I am going to paint this logo 30' wide on a 135' diameter tank, 85' from ground to bottom of logo.
I am planning to start Monday, so I have already made a plan of attack, but I thought it would be kinda fun to see how everybody else would do it.
Include pricing if you like.
I will let you know how I did it after I am finished.
Posted by Tom & Kathy Durham (Member # 776) on :
Since the O and G aren't the same ovals, I'm guessing, waste the paper and make a pattern. Price....ain''t enough money. Are you swinging down from the top or going up from the ground? Kathy thought maybe you could project off a drone. Let us know how your doing this foolishness and stay safe.
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
I'll be on a stage between 2 sky climbers hanging from the top. I'll let you know when it is done. Hoping to get a few "in progress" pics.
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
I don't know how or why you'd do that job!
Change the 's to " and I'd do it for around $400!!!!! Posted by Kevin W. Betz (Member # 4133) on :
I say make a Pounce Pattern. I am curious to know what Paint you will be using. According to the 1990 Official SignWriters Pricing Guide, it said $2,100. I would be comfortable charging $6,400 providing the patterns & painting.
Posted by Alicia B. Jennings (Member # 1272) on :
Gosh oh mighty, I was I was closer. I'd sell tickets. I'd have a big banner that reads, "Watch dis fool paint a sign!" Boy oh boy, If I was dong that job,,,,the prep alone would kill me. When it's all done, you have to post a picture.
Posted by Curt Stenz (Member # 82) on :
Wow.
A real painted sign, Looks like a lot of fun but at the same time quite a challenge.
Forget patterns or projection, the scale is beyond that. I would make a good scaled drawing and grid it out at 2 or 4 feet increments.
Get yourself a good helper that can read a tape measure and is familiar with this sort of work.
I would do this with bulletin enamels, and rollers.
The letters ‘O’ and ‘G’ will be the most difficult aspect of this job.
If this monster is fabricated with identical size panels, this is to your advantage.
Price is a guess but I would not touch it for less than 6 - 8 thousand.
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
It may be a little longer before it is finished. I am following the contractor that painted the tank and they are providing the rigging. I was planning to start Monday morning, and they are planning to set the rigging Monday morning. It will take about 6 hours to get everything set, and now they are calling for rain Tuesday thru Thursday.
Rigging will be a 2' x 32' stage between 2 sky climbers. I will have a helper to run one sky climber while I run the other one. They have to run together to keep from losing the stage.
The paint will be a 2-part paint with a pot life of about 30 minutes. I will throw brushes away after each mix. Even MEK will not clean this stuff out of a brush.
Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :
How would I handle it? I'd pass instantly. You might be the only one I know capable of doing this. I used to know a father son team over in Arkansas that did this sort of work but the father has to be dead and the son up in years. The size of the logo and the fact it is on a curved surface and the letters are round compound the difficulty.......nevermind it's way up in the air.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Will you work a three foot section across the top and then lower the stage and work your way down? I'd like to approach it working from the middle out, but that involves moving the rigging way too much. I would also make a pattern of half the O from 10' tyvek perforated with an electro pounce and big holes. All the curves could be on one pattern and identified. You could go over the pattern with a rattle can to mark your lines. The logo at that height could probably be cut clean enough with rollers. I'd think the price would be over six grand for the painting.
Posted by Curt Stenz (Member # 82) on :
Half patterns of the O, that is a very good idea. The rest of the job is actually quite straight forward.
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
Alicia,
You are more than welcome to come sell tickets, and take pictures. I am looking for someone to take pics from start to finish on this one.
George,
It is not quite as curved as you might think. The 32' stage will be less than 2' from the tank on each end.
Rick,
The half pattern IS a good idea, but you would have to make one for the G also. If you look close the outside of the G is slightly elongated to the right.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
I tried to make it clear...I'd make one pattern that would have both letters on it. It would be the right half of the O and the right half of the G. The pattern can be flipped over for the left side of the two letters that are the same.
Posted by Preston McCall (Member # 351) on :
Wow. Working that high means high price. Considering the size of the logo and the height, I would have bid it at 6500, and extra for the crane to get up there. I did a 40' from the bottom TRUCK CENTER on a brick wall, nicely painted with little mortar recess using a bucket...maye 20 foot wide, two lines with outline...ten years ago, for $4000 plus the bucket. Planned on it taking a week and banged it out in two days using Metalatez SW and 3" & 9" rollers. That was a nuce week, but the bucket was a bit scary upthat high in the wind. BEE CAREFUL!
Posted by Bill Diaz (Member # 2549) on :
Hire Kenny Rodgers or his twin brother Silverbird.
Maybe Slappy Hooper...
Take the inspector along for the ride, because $50 is $50
Posted by stein Saether (Member # 430) on :
Mark it on a mesh, hang the mesh, mark through the mesh working from bottom up, cut 3 foot of the mesh and paint, then repeat upwards. Gaffa or magnets.
Posted by Ricardo Davila (Member # 3854) on :
WHY, WHY ?
