How can you make registration #'s look good!!??

I want to see some of your guys' boats with registration #'s that look fairly decent. The X-2 will be here in 2 weeks and I need some ideas! Thanks for the input

Have a sign shop hand paint them on. Very unique as no two ever come out the same.

http://www.domednumbers.com/

they've been highly recommended on other boat sites and can match any color of your boat.

Yup get them painted on.

Nope those are generic and ugly.

so are a lot of hand painted numbers.

But like Peter said no 2 ever come out the same,unique baby!!


Decals....are you serious??It is not a jetski.LOL

Yea listen to everyone and get them painted on. I think I paid $100 to get mine done.


Jetski.... haaa you're right Ed!

funny, what's with the big decal on the side of your mastercraft ed?

Well sounds like I'll be painting them on! Sounds great. Theres a great custom paint shop up here.. thanks guys!

Brian,don't take it to the heart,the decals on the side of my MC are not R# and look good in my opinion and if they don't one day I'll take them off but putting # that are decals just brings me to my jetski days.

Painted for sure.

My dealer hooked me up with a local graphics guy. He matched the registration numbers and the lightning graphics.

Lightning Graphics:


Registration letters:

I have had both painted numbers and now have custom graphic decals (chrome). The custom painted numbers always look better IMOH, however my previous boat's painted numbers started to get thin after too many wipedowns/rubouts, they were on the large wide black stripe. The new ones were made by one of the online graphics guys. The chrome almost disappears in some sunlight which is just fine with me.

Ive seen both but after time the painted ones generally seem to fade. They look good for a while though. I do think small chrome number outlined in the color it is sitting on,looks great because like Mike says, they disapear in the sun, which is my ultimate goal. Get rid of them rather than show them, just my opinion though.

unfortunately the paint most stripe guys use is made for automotive striping and just does not hold up good in the high sun and water conditions that boats see.. vinyl guys are not hard to find and they can make some really awesome dual and tri color lettring in any script that you want.. ill stick to vinyl..

Sun and water conditions? What? Ain't no different then street driven vehicles that I've seen painted on stripes and lettering last 10 plus years with correct care.

what happens to the paint on your truck when its 100 degrees outside and you go into the store and you accidently park next to some sprinklers.. you come out and now have some extreme waterspotting on your clear coat.. when you wash your car in the sun you instantly dry it off for this reason.. do you pull over and dry you boat numbers off every time they get wet?? lettering doesnt even have a clear coat for uv protection..every time you polish those numbers to get the spots out or buff your boat they will lose a little of there color.. unfortunately there is a huge difference between boats and steet driven vehicles.. we could all sit here all day and argue vinyl vs paint i prefer vinyl some prefer paint.. there aint a cloud in the sky and its supposed to be 80 degrees im goin ridin! ill let everyone know how my vinyl letters hold up..

You guys all have good points but I might lean towards vinyl because it would be much easer to replace if it took a hit from a dock or started to fade.

That's my two cents.

Yeah, big difference. Your boat gets used four times a month for six months out of the year. Street driven vehicles get driven EVERY day. So how is it that painted on letters and stripes can last ten years on a vehicle that gets driven/wet/washed a hundred times more than your boat? If you like being like everyone else with stick on letters that's fine. I on the other hand prefer things one-off and custom.

P.S. Only a complete newby would "Polish" painted on stripes or lettering. I thought you ran some kind of body shop?

(Message edited by wake upppp on October 30, 2005)

"if it took a hit from a dock or started to fade."

Dang it, quit abusing the boat! Fenders out before the boat ever gets close to the dock. Fend boat before boat hits dock. Fade? Even my boat, that was stored out doors for seven years, never faded at the numbers. I used to gently hit the painted on numbers with a small polisher, and never had a problem. Just kept the speed and pressure down. It was the only way to remove the water spots under the rub rail.

"i thought you ran some kind of body shop"

thats is why i was posting my opinion! cause i have some experience with paint.. after all i was a full time painter for 4 years and continue to do it on the side.. although im not claiming to be a know it all on the topic... just trying to help out..

p.s. just because youve worked at 6 different shops in the three years ive known you doesnt mean you know it all... or does it

Here is the only picture on my laptop of my old boats reg #'s. Born in 1993 and sold in 2002, the numbers still looked great, with many years left to go on them. Who needs any stickers?

Good solid info Peter. Richard, you claim to have painting experience, shouldn't you know paint is more durable than stickers? Read Peter's post. Nine years and counting. Like I said if you like stickers better, good for you, but why mislead with bogus info that painted stripes, letters or numbers won't hold up on a boat?

i formally appologize to all ww's for my bogus inexperienced information.. i have no clue as to what im talking about.. if you ever need any advice dont post it just pm sparky jay

nice vinyl stickers

http://www.hardlineproducts.com/proddetail.html?itemid=91&returnto=http%3A%2F%2Fww w%2Ehardlineproducts%2Ecom%2Fseries400%2Ehtml

(Message edited by mendo247 on October 30, 2005)

"p.s. just because youve worked at 6 different shops in the three years ive known you"

Wow. I had no idea you've watched my career so closely. You gonna write my biography next?

I vote for vinyl stickers. A good graphics shop should be able to match vinyl to your factory lettering colors, plus you should be able to see the design on a computer before slapping down the $... If your having them painted on, you have to trust the painter to lay down a good design. I have seen some sweet painted on graphics, I've also seen some that were terrible...Ask Richard about the flames on his tailgate. Plus if you ever have to have your painted leters touched up, good luck finding the same guy that painted them... it seems like those guys working at body shops seem to jump around a lot.

Here's a link to a place I got mine from. Pretty cool site. You can design your registration and see what it will look like before ordering with letter color and gelcoat background color.

http://www.signspecialist.com/lettering/boatnumbers.html

Here's a pic of mine. Turned out sweet.

i went to a local sign shop and got custom vinyl, mainly because i know there is always a chance that I'll move to a different state, then it would be a pain to get the paint off.

No pain at all. A little Easy Off oven cleaner and it comes right off.

I see some examples of registration numbers that do not comply with the law. You have very little selection of the type used for you registration numbers. I have seen may people with a Notice of Violation and having to change their numbers to the appropriate type. If you don't want the state or USCG writing some paper, do it right the first time. In Michigan, we are allowed only block 3" in Arial and a few other similar typefaces. Check you state laws first.

It has been a recent emphasis of late in Utah to make sure the letters are "3 inch vertical block style letters". I know of some people who have been cited.
It's boring, but it saves you some grief with the local park law enforcement geek.

(Message edited by talltigeguy on November 01, 2005)

Check this out. these are called domed numbers.let me know if you need more info.btw they look great when applied.