Military and Flag Decals

[RobN]

I was in a Bradley for a year or two - driver and then gunner, thankfully, not riding in the back. But I still can't get past thinking of tanks as something to shoot at rather than ride in.

Given your issues with the decal on the hood, personally, I'd redo the hood to cover the paint issue and skip the doors, as it feels like a lot to me. But I've seen trucks with a lot more than I'd do, and some look pretty good, so do what your gut tells you.

If you're not sure, see if there's a cost difference with doing some now and some later. Do what you're sure you want and see how it looks before you do more.

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[Deleted member 5597]

I did 20 years and I don't quite disagree with the goofy comment. The flags looks fine, the rest gets to the tacky side to me.

I had the sign shop remove the door stars and just keep the M1 tank on the back.

 

[Deleted member 5597]

So these are the spots I scraped too hard and got down to the primer on the hood scoop.
I do agree that maybe I had too much to begin with and I took everyone’s suggestions to do less for now. That did lower the cost a bit by removing the M60A3 tank and the door stars.

 

[Deleted member 5597]

I was in a Bradley for a year or two - driver and then gunner, thankfully, not riding in the back. But I still can't get past thinking of tanks as something to shoot at rather than ride in.

Given your issues with the decal on the hood, personally, I'd redo the hood to cover the paint issue and skip the doors, as it feels like a lot to me. But I've seen trucks with a lot more than I'd do, and some look pretty good, so do what your gut tells you.

If you're not sure, see if there's a cost difference with doing some now and some later. Do what you're sure you want and see how it looks before you do more.

Tanks are “The King of the Battlefield”, but they are really a death trap and are also called “Rolling Coffins”.

 

[Vettereddie]

I do agree that maybe I had too much to begin with and I took everyone’s suggestions to do less for now. That did lower the cost a bit by removing the M60A3 tank and the door stars.

I'm not military but play a plastic spaceman on occasion at cons, sports theme nights and STEM events; I went with a similar design scheme (hood, door and rear fender decal) in matte black.

TIE Fighter Build - Carbonized Gray 2023 Maverick XLT Hybrid

I don't think the door star is bad, it's the bright white that throws it off especially with it being the only white on the truck. I'd recommend either metallic grey/silver to match the Lariat grill trim if you want it to stand out or gloss black for more subdued design.

I'm not sure how much better a wrap material will hold up when it's not heat shrank down over a full panel and would worry about the edges curling after a while. 3M has some nice UV resistant vinyl for automotive.

The tank on the tailgate is the part I don't really get, looks like clip art from an old CONOPs. Do they have any other graphics that are more artistic / dynamic or something more abstract to represent an armored division (tread and cannon insignia, etc.)?

 

[Deleted member 5597]

I'm not military but play a plastic spaceman on occasion at cons, sports theme nights and STEM events; I went with a similar design scheme (hood, door and rear fender decal) in matte black.

TIE Fighter Build - Carbonized Gray 2023 Maverick XLT Hybrid

I don't think the door star is bad, it's the bright white that throws it off especially with it being the only white on the truck. I'd recommend either metallic grey/silver to match the Lariat grill trim if you want it to stand out or gloss black for more subdued design.

I'm not sure how much better a wrap material will hold up when it's not heat shrank down over a full panel and would worry about the edges curling after a while. 3M has some nice UV resistant vinyl for automotive.

The tank on the tailgate is the part I don't really get, looks like clip art from an old CONOPs. Do they have any other graphics that are more artistic / dynamic or something more abstract to represent an armored division (tread and cannon insignia, etc.)?

I can ask them what other tanks they have. I wanted to find one in a NATO Woodlands camo color firing a projectile with the yellow flames and smoke coming out of the gun barrel.

 

[Vettereddie]

I can ask them what other tanks they have. I wanted to find one in a NATO Woodlands camo color firing a projectile with the yellow flames and smoke coming out of the gun barrel.

May as well do a full color wrap on the tailgate at that point. Bonus points if you do the artwork yourself with AI prompts and then give it to them in a low resolution, non-vector format. Graphic artists love that!

 

[CTYankee]

I'm ex-Navy so I appreciate the desire to incorporate your service as a way of personalizing your vehicle.

The images on the door can make you vehicle look like some kind of law enforcement vehicle until someone looks closely enough to read the text. I ran across this image, though, that ties in the past and present and that might be kind of neat on the hood or the doors:

These could even be on the quarter panel instead of the flag treatment. As you may have guessed, I tend to be in the "less is more" camp.

 

[Deleted member 5597]

May as well do a full color wrap on the tailgate at that point. Bonus points if you do the artwork yourself with AI prompts and then give it to them in a low resolution, non-vector format. Graphic artists love that!

I’m “artistically challenged” and that AI stuff may be above my capabilities.

 

[Deleted member 5597]

I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. After the “goofy” comment, I do agree that the tanks looked goofy.

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