Trends Archives - Absolute Sign Solutions

Paint products we like and recommend

admin — Sun, 24 May 2020 07:56:48 +0000

ZINSSER PRIMER

We have used some excellent paint products over the years. However the top coat of paint is only as good as the primer or undercoat applied underneath. Some paints are self priming but in this example we look at a primer that’s excellent for surfaces that are difficult to adhere to.

B.I.N. Primer Sealer is supplied by Zinsser paint company.

B.I.N. is a methylated spirits based paint that is very quick to work with.

PROS AND CONS USING B.I.N. PRIMER

Pros

Very fast drying
You can quickly build up multiple coats
B.I.N. adheres to just about anything
It blocks stains
The paint finish is very smooth
It gives tough durable finish ready to apply finish coats

Cons

You need to work quickly
B.I.N. has a very strong odour in confined spaces
It is very thin so you need to be careful of splashes
If spilled you need to act immediately to remove

PROJECT – PAINTING LAMINEX CABINET

A laminated entertainment unit needed a face lift or replacing. The cheapest fix would be to paint another colour.

PROCEDURE TO PAINT LAMINATED CABINET.

Quickly sand and then clean laminate with methylated spirits
Coat all areas with B.I.N. primer using foam roller
Finish with 2 coats of low sheen water based paint

MORE DETAIL FOR PAINTING LAMINATE

Zinsser B.I.N. primer dries very fast so it can be re coated in 15 minutes subject to drying conditions. A foam roller gives the best painted finish with a brush to cut in anything the roller can’t get to. Therefore it is easy to get a smooth finish with B.I.N. The primer paint goes hard quickly. Primed areas can be top coated with water base paint or solvent oil base enamel. We chose a single pack low sheen water based urethane paint to give a matte finish. This dries quickly and goes hard within 24 hours. The water base paint finish is very durable and looks better than gloss. This is because the matte finish also helps hide any painting imperfections, therefore giving an excellent result.

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What types of car signage you should consider to maximise your budget.

admin — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 03:50:55 +0000

Car Signage

Car Signage is the most effective way to get people to see your brand. You can reach thousands of people every day if you add car decals to your motor vehicle. A professional signmaker can design good looking and cost effective vehicle signs regardless of your budget big or small. Years ago the signwriter would draw up your letters and logo and handpaint the signs with enamel paint and brush. A simple door sign would take a day to complete and something like a large truck could take a number of days to finish. Absolute Sign Solutions still offer this service. Many customers still consider handpainted signwriting to be the most durable finish for vehicles. A good examples is heavy duty machinery and removalist trucks.

These days there are many more vehicle signage options available.

Here are a few examples for you to consider.

Vinyl cut graphics

SAV or self adhesive vinyl lettering is the cheapest way to get your business name, phone number and other details on the doors, sides and rear of your motor vehicle. Vinyl letters are suitable for any type of car or truck and there is a vast choice of colours including metallic and reflective films. They a robust, long lasting and easy to remove when it comes to selling the vehicle. Vinyl cut letters are perfect for permanent or temporary advertising options such as Motor Car Dealers wanting signage on their demonstrator vehicles.

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Printed vinyl graphics

Logos, images and decorative designs and be printed and contour cut on self adhesive vinyls and applied to most places on your motor car. Combining printed graphics with vinyl cut letters will give you very durable signs that are cost effective. They will be easy to remove when your lease if finished and are perfect for fleet vehicles.

Car Signage Wraps

Full vehicle wraps are the most expensive type of vehicle sign as they often can cover the full motor vehicle. The SAV media is designed to stretch over all the contours of your car and this very high quality comes at a cost. Car Signage wraps can be fully printed with any type of design or they can be combined with metallic films or specialty films like carbon fibre or chrome finish. Vehicle wraps are most common on cars and vans, although motorbikes, trucks and most other types of vehicles can be wrapped.

Temporary and movable Car Signage

If you are after a temporary vehicle sign there are a few options available.

Magnetic signs give you flexibility to have your business name and details on your doors, sides of vehicle or tailgate.

PROS – they can be removed anytime to be used again or transferred to another vehicle. They are very cost effective and durable.

CONS – Magnetic signs can look like a temporary option. They look like a square sign added on the side of your vehicle.

Electrostatic signs – these are printed on flexible non adhesive film and’stick’ by electrostatic energy. They are suitable for vehicle windows and commonly used by motor car dealers or for promotional signs.

PROS – they can be removed anytime to be used again or transferred to another vehicle.

CONS – They need to be looked after as Electrostatic signs are not as durable as other types of signs.

Dot Series Vinyls are new technology. The adhesive is made up of sticky dots which make it repositional.

