Im heading to OCS (Navy) next week. I have heard different things about stamping/marking items. However, I have heard no mention of spray paint. Im guessing this is to save time and to get large numbers knocked out. But how should it be done. Are the stencils, that have been referred to, used for the spray paint? How big are these stencils? What about the over spray? Just tape it off like any other paint job? Any tips or advice would be great. Thanks
well I cant speak for Navy OCS as I have no idea how they mark their shirts or if they even do. We were referring to the marking of the company and platoon on all of our PT shirts at Marine OCS. The SOP is to take the stencil and use shoe polish because it gives a nice crisp and dark look. the problem though is that usually one wash will fade the polish so bad that you are bound to catch hell.
A common alternative is too use sharpie markers instead as it survives many more washes, but that can take some time and will need touchups at times. Spray paint is nice because it gives that same solid, crisp look as the polish, doesnt fade and its really quick. The problem is that you usually have to bring it in and not all staff allow it. I have heard of some staff actually buying it for their platoons, which is awesome. I personally spray painted like 2 of my shirts but got sick of waiting for them to dry and just used a sharpie for the rest.
Anyway, to answer your question about the actual procedure..the stencils are just cut out of cardboard pieces, so as long as you get in close enough you dont have to worry too much about overspray. Taping off takes too long, and if you do get a little overspray...who cares, your not doing a picasso.
Good luck at OCS.
