Normal Printed Instrument Panel Labels

Last updated - 10/01/06.

My first thought was that it would be easy to just use a label maker to print some labels and stick them on. I had a Casio KL-100 EZ Label Printer that could print text on clear labels. Unfortunately, the label tapes that everyone carried for this label maker were pretty limited. I could not get the white text on clear labels. Also, the text from the cheap label maker did not look very good.

I bought a DYMO QX50 Letra Tag label maker at WalMart, because it was cheap and it had a lot of different types of labels, including silver metalic. Again, the text is just not good enough for an instrument panel, and there was no white on clear labels. I have heard that other builders are using one of the Brother label makers, but I didn't look into this, myself.

Since the label maker idea did not pan out, I thought I would buy some clear labels from one of the office supply stores like Office Depot or Office Max, and give those a try. Unfortunately, you cannot just buy a few sheets to experiment with, you have to buy the $25 package, so my label making experiments were starting to cost real money.

Anyway, I bought some Avery 8667 clear labels. The problem with Avery's clear labels is that they are not really clear, they are better described as being translucent. Therefore, you can see that there is a piece of plastic behind any label on the panel. Another builder mentioned Avery 8665 labels, maybe I should give them a try.

I experimented with the normal printed labels about 6 months ago. I have a few pictures of those early experiments. I also took a few pictures of my attempts to hide the fact that you could see the background and edge of the labels. The background of the label can be seen because of the air behind the labels, due to the Hammered and Textured surfaces that I was trying to label. One thing that I tried was to spray clear lacquer on the test panel and then push the label into the wet lacquer. This really did not work that well.

The following pictures show some of the things that I tried with different types of normal printed labels:

This was my original bronze hammered-finish Rustoleum test sample. The white along the right side indicates that I used the AFS primer before the Rustoleum top coat. Here, I have created a few labels with different text colors and applied them to the test piece. Then, I used clear lacquer over the labels so the letters would not rub off.
I figured the only thing that would show-up on the bronze Rustoleum would be white or yellow, but I was wrong. As you can see, the yellow is barely visible, and the best color seems to be black or red. Also, the labels are not really clear, and there are holes behind the labels, due to the hammered-finish.

I used the other side of the original test piece for the next test. In an attempt to get rid of the holes behind the labels, I sprayed the clear lacquer first and then pushed the labels into the clear lacquer. This worked a little better, but was still not satisfactory.

My wife liked the light gray hammered-finish Rustoleum, so I gave that a try. This is almost acceptable, but is still not perfect. I have some more testing to do.

The next test was to put a box around the labels to hide the fact that you can see the edges of the label. I also tried to just use regular printed paper, held on with the clear lacquer.
This test sample came from my original rivet test fixture, so it has rivets behind the labels, that you have to ignore. Yes, I am too cheap to use a new piece of aluminum for these tests.

Next, I decided to give SW 988 a try, using the clear lacquer as a topcoat. This would be the standard military gray panel. Looks good on Paul Dye's airplane, but I'm not so sure for mine.

Probably hard to see, but this shows where the paint came off when I pulled the tape. This test panel was just a shiny piece of 2024 Alclad aluminum with Rustoleum Hammered bronze paint sprayed on with no preparation, other than to clean the panel with Lacquer thinner. I found that if I used Scotch-Brite to scuff the test panels before painting them, the paint was very durable, but without any preparation, the paint just peels right off.

This is one the the test panels where I got the bright idea to use white photo paper in order to get white text. This actually worked pretty good, if you like the "engraved plastic tag" look. The label on the right is a clear label pushed into clear lacquer. As you can see, it still shows the edges to the label.

Several examples of clear labels with and without border, plus the photo paper label on the left. Again, the label on the left is almost acceptable, if you like that type of label.

Clear labels with a border and a colored backgound. This does hide the air bubbles under the label, but it is very hard to cut the borders perfectly. These two labels are actually pretty good, but I don't really want a colored background.