PROS – Dot series vinyls are very easy to install as the glue pattern makes it almost impossible to get air bubbles in the print. The SAV media can be removed and repositioned.

CONS – The dot media doesnt have as stronger bond as normal SAV media’.

Handpainted window screens are still used by a few motor car dealers. They are handpainted by a professional signwriter often in bright flourescent colours to advertise the price of the cars. Absolute Sign Solutions offer this service also.

The post What types of car signage you should consider to maximise your budget. appeared first on Absolute Sign Solutions.

Taubmans Ultimate Enamel (Alkyd Water Base) Test

admin — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 20:43:50 +0000

We have used some excellent paint products over the years, for example Solver Brite Glo range of enamels and acrylics with exceptionally bright colours and very user friendly. However due to the demise of proper signwriters and demand, the paint products have been discontinued.

Here is a quick comparison between a new product we found – Taubmans Ultimate Enamel which is a waterbased alkyd paint and according to the description has the properties of an oil based enamel but the convenience and easier use of a water based product. I also tested Dulux aquanamel for some sort of comparison as this is a product we have used for a while and is very good. Both products tested were satin finish which is the best paint finish for shop displays, event signage, and general interior handpainted signs, especially under lighting.

Conclusion Taubmans Ultimate Enamel

Flows out well with a roller and has a finish much like an oil based enamel roller finish.
After a period of drying/curing (in this case 5 days) has a nice satin finish and is relatively scratch resistant.
Is easier to use than enamel with less runs, quicker drying time and easy clean up.

Here’s a More In-Depth Description

For any signage, props or display panels we produce, we need a quick drying, self levelling (no stipple or “örange peel”) finish. Ideally a sprayed paint finish is best, however unpractical due to time and budget restraints.The painted finish needs to be dry and reasonably tough as it might be going out the next day for installation. In this exercise I’ve masked off 5 sections (for both types of paint) on some old panels which were originally painted with a semi gloss enamel. The top section is unsanded, the second section underneath is lightly sanded, the third section sanded well to remove all gloss, the fourth section is sanded and painted with 3 in 1 waterbased primer/undercoat. The bottom section is sanded and then primed with coverstain, which is the best undercoat/primer we have found on the market. Temperature was around 18 to 20 degrees C with some slight air flow.

The Taubmans Ultimate enamel is fairly thick, coverage was good and it flowed out exceptionally well when applied with a low nap or microfibre roller. It was OK when painted by brush, however it did’nt seem to flow out as well as oil based enamel on a flat surface. This is not really an issue as normally we’d only be cutting in paint with a brush and mostly using the roller to give a good paint finish. The Ultimate Enamel tacked off fairly quickly and was touch dry in an hour. After drying for 24 hours the unprimed panels coated with 2 coats did scratch fairly easily using a finger nail with force or a sharp instrument totally removing paint from surface. (Note all paint manufacturers recommend pre priming and sanding surfaces prior to painting). However after 5 days curing the Ultimate Enamel did hang onto all surfaces and only was removed with excessive force. When scoring the painted surface with a stanley knife and then applying and removing masking tape, the painted surface remined intact. The painted finish could be scuffed slightly which is pretty normal with most air dry painted surfaces until they have cured for a couple of months.

With the Dulux Aquanamel satin paint, the rolled painted finish gave a similiar finish to the Taubmans alkyd product, however the Ultimate enamel flowed out more like an enamel an was very smooth and with slower dry time it gave more time to work the surface before the paint started to tack off. The advantage of the Aquanamel was very quick dry time and initial curing. Within 24 hours of giving 2 coats of Dulux Aquanamel, the 5 painted surfaces were relatively scratch resistant, however, after 5 days of curing, the unprimed panels with aquanamel could still be scratched easily with a bit of force, compared to the Taubmans product whcih was reasonably scratch resistant. For anyone who is following the manufacturuers recommendations – sanding, undercoating and painting either of these paints will work fine, but the Taubmans Ultimate enamel really gives a great finish. For our purposes we need to make short cuts to meet deadlines and speed up the process to meet clients needs so a waterbased, enamel like paint like Taubmans Ultimate Enamel is a product we will use again.

The post Taubmans Ultimate Enamel (Alkyd Water Base) Test appeared first on Absolute Sign Solutions.

Vehicle Branding Sydney

admin — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 02:00:02 +0000

Vehicle Branding

Do you have a vehicle and require your logo and any additional information applied to it? We make and install all types of vehicle signage for busineeses in Sydney. We provide high quality vehicle decals and give our customers personal service and advice from our signmakers who have over over 25 experience in the sign industry.

Here are a few examples of types of signage for vehicle branding.