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I'm thinking about putting the hood, bumper and tailgate marking and stars on my truck. And was wondering if I should go with stencils or decals. Has anyone used the decals?

Sal

In the "olden days," the military way was to use stencils and the numbers stayed put "forever" or until some commander decided it was time for a repaint.

Now, the military way is to use decals, which tend to come unstuck after a while. Then, it becomes necessary to remove what's left and apply new decals.

Either is "correct," but paint is "more correct" for the era in which our trucks served.

Given a choice, I would go with the "old way," but it's not my truck, is it?

Good morning,
I have used decals on both my M and on the transom of boats I have owned. The "new" decals stick forever even in the marine salt environment. You need a heat gun to get them off, but come off easly with the heat gun. I woiuld go with the decals. Just my .02. BOB

I went with a paint mask instead of stencils or decals, they look great, and have no bleed through like on a stencil. I got mine from Rick Larsen at Militarystencils.com., Top Notch!

I used the same product from the same source as Carl and agree with his assesment: Top Notch

Whats the difference between a stnecil and paint mask??
BOB

The stencil is just stiff treated paper and the edges of each letter do not necessarily fit snug against the metal when you are painting. This causes the thin overspray look at the edges of the letters. The Mask has the edge of the letters adhering tightly against the metal to prevent this.

And of course the mask costs more.

The trick to a mask is to lightly dust the paint on the edges of the mask, and I mean lightly, with a fast drying paint, that way when you fill in the rest of the area there will be no bleed through at all. Heres an example of a paint mask used for my sons 1943 willys... with this kind of detail, a stencil would have had a lot of bleed out, and it is as sharp if not sharper than a decal. There are also some pics of us using the paint masks on his jeep too.



Carl

Unlike stencils, masks usually don't get reused, to hard to keep intact.

I used decals on my M37 and M43 and am quite happy with them.

On my WC51 and M151A1 (now, both departed) I used the paint mask like Carl. Even brought them from the same guy as Carl (Rick Larsen) I too would recommend that way as both jobs came out supurb.

Matt

I've used all three products over the last 25+ years. Vinyl lettering (decals) look good. Nice and crisp, but look like stickers and not paint. Paint mask nice crisp look, but the mask can be hard to lay down sometimes. As said sometimes just a once use product. Stenciles I've used the old oil board and plastic. Both work about the same, though the plastic holds up and last longer than the oil board. I really prefer the stencils. Something about over spray makes it look real to me.

If you want to really make it authentic use stencils and a stencil brush instead of spray paint. You'll be surpised at how clean you can get a stencil that way.

I'll never forget the pic from WWII with GIs applying unit markings with a stencil and a shaving brush in a snow storm in the mud in the winter of 44-45....

K8icu has a valid point. If it's authenticity you're going for then a smidgen of overspary is accurate. I've seen some (original photos) of vehicle stencils that where so blurry as to make them almost unreadable ( this was the quality of the stenciling). Remember that the guy(s) applying them weren't just doing on MV, they were doing the whole motor pool. The first trucks probably looked nice but the 25th truck was another story.... Also remember that job was usally assigned as a punshiment detail.

Matt

Thanks for the input guys, To tell you the truth I thought that there would have been more responds from people that used the decals more then the masks ! Your right Bob about the Registration numbers on the boats, My sons jet ski still has them on and that's been in salt water. But are those Decals made out of the same material as the ones used on the M's ?

Sal

HI SAL & ALL
The "decals" used on the doors of my M and the transom of my boat were custom made out of a very thin vinyl material. A friend of mine; its her second job.. She used to had paint the boat names then switched to the vinyl. They are computer gererated, she measures, goes to her shop and returns with the product on a roll of paper; sprays on a windex, and squeeges on the name. I dont know what the M37 decals are; but this vinyl stuff is pretty industructible. I am going to do a paint job on my M this spring so the door vinyls will have to come off and new ones made after the re-paint.
BOB