A very technically complex project involving specification of hull paint (automotive metallic two part paint) and creation of a graphic and lettering that would appear to change in luminosity with changes in light. Miles of gradient meshes and clever use of transparent metal flake over-laminates did the trick. The client wanted to portray a sense of the hand disappearing - reflected in the lettering and on the spinnakers. Doing this in vinyl was going to be one of the biggest challenges I've dealt with. The client also wanted custom SeaDek panels for the cockpit with an inlay of the hand involving CAD creation of 14 panels.
Marine silver metallic paints just didn't have the luminosity factors I was looking for, nor did they have the metal flake sizing and density we needed. The chines on the hull make a fast curve turn and the difference in reflection and tint is abrupt. I needed a narrow luminosity bracket. We chose a Mercedes Benz color from the mid aughts: Bright Silver.
Running in the dark on the color mix of the paint - impossible to get suppliers to divulge the formulas - and without chips, we resorted to spraying a plastic coke bottle with the remnants of paint in a can that arrived from the factory with the boat.
Through experimentation, we got the hue values pretty spot on, but that involved hours of labor redefining the color content of hundreds of points in the gradient mesh.
And those pesky chines posed a challenge in installation. Seriously angled curves, especially sharp ones are not an applique's friend. It took some surgical lay down, 20 man hours in all, to get this applique seated.
