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I'm needing to backlight a graphic of fire. I will be using acrylic (probably white?) to decorate with a sunburst design. Which would you use and why? The design is about 6 x 8 feet, but 24 inch material will cover my lighted panels. Thanks for sharing, bronzeo
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Hi, Bronzeo! That's the kind of stuff I do at our studio. I like using Grip-Flex, but lately I've been using a lot of premium clear vinyl film and airbrushing translucent paint and inks on it. Works really cool, and you can do it all on the light table to see how the paint is blending. :^)
------------------ Girls carve too! Behind every good Woman, there's a man.............waiting.
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I swear by the graduated vinyl--the stuff is flawless - and no mess with any paint. The translucent fades are real nice - I used them on a backlit and it looked sweet.
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But aren't you really limited with graduated vinyl? You can only fade one direction with each item. If you can paint, then paint. It won't look like "one of the herd". No? :^)
------------------ Girls carve too! Behind every good Woman, there's a man.............waiting.
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They say everyone of us has a twin somewhere on the planet Bob. How would you feel about an emotional reunion between you and Dan on the Jerry Springer Show? Jerry would allow a lil' HeadTV too.
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I've done it both ways. I've been a painter for twenty years almost, but sometimes you use what works best. On this one, I vote for the graduated vinyl like Dan talked about. The blends are very fluid. On vehicles, etc. I usually paint the blend, but this will be backlit, and uniformity is needed. Also, on smaller jobs, if you want an adjusted blend, position the vinyl on your cutter to suit the blend you want. I move the wheels in some to get different graduations. Works great.
------------------ John Deaton III Deaton Design 109 N. Cumberland Ave.,Harlan, Ky. 40831 606-573-9101
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Hi, John! When we do large Lexan backlit panels, we always put the sheet in the sign cabinet backwards and light the sign. That's how we get very smooth blends and eveness in the colors. But I'm sure you already know this. That's also why I use the airbrush on clear vinyl film on the light table. It does the same thing. We do stock the graduated film to sell to other shops, but I get just as good a color gradation as the manufactured stuff. Doesn't everyone do it this way? :^)
------------------ Girls carve too! Behind every good Woman, there's a man.............waiting.
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Thanks you all for the help. My thoughts were that the vinyl might not be quite as translucent for backlighting but might look crisper during the daylight. What are your comments on this? Also I was warned by a neon company that the neon which will surround the perimitter of the flames tends to fade red out real quick with its intense light. I thought the vinyl might hold up better for this purpose
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Rob, Grip Flex is a paint formulated hot enough in a special type of thinner that will eat into the acrylic face slightly. It keeps the paint from seperating from the acrylic. It is formulated in several other brand names especially in the auto industry where you use the same type of additives for flex parts, bumpers, etc.
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