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Re: New to Marinette. Made new exterior emblems.

Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 8:34 pm
by javalin390
Ok, here's the secret formula. It's cheap, easy & fun for the whole family. Visit your local hobby shop or craft store. The name of the product is called Sculpey & Super Sculpey. This is a mold-able plastic clay that you can make any shape you wish. It can be shaped & formed just like modeling clay or Play-Do. After you finish you simply bake it in the oven, at around 250 degrees or so (read the directions !) and it hardens into a hard plastic.
Marinette emblems 004.JPG
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There are two different products, one is white colored, and the other is tan colored. The tan is stronger and harder to mold, and the white is not as strong, but easier to work with. So I made the mold out of the white stuff, and re-cast the actual emblem with the tan clay stuff. Next you have to hopefully still have one good emblem left. I took mine and cleaned off years of layered paint, in a glass bead blast cabinet. DO NOT sand blast them as they will likely disappear ! When cleaned, I put a couple layers of foil duct tape on the back side, to give them a little extra reinforcement, as they are after all, 40 year old brittle plastic. I rolled out the white clay with a rolling pin for a good thick layer, to serve as the relief mold.
Marinette emblems 005.JPG
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Next I pressed my duct tape reinforced old emblem into the white clay.
Marinette emblems 008.JPG
Marinette emblems 008.JPG (34.09 KiB) Viewed 14376 times
After breaking the nose off one, and the tail off the other (in four places !) old emblems, I finally got a a perfect mirror image mold. In order to get the mold perfect, I used a second cutting board to evenly press it flat.

Re: New to Marinette. Made new exterior emblems.

Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 8:57 pm
by javalin390
The first couple attempts, the old emblem stuck to the clay, so I ended up using the same trick that a baker would use, like sprinkling flour onto it so the "dough" won't stick, but instead of flour, I used talcum powder, then the old emblem popped right off.
Marinette emblems 006.JPG
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Marinette emblems 007.JPG
Marinette emblems 007.JPG (33.13 KiB) Viewed 14376 times
Now you bake the mold half. After the mold cools, you're now ready for the emblem ! Once again, sprinkle the mold with talcum for a non-stick surface, then start working in the tan clay, smoothing it out with a rolling pin, just like before. Peeling it out can be a challenge, but take your time, and if you screw it up, just smooth it back out and start over. I made the new ones thicker then the originals for good measure, but you can make them as thick or thin as you please. After I baked the emblems, I painted then to my liking
Marinette emblems 010.JPG
Marinette emblems 010.JPG (29.19 KiB) Viewed 14376 times
When I bead blasted all the old paint off, it appeared that they were originally this color, i.e. blue sea horse, black letters, and the 37 was in red. Not sure if this was really the case when she was built, but that is what the lowest layers of paint revealed. For roughly 25 bucks and a couple hours in the kitchen, they were fun to make. Any questions, feel free to ask.

Re: New to Marinette. Made new exterior emblems.

Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 2:48 pm
by bcassedy
Now that is slick!!!
Great directions!

Bill

Re: New to Marinette. Made new exterior emblems.

Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 8:50 pm
by bill
BigM
Very nice. :mrgreen:
bill

Re: New to Marinette. Made new exterior emblems.

Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 10:35 am
by Roger2
Great job!
Roger

Re: New to Marinette. Made new exterior emblems.

Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2016 1:58 pm
by btride72
When I painted my boat my emblems were in several pieces. I took them to a sign shop in Port Clinton. She scanned them in and made decals for me.
It has been 13 years and they still look great. I get Marinette owners coming up all the time to see why they look so good.

Re: New to Marinette. Made new exterior emblems.

Posted: Mon Feb 29, 2016 12:22 pm
by BD1
Do you remember what shop you took it to in Port Clinton? Sounds like an easy solution.

Re: New to Marinette. Made new exterior emblems.

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 5:57 pm
by Chrysler440
Does anyone have any leads on emblems??? I'm still looking for any or all possibilities for my 37 sedan...

Mike

Re: New to Marinette. Made new exterior emblems.

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 7:42 pm
by javalin390
If any of you are planning on going to Kelly's Island for the 2016 Rendezvous, I can give a live tutorial on how to make them, and you can see the finished product on my boat.

Re: New to Marinette. Made new exterior emblems.

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 1:49 pm
by bill
BigM
Thanks Jim,
I plan on attending.
It would be nice to see how its done. :D
bill