Trying to mask the label with tape, so I can spray the color around the label.

These are just some clear labels with borders and colored backgounds applied to bare aluminum. Next I was going to try and trim the label around the borders with an exacto knife. My hand is just not steady enough to do this.

Just some labels applied to bare aluminum, trying, unsuccessfully, to hide the edges of the label with massive amounts of clear lacquer.

I got the bright idea of trying to cover the label with masking tape, then use an exacto knife to cut the tape around the label borders and remove the outside border of masking tape. This is the first step of masking the label, on painted and non-painted panels.

Apply the paint over the masked-off labels.

Shoot them, again.

This is a lot worse than the problem I was trying to solve. I have actually created a new lip around the label, only it looks a lot worse than a simple non-masked label.

Didn't work.

Failure.

Failure.

Another failure.

	This was my original bronze hammered-finish Rustoleum test sample. The white along the right side indicates that I used the AFS primer before the Rustoleum top coat. Here, I have created a few labels with different text colors and applied them to the test piece. Then, I used clear lacquer over the labels so the letters would not rub off. I figured the only thing that would show-up on the bronze Rustoleum would be white or yellow, but I was wrong. As you can see, the yellow is barely visible, and the best color seems to be black or red. Also, the labels are not really clear, and there are holes behind the labels, due to the hammered-finish.
	I used the other side of the original test piece for the next test. In an attempt to get rid of the holes behind the labels, I sprayed the clear lacquer first and then pushed the labels into the clear lacquer. This worked a little better, but was still not satisfactory.
	My wife liked the light gray hammered-finish Rustoleum, so I gave that a try. This is almost acceptable, but is still not perfect. I have some more testing to do.
	The next test was to put a box around the labels to hide the fact that you can see the edges of the label. I also tried to just use regular printed paper, held on with the clear lacquer. This test sample came from my original rivet test fixture, so it has rivets behind the labels, that you have to ignore. Yes, I am too cheap to use a new piece of aluminum for these tests.
	Next, I decided to give SW 988 a try, using the clear lacquer as a topcoat. This would be the standard military gray panel. Looks good on Paul Dye's airplane, but I'm not so sure for mine.
	Probably hard to see, but this shows where the paint came off when I pulled the tape. This test panel was just a shiny piece of 2024 Alclad aluminum with Rustoleum Hammered bronze paint sprayed on with no preparation, other than to clean the panel with Lacquer thinner. I found that if I used Scotch-Brite to scuff the test panels before painting them, the paint was very durable, but without any preparation, the paint just peels right off.
	This is one the the test panels where I got the bright idea to use white photo paper in order to get white text. This actually worked pretty good, if you like the "engraved plastic tag" look. The label on the right is a clear label pushed into clear lacquer. As you can see, it still shows the edges to the label.
	Several examples of clear labels with and without border, plus the photo paper label on the left. Again, the label on the left is almost acceptable, if you like that type of label.
	Clear labels with a border and a colored backgound. This does hide the air bubbles under the label, but it is very hard to cut the borders perfectly. These two labels are actually pretty good, but I don't really want a colored background.
	Trying to mask the label with tape, so I can spray the color around the label.
	These are just some clear labels with borders and colored backgounds applied to bare aluminum. Next I was going to try and trim the label around the borders with an exacto knife. My hand is just not steady enough to do this.
	Just some labels applied to bare aluminum, trying, unsuccessfully, to hide the edges of the label with massive amounts of clear lacquer.
	I got the bright idea of trying to cover the label with masking tape, then use an exacto knife to cut the tape around the label borders and remove the outside border of masking tape. This is the first step of masking the label, on painted and non-painted panels.
	Apply the paint over the masked-off labels.
	Shoot them, again.
	This is a lot worse than the problem I was trying to solve. I have actually created a new lip around the label, only it looks a lot worse than a simple non-masked label.
	Didn't work.
	Failure.
	Failure.
	Another failure.