I've decided that my Reco track bike has to be restored with its original decals. I've contacted the frame builder, Ben Regter, and asked for some decals. He was so kind to send me a couple of sets by post, but there were 2 problems. First, the colour wasn't good. Black decals on black paint don't work well. Second, the adhesive wasn't good anymore. So, I decided to make reproductions. I scanned the original decals and measured them. With Adobe Illustrator, I traced the scanned decals and fine tuned it manually. The frame builder bought stock decals from Italy and had to convert these from "Record" to "Reco". In the past, this was a nasty job with scissors and a black marker, but in our digital era it's easier and you have to do it once.
In the meantime, I wrote to Jeroen from frame-stickers.nl and asked him if he could help me out. He made a very reasonable offer and after making some adjustments to the .eps files on his advice, I sent him the artwork. A couple of days later I had 2 full sets of decals on my door mat. Beautifully printed, cut out letters and logos, each decal on backing paper and application foil. The application was a bit of a hassle, but somehow I managed. Next time I have to ensure that the decals on the LH and RH side of the frame (top, down and seat tube) are connected somehow or on the same piece of application foil. That should make it a lot easier to centre and apply. Right now I'm busy applying a layer of clear coat. Once that is done, I'm going to assemble the bike again and shoot some new pictures.
Arty not farty
1 day ago