Graphic for "Abominable Iceman"

[DocNrock]

Hey guys, I have a question for you all.  My Iceman originally was a baritone, but I'm doing something else with the baritone neck and made the Iceman a standard scale (http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=25228.msg363578#msg363578).  Recently, I decided to paint the body a solid color.  I was going to go with yellow, but now I'm thinking about black.  Given the Yeti implication of the guitar's name, Google gave me some images.  I took the one from Disneyland's Matterhorn and then did a few things to it in Photoshop.

Original:



After Mods:



I can print the image onto waterslide decal paper, then put the decal on the guitar after painting it black. 

Anyone else like it?  Dislike it?  Better idea?

 

[Pharos]

How big is it going to be? Is it going to be over the entire body?

 

[DocNrock]

How big is it going to be? Is it going to be over the entire body?

Pretty much, yeah.  About 7" x 10-3/4".  Yeti, himself, would be about 7" x 9-1/2"  The black background should blend into the black of the guitar body.  If the blacks are slightly different, I can use the spray paint to blend them.  After applying it as a waterslide, the plan then is to clear coat it until I can sand back so the edges aren't visible (Similar to a pegface decal application). 

I'm not sure if I'll go this far, but the part that gets cut out for the bridge pickup could be separately applied to the bobbins of the pickup, itself. 

 

[mayfly]

I've done the full guitar body sticker thing.  It actually looks pretty good and I didn't even bother to bury the edges - just left them there.  looks great from the stage.

 

[Cagey]

Interesting idea. Another way to go might be to paint the thing Daphne Blue and use the original image.

 

[DocNrock]

I've done the full guitar body sticker thing.  It actually looks pretty good and I didn't even bother to bury the edges - just left them there.  looks great from the stage.

Very cool to know.  I'll definitely keep that in mind.  Thanks for the input.

Interesting idea. Another way to go might be to paint the thing Daphne Blue and use the original image.

Thanks for the idea, as well, Kevin. 

I actually couldn't leave well enough alone.  After searching Google for "evil cave entrance image,"  I got some great hits, but two caught my eye.  One was the floor of a cave.  Another was the arches.  So, after playing with them and printing them out, I made a paper mockup of the floor, yeti, and the arches of the cave entrance.  Yes, this is looking very metal and "Abominable."  :laughing7:  The second pic, with the mockup on the guitar, makes me think I need to decrease the size just a bit.

 

[Cagey]

I like it, but somehow it just doesn't say "Iceman" to me.

 

[DocNrock]

I like it, but somehow it just doesn't say "Iceman" to me.

Maybe I can include a snow bank?  :laughing7:

Seriously, though, you're right.  I was thinking more "Abominable" and less "Iceman."  The Photoshopped Yeti made me think down the lines of some evil being emerging from a cave.

 

[line6man]

Your printout reminded me a bit of an album cover.

 

[anorakDan]

Whatcha wanna ruin a perfectly nice finish for?

I have had a helluva lot of experience creating and applying waterslide decals and here are my (humbly) experienced thoughts.

Your proposed design will look really horrible on a black background. Unless you plan to lay a very strong white patch that perfectly matches only the colored portions of your design, your colors will go lost on a black painted background. Just that simple, without white to make those colored areas pop, your art fades into the black. Only you will know what it's supposed to look like.

Also, trying to lay out a nice waterslide decal that big has a host of problems of it's own. You would need to do it in sections, making sure to use a mild vinegar solution under the decal to allow for positioning and to make it lay flat and snug.

I just think that that particular body needs to be treated a little nicer than painting it black and sliding a decal onto. If it were mine, I'd send the body off to Tonar and have him lay a sweet sunburst on that mahagony. Sunburst always looks great.

 

[DocNrock]

Your printout reminded me a bit of an album cover.

That's awesome!

Whatcha wanna ruin a perfectly nice finish for?

I have had a helluva lot of experience creating and applying waterslide decals and here are my (humbly) experienced thoughts.

