Stencilling Equipment and Techniques

[David Dunlop]

When working on my M38CDN many years back, I made my own hand cut stencils out of glossy Manila stock, exactly like what was used in office file folders. It was available in any art supply store in roughly 3 x 4 foot sheet stock.

To solve the paint bleed problem Rob referred to, I discovered using rubber cement worked beautifully. No bleed and the stencil can be reused easily many times if needed. The trick is to get the largest bottle of rubber cement you can find and work fairly quickly, as the solvent in the cement is very volatile. The larger the bottle, the bigger the applicator, so you can cover more of the back of the stencil, faster.

Once you have sorted out locating where the stencil needs to go on the work face, lather the back with the cement and press it firmly in place, squeezing all the excess cement out from under the stencil. It only takes a couple of minutes for the cement to dry and you can very easily wipe the excess away with your finger. Apply the paint, either spray, brush or sponge, and let it dry well. Then remove the stencil. There may be bits of cement stuck to the edges of what you just stencilled but in a day or two you can rub it away with your finger to tidy it up. Once the stencil is off the work face, you can rub the old cement off the back and it is ready for reuse.

David