The place to share knowledge about upgrades, mods, customisations and all other cool DIY projects for MPCs and other music equipment.
By Glewfactory Sun Mar 24, 2013 12:48 am
Before going live on your casing,
Practice ,practice,practice.
You have to develop a squeegie pull.
I used a Mylar film to screen on before going
Live, this way I can see exactly what my
Next print will look like, this is my last
Chance to throw a piece a tape on a
Pin hole I might of missed.
And to make sure all of my lettering
Washed out nice and complete.
Image
By Glewfactory Sun Mar 24, 2013 12:54 am
This is a shot of the Mylar(practice) print.
Maybe a run a couple of these , to make sure
You have the squeegie pull down.
When working with solvent base inks
Like in these photos , it is an air dry ink
It literally wants to dry in the screen while
You are printing , so work fairly quick.
.Image
By Glewfactory Sun Mar 24, 2013 1:16 am
When it is screwed backed together it has
A photo shoot and after its back from that
I'll post a finished when it's allowable,
The last two photos, are blurred purposefully
As the kind people whom let me use the camo
Will get rights to the first real photos.
All prints used were not exact akai graphics
And have a custom spin on a classic layout,
No copyrite is implied or expressed.
No akai logos were reproduced in any form
Of the above process.
Thanks for reading this ridiculous amount
Of info.
The End.
Let me know if there is a need
For the paint one
By Glewfactory Sun Mar 24, 2013 2:06 pm
Detroit Michigan, and I know it's a little long winded,
But people asked for a step by step , and I will be offering
This type of service. I think when people see this process
Isn't simple , most will understand price more after seeing what it
EXACTLY takes to print these casings. And I also tried to
Eliminate ANY questions with a full disclose of the methods
I personally used, this is also set up so you can skip ahead,
To steps that are important to whomever is already versed
In screenprinting.
So when people are quoted $250. At the local screen printer,
You now get it , that we are talking HOURS of work, the vectoring
Of the art is a large chunk of this , I bet it's probably around
$100 to vector and the rest is between screen cost and labor.
Now if you happen to have the equiptment like I do,
What would you charge??? What do you guys think is a fair price?
Keep in mind a Sticker(12inch skins) is $69 dollars and that's
Just a STICKER. after seeing this ,How much do you think is fair??
By Clint Sun Mar 24, 2013 6:43 pm
Thanks for posting all that info.

It only serves to show that the average person (like myself) wouldn't dream of attempting to do this myself under any circumstances. There is clearly an opportunity there which you could tap into as not too many peeps offer a similar service at reasonable cost. I mean there is obviously Forat in the US, Ghost is in Japan and Renato is in France but retiring. If you'd let cats do the paint themselves while you do the lettering I would imagine there would be a trickle of demand, but your main competitor on price would then be Styleflip. Personally I'd rather have a painted finish than a skin.

Just wanted to ask, when you do the Illustrator/vector graphic for each MPC machine, is it a case of doing it once and simply saving and reusing the same image/screenprint over and over again for the stock Akai lettering?

If I had the skill and resources to do what you have just shown, I'd want to exploit that. Skill and knowledge has to generate some income, or it goes to waste (or an employer).
By Glewfactory Sun Mar 24, 2013 8:24 pm
Thanks Clint
You get exactly where I was going with this,
And yes, once vectored the art is saved to be re out put
Or set up for download.
I think the download option was a good idea option also.
I may offer download and sent film possibilities for
Those that wish to stay local.
By Clint Sun Mar 24, 2013 8:40 pm
Glewfactory wrote:I think the download option was a good idea option also.
I may offer download and sent film possibilities for
Those that wish to stay local.


Yes, I think the 'big boys' may have missed a trick there. Style flip currently dont have a clear film option for just the lettering and so many people want it. You certainly have a unique selling point (USP) to work with.
By Glewfactory Sun Mar 24, 2013 10:34 pm
Clint , when your ready to get lettering
On your casing hit me up, I have to do
A couple for the portfolio, and I'm goin'
To choose a couple I'm doing for promo
And to use as examples. If you'd like
I'll hook you when I'm set up.
Start thinking of your paint scheme,
Homie.
I have new ideas on another method
I want to try
By Glewfactory Sun Mar 24, 2013 10:40 pm
Style flip probably doesn't offer clear
Because if you keep the print white like
Factory , most vinyl printers do not print
White as its a really expensive add on
For full color vinyl and most of the substrates
Are white for commercial vinyl print and plot
Situations. in short , it's a rare need for an imprint
To need a white print and even more rare is a need
For clear sticker.
The clear sticker substrate is also expensive.