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WiL1978

Newbie Seems So cliché

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Considering I have been doing this for about 15 years.. But I am New to the site.. I am just a hobbyist so to speak.. I am Full Time Active Duty Army Aviation.. Work on UH-60's, Was Air Force and pulled Chocks, thinking the Army would be more of a challenge.. Well, I am an Idiot.. (Love The Army, Miss The Air Force)

 

I have been using a Vinyl plotter Since 1998, first starting out on a "Gerber" machine, as we called it.. Using some primative software.. I have upgraded on the personal side to Flexi Pro 8.1, (Bought it used) but overall happy with it.. I am using a fairly inexpensive (Also known as Cheap Piece Of Cr*p) Redsail R44 plotter.. but for what I use it for, it works out well for me.. I mainly so Etched Mirrors.. With a bit of a Twist. I do Color/Etched mirrors.. Balancing the Etch and the color of vinyl I use for the design, Leaving some of the Vinyl behind as color highlights.. when I get around to resizing them, I will post some pictures..

 

I guess that about sums it up.. I am glad to be here, already picked up on a few handy tips, which is always nice.. Free Training and or pointers, are always a bonus..

 

Thanks for having me..

 

WiL ...

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Welcome Wil,

 

You will find some very nice and helpful folks on this forum. Thank you for your service to the country. They don't pay you guys enough but I'm sure you knew that going in. I'd like to see those pics when you get around to it. I have cut a few etching stencils in my day as well but never thought of using colored vinyl and I'm intrigued.

 

Paul

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Welcome Wil,

 

You will find some very nice and helpful folks on this forum. Thank you for your service to the country. They don't pay you guys enough but I'm sure you knew that going in. I'd like to see those pics when you get around to it. I have cut a few etching stencils in my day as well but never thought of using colored vinyl and I'm intrigued.

 

Paul

I can email you a few samples.. My best ones are sports mirrors I did for my man cave.. Yes I know, this isnt exactly legal, but I didnt sell them, and used them for personal decoration only.

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samples.. The Yamaha Mirror went directly to a Dealer, as a Gift.. The rest are Military, or Car Club style. Ive got 100`s of pics, but this is a few of the most recent ones..

post-37959-0-64466600-1363922244_thumb.jpost-37959-0-28173800-1363922258_thumb.jpost-37959-0-28908800-1363922259_thumb.jpost-37959-0-16022800-1363922260_thumb.jpost-37959-0-61170700-1363922261_thumb.jpost-37959-0-24115200-1363922262_thumb.jpost-37959-0-18279100-1363922263_thumb.j

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Those are cool. Do you etch then vinyl on top of where you eched?

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Those are cool. Do you etch then vinyl on top of where you eched?

Nah, that would be almost impossible for alignment reasons.. I Etch them using whatever color vinyl it is.. Most people use black, I use whatever color I think will look good, and I add outlines to the design, then pick those outlines out, etch, leave behind what you see..

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Hello and welcome from southern West Virginia ( that feels like Alaska right now 12 degrees this morning spring my ..... ). You will find a ton of info here if you need it but probably not after 15 years .

Dan

Ps Thank you for your service

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Welcome Wil,

 

You will find some very nice and helpful folks on this forum. Thank you for your service to the country. They don't pay you guys enough but I'm sure you knew that going in. I'd like to see those pics when you get around to it. I have cut a few etching stencils in my day as well but never thought of using colored vinyl and I'm intrigued.

 

Paul

I just wanted to let you know I didnt overlook your comment, Thank you for the Compliment.. I knew when i joined that I would not make a fortune. I have provided a decent life for my family, and my children want for nothing.. so that too me is financial stability. I actually enjoy my job, and considering I get to work on Wicked Machines, I get to do things most dont get to do, its worth it.. Here is a Picture of my car next to one of the UH-60's.. this is my favorite of all the Airframes I Have ever worked

post-37959-0-99188800-1363964863_thumb.jpost-37959-0-69314300-1363964864_thumb.j

post-37959-0-07487100-1363964870_thumb.j

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Welcome from another active duty service member. 8 years active duty Coast Guard. C130 aircrew and avionics tech. 

Looks like youll fit in just fine around here. You have some talent. 

 

Welcome to the forum.

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Hello and welcome from southern West Virginia ( that feels like Alaska right now 12 degrees this morning spring my ..... ). You will find a ton of info here if you need it but probably not after 15 years .

Dan

Ps Thank you for your service

you are welcome Sir.. and I am in Missouri.. I understand the Alaksa Feeling.. We got 6 in of snow yesterday.. Its my anniversary weekend, and I got a condo at the lake of the Ozarks, which is right in my back yard pretty much, but I had to cancel, because the weather.. just my luck.. As for the info.. I have already for a wealth of info.. I started doing this in the AIr Force, butting tail numbers, and NO STEP stencils.. and just progressed from there.. I am happy to be here for sure..

 

 

Welcome from another active duty service member. 8 years active duty Coast Guard. C130 aircrew and avionics tech. 

Looks like youll fit in just fine around here. You have some talent. 

 

Welcome to the forum.

Thank You.. I used to work the C-130 Gunship.. Ol' Spooky.. what a machine that was.. Thank you for the kind words.. and for your Service..

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Thank You.. I used to work the C-130 Gunship.. Ol' Spooky.. what a machine that was.. Thank you for the kind words.. and for your Service..

 

You should come over to our side! :) Lots of prior service in the Coast Guard. 

2_ems_helicopter_062907j.jpg

 

 

Spooky is a monster. I love that plane. I wish we had some. It sure would make the drug runners think twice. 