"THE U.S. BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING - U.S. CURRENCY"
( According to the Federal Reserve, there is more than $1 trillion worth of Federal Reserve notes in circulation. )
THESE PEOPLE HAVE NOT PRINTED ENOUGH MONEY YET, NOR WILL THEY,EVER,TO PAY ME TO GET ON A STAGE OR WHATEVER YOU ARE GOING TO GET ON, TO DO WHAT YOU ARE INTENDING TO DO.
[ March 14, 2019, 07:57 PM: Message edited by: Ricardo Davila ]
Posted by stein Saether (Member # 430) on :
The fear of heights disappear when one is higher up than 9.8 meters.
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
You are kinda right Stein, but I have never had a fear of heights, but I DO have a major respect for them from 4' on up. I wish I had left out the part about the height... just How would you do this layout and paint at this size on a painted metal surface? Actually it turns out that the 85' is to the top of the tank wall, so I won't be as high as I originally thought.
The rigging is finally set, and tomorrow's temp is supposed to be in the 50s, so it looks like I will get to start in the morning.
I should have a description with pics by the end of the week.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Sure looks fun, Don. Having others provide the staging and paint sure reduces your responsibility and the anxiety level as long as you're working with people you can trust your life to. I assume that you've done some testing with the two part paint and seeing that they don't eat up rollers? I hope you have no breeze to transport a drip 300 feet away to where a Mercedes is parked.
Posted by John Smith (Member # 1308) on :
I quoted a job like that for a water tower when I had my shop in Georgia. I bid $3,682,475.00 the city manager wanted to know why so much money. I just explained to him how I had to drain all the water, hire a big arse crane company, cut the legs and lay it down on its side. then, $14,235.00 to make a vinyl paint mask, application tape and 12 new plotter blades. a crew of ten to install the mask and roll out the colors. $685.00 disposal fee at the landfill for the used mask and application tape. then the crane crew comes back and stands the tower back up and the welders fasten the legs back into position and refill it.
oddly enough, I didn't get the job.
.
.
.
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
Rick,
One of the guys that set the rigging is working up there with me, so that helps a little on the trust part, plus I went up and examined everything myself. The paint does destroy brushes, roller covers, and frames, but they last long enough to finish each mix of paint. Even if we were only 30' up, a drop of this stuff would dry before it hit the ground straight down.
John,
I have never gone quite that high before, but I have tripled my price in an effort to avoid a job, and still got them.
They did not finish the rigging until 1:00 today so all we finished was the layout. We plan to start painting at 11:00 tomorrow to allow the temp to rise a little before painting. I will try to get pics and a full description posted by the end of the week.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
How is your project progressing?
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
well... Mother Nature is not cooperating.
We painted the O, G, Oil Drop, and stripe On Tuesday(2.5 hrs). It rained all day Wednesday. Thursday we went up in 15 mph wind and 2nd coated, and touched up scrapes from the stage(1 hr-45 min). I am using a pounce pattern for the OWENSBORO GRAIN and a 30mph gust of wind took a good portion of it somewhere in Indiana. This tank is about 300 yds from the river. I made a new pattern yesterday afternoon(1.5 hrs). Today we have 15-20 mph winds so we are planning to try again tomorrow.
I was going to post pics and a description today, but the Letterville album will not accept my pics, even after downsizing and lowering resolution. Dave Grundy is going to upload them to another album, and then I will get everything posted. I may even have a completed shot by then.
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
OK the tank is finished.
Here is how I did it.
I studied drafting in high school, and I did all of my older brother’s drawings when he took it in college.
This is like a really big drawing board.
I first brought the .jpg image into my Gerber sign making program. I have the font for OWENSBORO GRAIN so that part was easy. It took 11 minutes to redraw the “OG” with the oil drop. I then created a bunch of circles and made them match the needed radii.
Leaving all of the circles in place, I created a bunch of .050 circles and centered them to each of the larger circles. The size of the larger circles gave me the radius that I needed for each one, and the smaller circles created the center points. The insides of the O and G are actually round so that was easy. The center points for the top and bottom of the G actually required 4 points, 2 were 11” to the right of the first 2. I then sat down at my old drafting table and created a full drawing of everything except the lowest copy to make sure all of my dimensions would work together.
This drawing is at ¾” = 1’ scale, and took less than 30 minutes to draw. I took the drawing (with dimensions shown) and an architect’s scale on the stage.
I created compasses by using round magnets with a metal cover and a hole in the center. I ran a screw through them and fastened a 6” piece of .063 x .5 aluminum flat bar. I then fastened picture hanging wire to each piece of flat bar, and added 3/8” flat washers as needed for each radius.
Set the magnet on the center point, stick a Sharpie in a washer, and you’re ready to draw a circle. I made 4 compasses to avoid moving the stage so much. Since the top and bottom arcs were at 9’-11” radius I would have to set the magnets and then move the stage to actually draw the arc. There were 4 of these arcs at the top and 4 at the bottom.
As far as painting, anything below 100’ I like to cut it in, then use rollers when possible so the O, G, oil drop, and stripe were cut in with a 2” sash tool, and filled with 4” rollers. We completed this much the first day of painting.
Dave Grundy has been nice enough to upload all of these pictures for me, and I just sent him the final shot. I will get it posted when he sends me the link.