Your proposed design will look really horrible on a black background. Unless you plan to lay a very strong white patch that perfectly matches only the colored portions of your design, your colors will go lost on a black painted background. Just that simple, without white to make those colored areas pop, your art fades into the black. Only you will know what it's supposed to look like.

Also, trying to lay out a nice waterslide decal that big has a host of problems of it's own. You would need to do it in sections, making sure to use a mild vinegar solution under the decal to allow for positioning and to make it lay flat and snug.

I just think that that particular body needs to be treated a little nicer than painting it black and sliding a decal onto. If it were mine, I'd send the body off to Tonar and have him lay a sweet sunburst on that mahagony. Sunburst always looks great.

It's all good, man.  As I have said elsewhere, I have great respect for those who do their own finishes.  I'm still just learning.

At this point, it is just a thought.  But are you aware that they make waterslide paper in both clear and white?  The white works great on a dark or black background.  I found out about it when doing a pegface logo for one of my headstocks I painted black.

I may or may not follow through with making this graphic, or any graphic, for that matter.  But the idea came to me because I do plan to paint the body black.  I was going to do yellow, then I thought about the graphic, which led me to black. 

Tonar does awesome work.  But I don't really have an interest in a sunburst finish.  I don't really have an interest in the grain of the mahogany, either; it was a Screamin' Deals body I bought back in 2009.  While it has prominent, regular ribbons, it looks more like a coffee table than a guitar to me.    :dontknow:

 

[DocNrock]

@AnorakDan:  I tried this with the clear waterslide paper and it didn't work so well.  The lettering did not show up, at all.  Never thought about spraying a patch of white behind the decal.  But using the white waterslide paper, the colors show up well on the black pegface.  The body would just be a much larger scale.  But the way these decals were curling while trying to apply them makes me think doing a full page graphic for a body would be challenging, at best. 

 

[Vallhagen]

Your proposed design will look really horrible on a black background. Unless you plan to lay a very strong white patch that perfectly matches only the colored portions of your design, your colors will go lost on a black painted background. Just that simple, without white to make those colored areas pop, your art fades into the black. Only you will know what it's supposed to look like.

...browsing the thread i notice this dilemma as well. There are a few methods out there, some printers actually print white(!).

I havent tried them myself - i only have a b/w laser - but it might be worth googling for "alps printer" or "decal pro by pulsar". Some inspiration: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=6324.0

Cheers

 

[fdesalvo]

subscribed!

 

[DocNrock]

Your proposed design will look really horrible on a black background. Unless you plan to lay a very strong white patch that perfectly matches only the colored portions of your design, your colors will go lost on a black painted background. Just that simple, without white to make those colored areas pop, your art fades into the black. Only you will know what it's supposed to look like.

...browsing the thread i notice this dilemma as well. There are a few methods out there, some printers actually print white(!).

I havent tried them myself - i only have a b/w laser - but it might be worth googling for "alps printer" or "decal pro by pulsar". Some inspiration: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=6324.0

Cheers

Some of those things look really cool!  I'm just working with a Canon Inkjet.  It works pretty well for what I need it to do.  The mockup of the graphic was done with photo paper.  That is exactly what the white waterslide paper looks like.  So, in theory, the decal should look identical to the printout done on photo paper.

With the pegface, the one issue I ran into with the white waterslide paper was a very faint, but noticeable, white line at the decal edges.  What I did for that is to use some Testor's gloss black enamel and a very fine brush with just enough paint on it to blend the black of the decal into the black of the headstock.  That part has been done.  Next, I am going to try to smooth it out with 800 grit before applying the rest of the clear coat.  I put a couple of coats of clear coat on before the Testor's black enamel so that when I sand it, I don't inadvertently take off the black ink, exposing more white.  Wish me luck!  :laughing7: 

subscribed!

I hope you and others can learn from my mistakes!  I'll post them up here, too.  :laughing7: