 2' straight edge to get the star "pointing" in the right direction and eye-balled the alignment and adjusted. Once I was happy with the alignment, I lightly run a pencil along the inside of the poster board template, pulled it out of the way and used blue tape to mask it out. I think it came out pretty well.

I'll be darned if my high school geometry teacher wasn't right - I would need to know this stuff one day.

[N1VSM]

Thanks Mike.
Especially for reading what I meant & not what I wrote. A 20" radius star would be a bit huge - might as well paint my whole hood flat white.
I'm going to cut out markings from magnet-backed vinyl. It is sold by the sheet as cut-your-own HVAC vent/register covers. The current paint job on my M only looks good at a distance - not worth my marking "for real".

[T. Highway]

A word of caution for your magnetic vinyl markings. They will hold moisture under them and promote rust, make sure to remove them periodically and let the areas dry.

Bert

[N1VSM]

Thanks Bert.
Only plan on putting them on for parades & taking them off right after (like the pioneer tools - too tempting for someone to "borrow" from a parking lot).

A word of caution for your magnetic vinyl markings. They will hold moisture under them and promote rust, make sure to remove them periodically and let the areas dry.

Bert