"Black" Decal Project - VIN 500 **Split From Matt's Graphic Overlay Projects**

[kajcienski]

I thought I would split this off into a new thread as there has been quite a bit of interest. I just finished a mock-up of a working "black" decal influenced by VIN 500. Since I have redesigned my A/C fascia panel I am using that graphic design first to get the bugs worked out. Below are three pictures I just took. I am using my prototype LED back panel for this. You will see that everything lights up as it should but need to change layering order in the decal to eliminate the "light spots" you see in the pictures. Also, one of the pictures looks very washed out. To the naked eye, it looks nothing like this (colors appear rich in person) but my iPhone camera seems to not like the lighting and wanted to get these pictures up. As I progress, I will post better pictures. Next step is changing the gel order in the graphic overlay to get a smoother lighting - so stay tuned to the thread!

Appears totally "black" when unlit:
Black-Decal-1.jpg

Graphics and text appear when car is on (daylight):
Black-Decal-2.jpg

Graphics and text appear when car is on (night-time):
Black-Decal-3.jpg

If I can get someone to send me a high-res scan of the early/mid HVAC decals (the one that matches the instrument cluster font) - I can begin replicating VIN 500's decal. Let me know!

[Farrar]

Actually, you would need more backlight during the day and less at night. I would have the backlight on full with the key, and then dimmed when the parking/headlights are engaged. Also full brightness when the dome light is on manually. This would simulate the operation of "blacked-out" indicators in more modern vehicles, in my opinion.

[kajcienski]

Actually, you would need more backlight during the day and less at night. I would have the backlight on full with the key, and then dimmed when the parking/headlights are engaged. Also full brightness when the dome light is on manually. This would simulate the operation of "blacked-out" indicators in more modern vehicles, in my opinion.

Although you can't tell from the pictures, the symbols appear crisp in daylight and at the same voltage, have a nice level of brightness in the dark (at around 9 volts with this LED setup). You could either wire into a constant voltage feed or tap into the existing feed to the light panel bulbs that already reduce voltage when the lights are turned on. I don't really see an advantage of reducing the light level at night in this case.

The goal here is to reproduce what VIN 500 had and correct the flaws in that design. The major flaw I can see is the uneven lighting in the original "black-out" panel. It would have made it not perform very well.

[Farrar]

Oh, sorry. Never mind, then.

[kajcienski]

This should show the functioning mock-up more clearly - However the "night" demonstration still looks a tad washed out on the video. In person, the color is much more even and rich for both day and night.

http://www.dreamartists.com/DeLorean...UT-Decal-1.mp4

[dmc6960]

Farrar is right. The lighting for a blacked out decal needs to be very bright dying the day, and dimmed at night when the lights at on. It would basically the stock configuration of the lights. I can guarantee you it's not optional.

[kajcienski]

Farrar is right. The lighting for a blacked out decal needs to be very bright dying the day, and dimmed at night when the lights at on. It would basically the stock configuration of the lights. I can guarantee you it's not optional.

You guys gotta get the idea of it needing to be super bright during the day out of your head I thought it would need a ton of light through the decal as well but have taken my mock-up you see in the video outside in full sunlight and the graphics show perfectly fine. The same amount of power looks great at night as well - definitely not too bright. So the drop in brightness really isn't as crucial as one might think - nor the amount of light the decal needs to show the graphics in daylight as I mentioned. What makes the decal appear "black" is only an extremely thin layer and the special Lexan textured sheet reflects light away and allows backlighting to appear clearly. That in combination with the layering I have come up with gives it unique properties. It's actually pretty cool. That being said, the drop in power when wired into the existing power when the lights are turned on works even better (and is how I have designed it so no worries) The whole point though being that it isn't crucial. Gotta trust me on this - I have a working prototype right in front of me.

I'll have a better example with pictures in the next few days. I'll get some outdoor pics as well. Remember that the way this is situated in the car, it won't really get direct sunlight anyway.

Thank you for feedback guys - these are genuine concerns and great suggestions!

EDIT: I am working on another new light panel (the one above is a panel modified with LED ribbon affixed to the light tubes - works leaps better than stock but trying to get a "perfectly" even light being OCD). This new one will use (and yes, I have been warned this might not work well but gotta try it anyway) illuminated wire wound around the light tubes. Wish me luck! Just trying to make this as simple of a mod as possible.

[Ryan King]

Are you making new hard plastic backings too? Or just decals? Also, does the DMC logo have back light going to it?

[Shep]

If I can get someone to send me a high-res scan of the early/mid HVAC decals (the one that matches the instrument cluster font) - I can begin replicating VIN 500's decal. Let me know!

By "early", do you mean low VIN? If so, I can try to grab a high-res (10 Megapixel) picture when I visit 559 in the shop next time. I'm aiming for this weekend or Tuesday.

I honestly have no idea what the HVAC design looks like on mine. I was more concerned with all the other fascinating stuff, and getting it running, to focus on the details. And now it's at DPI, so I can't run out and check real quick.

[kajcienski]

Are you making new hard plastic backings too? Or just decals? Also, does the DMC logo have back light going to it?

Hi! The setup you see in this thread is a custom setup in my own car and does indeed have lighting for the DMC Logo (I have a separate thread on it so check it out). It includes a new molded plastic light panel converted to a self-contained LED unit, a modified console bracket, and this new decal. After the new blackout decal is complete for my own car, I plan to produce the same for people with stock setups. I will include a new molded light panel that uses LEDs as this one does (or possibly El Wire) that is needed for the blackout decal to display properly and the blackout decal itself either with modernized graphics similar to what you see here or a reproduction of what I speculate VIN 500 looks like. I still need a volenteer to send me a high-res scan of the early/mid decal that matches to cluster font! I will also be reproducing the original light panel for people who's panels have cracked and no longer display light properly (DMCH has no more NOS of this part so want to help the community out). At least that is the plan! Before any of that, I need to be sure this all stands the test of time and abuse. I don't want to offer anything that isn't the highest standard. All this info will be organized in the appropriate thread once complete.