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That is a sweet pic man.. I am actually on my way out.. Did my time, and its been hard on my body.. im in the early stages of a MRB.. once that is complete, ill hold the proud title of Civilian.. and kinda looking forward to it.. that pic is pretty sweet man, you know, you guys never get enough credit amongst other services.. that pic right there, speaks volumes..

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Congratulations on your end of enlistment. I have a few more years to go. 

 

I come across a few active duty in other services and civilians that don't know we have aviation. The Coast Guard is just the red headed step child in the back corner just doing our job. We dont need the glory. You crazy guys can have that. 

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Its been a Long Time Coming.. im Tired.. My Body Has Taken A Beating.. The Burn Pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, have ravished my lungs.. SO, its time now, to enjoy the good life.. You know I wouldnt think the coast guard would be anything but aviation.. I mean, who hasnt seen your guys rescue missions on the show Deadliest Catch.. lol, so that is a UH-60 correct? were call them Blackhawks, yours.. Seahawks? I actually watched one of the Navy's blackhawks tail rotor stop, while hovering, about a year ago at one of our facilities, and it fell straight to the ground.. crew was ok.. but man that was not a nice think to witness..

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Wil,

 

Your etchings are seriously gnarly man. I am WAY impresssed. I wasn't understanding what you meant and thought you were getting some sort of bleed out into the etching from the vinyl which I was having a hard time wrapping my head around. Now that I see what you were talking about I love em! The bad part is if I let my wife see them I'm going to spend the next week of my life trying to duplicate your skills. Ha ha!

 

Your work looks enjoyable. I build roads in the daytime and have worked around Hill AFB in Utah and currently live near Boise ID. Gowen Field has some pretty cool attack Heli's. One of my wifes girlfriend buddies has a husband who flies one, he came and put on a presentation for the kids at our church when he came back from active duty a few years ago. I almost went into the service right out of high school but they couldn't get me into the area I wanted to go and I didn't trust that I'd actually be able to transfer as easily as the recruiters made it sound. Plus my dad said it would be good for me so I backed out. LOL

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You should come over to our side! :) Lots of prior service in the Coast Guard. 

 

 

 

Spooky is a monster. I love that plane. I wish we had some. It sure would make the drug runners think twice. 

 Coaster, if you like Spooky, you will like this.. I am a Fabricator, and while deployed, I made these out of spent ammunition.. 105MM

 

post-37959-0-91602700-1364050217_thumb.j

 

post-37959-0-81649100-1364050218_thumb.j

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Wildgoose,

 

 Thank you for the compliment Sir.. it all kinda happened by mistake really.. I did a military mirror.. and decided to leave the black inside the rank.. and it just exploded from there really.. These are quite simple really.. say you just want to do a "Family" mirror.. do your lettters, and put a .050 outline around everything.. then cut, and weed out the outline, leaving the letters.. transfer entire piece to a Mirror, and etch.. then just remove the vinyl from the obvious areas, and leave your letters.. They will have a outline of etch around them..

 

I joined, with a guarentee'd spot (England) so I can understand that.. I wasnt joining with the possibility of me going right to korea.. Ugh.. I did 4 years in England, then 4 in Florida, got out of the Air Force, and Joined the Army.. sure do miss the Air Force...

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Its been a Long Time Coming.. im Tired.. My Body Has Taken A Beating.. The Burn Pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, have ravished my lungs.. SO, its time now, to enjoy the good life.. You know I wouldnt think the coast guard would be anything but aviation.. I mean, who hasnt seen your guys rescue missions on the show Deadliest Catch.. lol, so that is a UH-60 correct? were call them Blackhawks, yours.. Seahawks? I actually watched one of the Navy's blackhawks tail rotor stop, while hovering, about a year ago at one of our facilities, and it fell straight to the ground.. crew was ok.. but man that was not a nice think to witness..

No no no thats not me. Im not one of those crazy guys. I sit up high in the herq flying circles around them making sure everything goes as planned. Thats after flying 12 hours looking for them. Theres a show on the weather channel now, Coast Guard Alaska and Coast Guard Florida. Shows more about the CG then deadliest Catch. Our 60s are technically seahawks, we got them from the navy since they have the folding tail rotor. We call ours Jayahawks just to be different I guess.

 

 Coaster, if you like Spooky, you will like this.. I am a Fabricator, and while deployed, I made these out of spent ammunition.. 105MM

 

attachicon.gifIMG_6564.JPG

 

attachicon.gifIMG_6565.JPG

 

Those are awesome. Is the mug insulated? You have some real impressive talent. Id be surprised if the AC130 pilots didnt commission you to build hundreds of them. 

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No no no thats not me. Im not one of those crazy guys. I sit up high in the herq flying circles around them making sure everything goes as planned. Thats after flying 12 hours looking for them. Theres a show on the weather channel now, Coast Guard Alaska and Coast Guard Florida. Shows more about the CG then deadliest Catch. Our 60s are technically seahawks, we got them from the navy since they have the folding tail rotor. We call ours Jayahawks just to be different I guess.

 

 

Those are awesome. Is the mug insulated? You have some real impressive talent. Id be surprised if the AC130 pilots didnt commission you to build hundreds of them. 

 

tacobell plastic cup.. so you can actually drink out of it.. just used double sided tape, and slid it in place.. i dont use it, but you could.. as for the flags, I made 135 of them, while deployed.. (12 hours a piece) cutting and spreading these open, was a huge pain.. and then, when I got back to home station, I made another 40 or so.. finally, I just said No More.. i wasnt making anything for doing them.. (Cant sell Govt Stuff).. so.. I just said no more..

 

And I need to clarify, I meant I would think the Coast Guard would be ONLY aviation.. not anything but.. i said that backwards..

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