Custom Stencils

[Monsterbox]

Does anyone know of a good/reliable way to make custom stencils that can be used for painting purposes?

I'm looking for something that I could rely on for either Spray Paint of Vinyl Paint depending on the situation and something that I could use for relatively cheap. Any suggestions on poster boards or thin cardboard or anything like that and what stores might carry it would be greatly appreciated.

My thought would be to cut the design in posterboard with a Hobby Knife, but if there's a better/easier/cheaper way, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks in advance!

[DevilTeck]

Does anyone know of a good/reliable way to make custom stencils that can be used for painting purposes?

I'm looking for something that I could rely on for either Spray Paint of Vinyl Paint depending on the situation and something that I could use for relatively cheap. Any suggestions on poster boards or thin cardboard or anything like that and what stores might carry it would be greatly appreciated.

My thought would be to cut the design in posterboard with a Hobby Knife, but if there's a better/easier/cheaper way, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks in advance!

i would not use posterboard because if you paint over it you should clean it off after so as not to ruin other projects and poster board probably won't hold up to well i would use a flexiable vinyl or plastic so you can clean it
check this out very cheap http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=308&

[SgtM]

Cool site.. good info..

http://www.stencilrevolution.com/

[Monsterbox]

Awesome, thanks for the link. My Googling (is Google a verb now?) didn't turn that particular site up, but it looks Chok-Full-O-Goodness.

I want to stencil flames on the side of my Wii, so we'll see what I can come up with. lol

[tybrenis]

You can print out your design on an overhead transparency and then cut it out using a hobby knife. Use spray adhesive to tack it to your area to be painted and then spray away!

[DaveW]

You can print out your design on an overhead transparency and then cut it out using a hobby knife. Use spray adhesive to tack it to your area to be painted and then spray away!

You can even use plain old paper, but transparencies (sometimes called microfiche) would be much better.

-Dave

[Monsterbox]

You can even use plain old paper, but transparencies (sometimes called microfiche) would be much better.

-Dave
My worry with paper is that it would be too thin and the spray paint/vinyl would seep right through it. Especially the vinyl. I had a bit of an issue with semi-wet newspaper while testing the coat on the Wii last night. I don't want to think about what it would do to regular old paper.

Though I have seen the paper they use to paint cars, and I'm wondering if that would work out.

[DaveW]

Whoa man, not newspaper. Don't use newspaper. I used card to do mine, but at some points the card got disfigured and kept 'unpressing' from the surface.

Don't forget that your paint will need time to Cure before you stick something to it, best give it one or two days before you start sticking stuff to it. If you don't do this you risk staining your paintjob. ;)

Oh, and a final tip: paint on cardboard, not newspaper. Trust me on this one. ;)

-Dave

[Monsterbox]

Oh, and a final tip: paint on cardboard, not newspaper. Trust me on this one. ;)

-Dave
I will keep that in mind. Thanks for the tip! I actually have some old cardboard boxes that I can use for the rest of the Wii paintjob. I'll make sure to use them in the future as well.

Thanks again! :)