What type of tape for control panel?

[djconway]

I'm in the process of laying out control panels for my turnout control. I have a CAD drawing of how I want it to look, so I printed it out and made a sandwich of poly-sheet with the drawing in the middle and used 1/8" vinyl tape to layout the lines.  All looked good until I went to paint it -- almost all of the carefully mitered angles had moved and distorted.  In looking at the joints it looks like the tape was stretched when I put it down and shrink back over night as it relaxed.

So my question is this -- What kind of tape do others use?
Or is this one of those keep ripping it up and trying again until I learn how to apply vinyl tape with out stretching it.

[peteski]

How about using strips of masking tape instead of vinyl tape?  Also, maybe use automotive pinstripign tape?

Have you considered having the panels engraved?  If you have vector drawing, you should be able to just give that to someone that does engraving to have the panels made.

That is how my friend did his panels.  Those are back-engraved (on a transparent material, with opaque colored layer on one side), so the top surface is smooth. the engraved (transparent) areas are then painted from the back, for a multi-color effect. These panels look really good.

[MK]

Use striping tape for radio control airplanes.  We use these on our planes and they stay put pretty well.

https://www.towerhobbies.com/search?q=ultrastripe&search-button=&lang=default

[djconway]

Thanks for the replies, gives me some alternatives to think about.

[woodone]

I think that you will find that most any tape will stretch a bit when you first put it down. It will shrink if you let it set too long.
Try painting right after you finish tapping .

[rodsup9000]

 I use either .050" or .062 aluminum for my panels. I first prime with aluminum primer, then paint the track color I want. Draw out the track pattern on the the painted panel about 24 hours later. Using 1/8" automotive pin striping, lay it out on you pattern






 
   Paint it the finish color and pull the pin striping off



 



 

[Jim Costello]

You said you have it on CAD. Why don't you enhance that to whatever colours,names etc you need on the panel and have it printed out on vinyl or on photo paper.
I had mine done on photo paper ( my daughter-in-law had a photo business) and glued it down to 3mm laminate material. Marks for drilling holes for switches, Leds etc were marked
on the print as well. Overspray it with a clear to protect  the surface.
 Keep your CAD file for any changes in the future. 

Jim

[peteski]

You said you have it on CAD. Why don't you enhance that to whatever colours,names etc you need on the panel and have it printed out on vinyl or on photo paper.
I had mine done on photo paper ( my daughter-in-law had a photo business) and glued it down to 3mm laminate material. Marks for drilling holes for switches, Leds etc were marked
on the print as well. Overspray it with a clear to protect  the surface.
 Keep your CAD file for any changes in the future. 

Jim

That is also a good ideal.
 I design trophy labels in Corel Draw for my model club, and give the artwork to a local sign maker (who prints them using a professional Roland wide-formal vinyl printer/cutter. They also get laminated.  The vinyl and inks are designed for car wraps and car/truck logos/lettering, so they are very durable.

[djconway]

I was able to find low stretch 1/8" Art tape at Hobby Lobby. It feels like black masking tape.

I was able to get the first panel taped up the way I wanted - painting - drilling and component installation are under way.

Thank you all for your input.

[cbroughton67]

Here's another approach that I use - I lay out the panel in a drawing program like MS Paint or GIMP, print it out 1:1, and have a trophy shop make it. They even punch the holes for the switches, LEDs, and mounting screws. Just make sure they're included in the drawing along with diameters.

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[peteski]

Exactly. Earlier in thread I suggested engraving the panels, but using reverse engraving.