The OWENSBORO GRAIN is 32" x 29' and I made a pounce pattern for that. It took 1.5 hrs to make the pattern and almost 2 hrs to paint it with a 2" sash tool. ( For those that don't know that is an angled brush that house painters use.)
I had painted this same logo on another tank in 1997 so I knew how I was going to do it, but for some reason, I did not keep my first drawing and compasses for 22 years.
Hope everybody enjoyed playing with this.
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
Here is the final shot of the completed project.
Posted by Tom & Kathy Durham (Member # 776) on :
Good job Don.
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
Very nice work Don!
Posted by Duncan Wilkie (Member # 132) on :
Nice job Don. I’m quoting on an elevator job right now. There is definitely a premium on high work. I’ll be using pounce patterns. Two logos about 25’x25’
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
Thanks Guy and Gal. I have to admit... It was kinda fun movin UP in the world again.
Hey Duncan, Need any help?
Posted by Alicia B. Jennings (Member # 1272) on :
Beautiful job Don and it officially makes you the the OG Original Gangster of Sign Painting.
Posted by Ricardo Davila (Member # 3854) on :
OUTSTANDING , DON !!
Posted by Brian Dish (Member # 10782) on :
Looks great!
Posted by Dennis Raap (Member # 3632) on :
Nice job Don! Will you be keeping the patterns and compasses in case they want one 22 years from now?
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
Thanks everybody, and YES Dennis, I will keep them this time just in case. Actually I kept them for almost 20 years the first time, then one day while cleaning the shop I decided it still looked good enough that I would not be doing it again.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Wonderful how you brought us through this project with you. I've been involved daily just thinking about it and checking in for your progress reports. If you don't mind, how close were we in the financial projections?
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
Oh yeah, most of you were pretty close. It was 7000.00 for my part. I am not sure what the contractor charged for the rigging, and my helper and ground man, and paint.
Posted by Chuck Peterson (Member # 70) on :
Thanks!
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Don, did you complete the layout for the OG and then start painting or did you just paint the section that you could reach and move your stage and layout and paint the next section? Also, I assume you worked from the top down and never had to run wheels over the part you've just completed? How did you insure that your magnets wouldn't move if a line snagged on the stage or your leg?
Posted by Jean Shimp (Member # 198) on :
Thanks for sharing Don - great job.
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
Hey Rick,
I did complete the layout before painting to be sure everything lined up as it should. Things that seem to work fine at 3/4" scale don't always work the same full scale, but fortunately everything did on this one. Also, once you start painting you want to be able to cover as much area as possible before the paint starts to kick. This paint would not wait for you to layout the next section.
The magnets are rated at 30 lbs. and I am very careful not to let the wire snag on anything because this would also distort the arc.
Even with all of the moving it only took a little over 2 hrs. to complete the layout and about the same to paint for the OG and the stripe.
I started the layout from the center out because the side arcs had the smaller radius. This way if I pulled a little too far, the sharpie line would be covered with paint. Then as I pulled the top and bottom arcs I could know where to stop. (Hope that makes sense.)
We did start painting from the top down.
Posted by Bill Diaz (Member # 2549) on :
very cool with the magnets and such. Good job!
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
Thanks Bill,
I liked it because it was quicker than drawing a grid, and less hassle than pounce patterns that size.
Plus the engineer was so impressed with the way I did it that he approved it from the ground. Posted by Bob Kaschak (Member # 3146) on :
Don,
Fantastic job! Great use of the magnets and compass.
It looks really sharp.
You have a lot of courage to work that high up.
Thanks for sharing.
Peace, Bob
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
THis was the most fun shared project I've seen here in a very long time. Thank you Don.
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
You're welcome Rick, and thank you to everybody that participated.
I wanted to share how I had done this, and also get ideas of how others would do it.
I got a few ideas that I may use on other projects, and I hope everyone else did as well.
My main goal was to generate a little activity on the board, and I think that part was a success.
Posted by Duncan Wilkie (Member # 132) on :
This is the job I'm bidding on for 2 concrete grain silos. Just Black and White, no colours. About 20'x20'. They haven't confirmed the height yet. Probably 90' or so. They are supplying the lift. It's about an hour and a half out of town so I'll take the motorhome. I'll document the process if I get the job. Wish me luck. https://mycleanfight.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/67698-revised-ph-logo-2013.jpg
[ March 26, 2019, 06:02 PM: Message edited by: Duncan Wilkie ]
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
looks like a good job. Since it is on concrete will you be using pounce patterns and latex paint?
Don't for get to put your Signdog sticker low enough for people to read it.
Posted by Duncan Wilkie (Member # 132) on :
Pounce patterns and stickers all the way.
Posted by John Smith (Member # 1308) on :
wow - you guys working off the ground like that give me the Heebee-Jeebees. this reminds me of that song: "Huggin and Chalkin" by Hoagy Carmichael. awesome job Don!! glad you are back safely on Terra Firma again. and you too, Duncan - be safe.
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Actually I kept them for almost 20 years the first time, then one day while cleaning the shop I decided it still looked good enough that I would not be doing it again.