Side Panel Logos / Badges / Tank Badges Restoration

[Shuriken]

This topic has come up before but I didn't have much luck with the search engine. I need to restore my side panel logos. I've used model paint in the past, but it didn't produce the best result, and model paint fades quite easily.

There has been talk of metallic material being applied to the lettering. What about this:

• sand and prep the badge
• spray paint the badge with a color coat
• spray a clear coat over the color coat
• while the clear coat is tacky, apply gold or silver leaf on top of the clear-coated letters
• wait until dry
• trim gold or silver leaf
• spray clear coat over the gold or silver leaf

Dick Blick has leaf products here.
Bare-Metal has a foil product here.

Comments?

Ben

[Ken Talbot]

I tried one of these fine "gold" like sheet products a few years back, and found it to be as tedious as the technique I documented here . I had quite a bit of trouble getting a very fine, detailed edge to the face of the letters, especially on the script font on sidecover emblems.

YMMV...

[John]

I had decals made.

Click on the pic.

[fredintoon]

where gettum decals?

Hi John.
I did the cheapskate option; body-filled the holes & dents, painted over & did without. But those decals sure look trick and if the price was right I could be tempted into a minor extravagance. Three sets, one set the same size as yours for the sidecovers, two sets twice as big for the tank & the sidecar nose. In black; XS11 in bold caps with "the flying pumpkin" underneath in script. (My rig is painted in tastefully understated Astro Towtruck Orange)
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[Shuriken]

Ken, that was one article I was looking for.

One problem I noticed on my 80g when I had it is that after hand-painting the emblems using silver model paint, the paint faded.

Your tank badges look great. But what options do we have for getting them even shinier? I might buy some gold leaf and do some experimenting (may be able to find some beat up emblems for practice).

If that fails, your method would work the best. However, if I end up doing what you did, I may try to locate some gold or silver urethane paint rather than acrylic. I already have clear and gloss black urethane paint.

If one could get the result you did and use more durable paint to resist fading, etc., that would be nice.

John:
Those stickers look fantastic.

Ben

[John]

Re: where gettum decals?

Originally posted by fredintoon
Hi John.
I did the cheapskate option; body-filled the holes & dents, painted over & did without. But those decals sure look trick and if the price was right I could be tempted into a minor extravagance. Three sets, one set the same size as yours for the sidecovers, two sets twice as big for the tank & the sidecar nose. In black; XS11 in bold caps with "the flying pumpkin" underneath in script. (My rig is painted in tastefully understated Astro Towtruck Orange)
Fred Hill, S'toon.

Fred,
I went to a sign/graphics shop amd gave them the existing emblem, looked through a catalog of diferent fonts, and found two that closely matched the OEM script, and they did the rest. If you noticed, I had substituted the word 'Twilite Special' for 'Eleven Special', and had a couple of smaller ones made so I could place one on the top of the pilot box, ala the true MNS, and I also stuck one on the back of my lid. It only cost $20 for all that.

[fredintoon]

Thanks for that

John sez:-
I went to a sign/graphics shop - - - It only cost $20 for all that.
Hi John,
that's good to know. I will check out the yellow pages for local sign/graphics shops and see what they can do for me.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[79XS11F]

If you want the gold color to last and look original your going to have to spray paint them with high gloss gold paint. It will cost about 2 times as much as regular paint but will look like GOLD. I used this stuff on the rims of my first XS 500 and it looks fantastic. I would spray the gold first ... do the tedious taping job and then paint the black.
The ones from old bike barn look good but are steel and would not be original .. but then again your paint job will not be original ether.
Rob

[Shuriken]

Can you point me to this "really good" gold/silver spray paint? Optimally, I'd like silver, but gold will do.

Ben

[79XS11F]

Gold or Silver .. I got mine at Canadian Tire so any reasonable sized hardware store should have it. Check both the auto paint dept and the paint dept.
Rob

[cajun31]

I suppose

I'm thinking you just like to tinker. There are several sources still available that offer the emblems.

[Shuriken]

I have new tank emblems. I'm focusing only on the side panel emblems. A new set would be sweet, but I don't think that's what you meant.

Ben

[cajun31]

Have you looked at these sites?

http://www.reproductiondecals.com/de...aw_3.html~main

or

http://www.badgereplicas.com.au/index.htm

and Mikes XS has tank badges.

[Shuriken]

Thanks for that!

Ben

[cajun31]

Ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/YAMAH...QQcmdZViewItem