Reflective paint source...

[J. Dillon]

in small quantities. Making an inside the transom name board for Carrianne and intend to paint the incised letters with red reflective paint. it seems hard to get in small cans. SHMBO suggested nail polish, would this work ?:confused:

JD

[JimConlin]

I'm not aware of reflective coating that doesn't involve administration of glass beads to wet paint (Search for Prismo).
Would Scotchlite tape work?

[Simmons18]

Find a sign supply company.
Simmons18

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Reflective Top-Coat (]http://www.reflectivepaint.co.uk/paint-reflective-2.htm?gclid=CLWLkc--5pACFQE_MAodESipOg)
NOT CHEAP

[Tylerdurden]

Check yellow pages for automotive paints. I would figure a nice metal flake but I am sure the paint guy will know whats best for that application.

[Ian McColgin]

Not up for gold leafing?

[J. Dillon]

Thanks for the tips. I intend to look further into them.

Gold leafing ? I thought of that but it would not be in keeping with the character of the boat, but more especially who she is named after. My grandaughter, now a teen ager has flaming red hair.:D I think it would be more suitable to have the name reflect this. The board will be of stained W. oak about 3" wide and a banner in shape with swallow ends. The name will be flanked with light blue stars. The board will also be boarded by 3/16" 3 stranded nylon epoxied on the edge. It's amost complete just have to hunt down the nylon that size which is rare around here.:(

JD

[J. Dillon]

Well it looks like I may have found exactly what I wanted and cheep $1.79 I am expermenting with gliter paint available at any craft store.:) I got red and have applied it to an test letter E. When it dries will apply another coat then stick it out in the rain or water and see what happens. Maybe a couple coats over with varnish might protect it for one season. So far it seems to have the same glitter as gold. BTW gold glitter was available as well.

JD

[John Turpin]

I read a good tip once. If you find your reflective paint, paint the tip of your mast with it. That way, if you're trying to find your boat, late at night, in a crowded moorage, a quick scan with a light will make your mast and boat easily found.

[werner]

just an idea...
perhaps you could use the reflective tape or even auto-fluorecent as used on safety clothing and cut out the letters , think this would be better quality than paint

[Todd Bradshaw]

Traffic marker reflective paint is made from Scotchlite glass beads mixed into colored latex paint. The beads generally run around five bucks per pound, but can be tough to find in small, non-industrial quantities.

This place suggests six pounds of beads per gallon of paint and they will sell you the big bag-o-beads to do it for $31 (probably enough to paint the entire boat).

http://www.emedco.com/emed2/prodGroupBT1.asp?dept%5Fid=7010&CC=N

I also found a cheaper source on eBay, which is at a very good price.

http://cgi.ebay.com/REFLECTIVE-GLASS-BEADS-SPRINKLE-ON-WET-PAINT_W0QQitemZ150202148783QQihZ005QQcategoryZ4292 7QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The company I used to fly for owns a chain of pizza stores and used to have a fleet of delivery vehicles that were (of all things) bright red AMC Pacers (terrible cars). They had some big illuminated fiberglass stems and leaves made to stick on the roofs, which made them look like big tomatoes. Unfortunately, the 12 volt lights inside the stems kept running down the cars' batteries, leaving the delivery guys stranded. The owners gave me a bag of Scotchlite beads and asked me to try to figure out a way to make the stems reflective, so that they could disconnect the interior lighting. By mixing beads into green paint, I was able to make the stems reflect nicely - but I couldn't get them to reflect in a nice green color. In headlights, they reflected almost white. It could be that we didn't have enough beads, or maybe for some reason it was the wrong type of paint. It would be dynamite on a masthead though.

We also found some non-sanctioned uses for the beads. If you drop a pinch of them on a table at a restaurant, they spread out to be barely visible and just look like a bit of spilled salt. But...they're spheres - like little ball bearings and you can roll all the dishes around on the table and baffle the waitress. I was tempted to buy a bag of popcorn, dump a pound of beads at a major intersection and sit back and watch the carnage, but better judgement won out. I think I ended up using what I had left for epoxy filler when I was broke.

[J. Dillon]

I tried the glitter paint on a seperate incised letter. It looked too much like show girl stuff but did have the effect of reflecting light quite well . :eek: Might be good for a different taste than mine. :rolleyes:The search is still on and will further look into the suggestions above in the mean time a red enemel will do for now.;)

Pix will follow when the roping is complete.:D

JD

[J. Dillon]

Just about finished the name board to be mounted on the inside of the transom. A few more coats of varnish will be applied. It will be fastened by three clips that will make easy dismounting for maintenance.

Still working on a reflective paint.

JD

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2507/nameboardfin110kh0.jpg