Type of Gold Vinyl

[NickB]

Hi all,
Recently came across this Engine turn Gold vinyl, does anyone know why brand, or style of engine turn this is? We believe its Large Engine Turn in size, but we want to match the rest of the truck. The closest I can find to match is Real Gold Brand. I've been informed that it is imitation, and unfortunately that is all I know.

 

[letterman7]

If it's on a Seagrave, KME or Spartan fire truck, that's hand spun 23kt gold. Those manufacturers have their own process to produce hand-laid looks with the ease of a vinyl installation. You won't match it. Many other manufacturers are purchasing from those 3 and ordering things for their own use. It's also possible it's a "Leo's Gold" / RJ Marx product but it doesn't look quite like theirs.

 

[Billct2]

Good luck, hard to tell in person, much less from a photo. We have samples from several companies and also have seen hand leafed and printed versions.

 

[bold_will_hold]

I just got finished a job where I was in the same situation. I looked at turned gold vinyl options but they are expensive and customer didn't want to spend that much. Job was a antique firetruck that had turned gold decals on it, they were looking to save some but rename the truck. I ended up replacing all the decals. The previous had a Photoshop turned gold effect almost like a gradient.

What I ended up doing was making my own texture of turned gold using a photo and distorting it to make it square so I could tile it. It turned out really good!

Judging by your picture the decal is not actual gold leaf, probably a picture. The contour cut on the clear is very precious and shows the same contours as the lettering. Hinting it was digital printed. If you are removing the decals take one off and try to dissect it. Look to see if there is layering. That would tell you the gold is actual turned gold vinyl with black layered on top. My best guess is that it is all printed and the only way to match is find that exact picture of the turned gold used to create the existing decals.

Maybe google search by image. You would need to crop the largest section of just the gold.

 

[letterman7]

Judging by your picture the decal is not actual gold leaf, probably a picture. The contour cut on the clear is very precious and shows the same contours as the lettering. Hinting it was digital printed. If you are removing the decals take one off and try to dissect it.

Bold, you know not of what you think that photo contains. That is most definitely a product from one of the fire apparatus companies I mentioned. It is real gold applied to an Edge print (or similar) on clear - on the reverse side, so the black edges are very crisp - then a clear contour cut laminate is applied over the entire thing to protect the gold. I've watched them do it and I work on trucks like these every month.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

This is 100% hand laid, hand turned vinyl encapsulated 23 kt. gold. Probably on a Pierce fire truck, they are the only manufacturer left that offers this from the factory. I offer this process, however there isn’t a “vinyl” you can just buy and print or cut to match it.

 

[TravinFlavin]

Check out Sign Gold Florentine Swirl. If you can see it in person thatd be better. The pictures online are crap

 

[SellersSign&Design]

Check out Sign Gold Florentine Swirl. If you can see it in person thatd be better. The pictures online are crap

It is definitely not Sign Gold

 

[TravinFlavin]

It is definitely not Sign Gold

Perhaps not. But maybe its good enough. Just a thought.

 

[Karen Souza]

Hand laid leaf for sure...the spins follow the letter. Signgold or Realgold will not match

 

[SellersSign&Design]

Perhaps not. But maybe its good enough. Just a thought.

I specialize in fire apparatus, so this is something I run into often. Unfortunately there usually isn’t a “good enough” for fire departments. It is either right, or it isn’t. You can’t really blame them, a $500,000+ truck should have the correct graphics on it. Unless all of the existing gold is being stripped off of the truck, the only thing that will match is the same product- which is vinyl encapsulated hand laid 23 kt. gold. I also offer a printed reflective gold designed to look very similar to real gold. The two products are mixed and matched quite a bit, especially on ladder trucks or other trucks with large graphics high up on the truck. Real gold is used down low, and the printed reflective is used up high. But to answer the OP’s question, either completely strip the truck and go with the gold of your choice, or use one of the companies that produces the 23 kt. encapsulated hand laid gold to match the existing work for you.