I was an E4 in the Air Force when I took possession of that incredible hatch backed, long nosed, double overhead cam machine after my uncle died in 1968. I was stationed at Grissom AFB, IN and made about $250 a month. That jag ran fine until the temp dropped below 60 degrees. At that point it ceased to be a legacy of wonder and became a woman with eternal PMS. I eventually had to give it up as it was costing me much more than I made and I couldn't afford the temperamental beast it had become. Sorry Uncle Bob.

The VW was another story. It wasn't pretty but it just always ran. By this time, 1977 I was in Champaign, IL. I had finished graduate school and was working for PSE. That little bug was well suited for the balmy, tropical conditions of Illinois in the winter.  The heater didn't work but it always started and you never scraped bottom. I loved that little car and would probably still have it, and it would still be running but the confrontation with a Buick ended the affair. I almost cried when they towed it away, broken in the middle. Didn't even dent that dang Buick.

So now I have my F250. It's white and perfectly suited for hauling horse trailers and butt. It won't burn out like the Jag but then the Jag wouldn't pull a house. It's big and bold and it won't fry you in the torrid heat of Tucson summers. I love the way it looks and white is right for here. But I just had to make it look a little better. 

I just had to make it my own. Something to make my 250 stand out from the thousands that I seem to pass every day here in southern AZ. I could have gone to a local guy who was a great pin striper -- for about $300 he could put stripes and an American Flag on my big beauty. 

Right then, I got a call from Steve Stovall of Silhouettes Decals wanting to add his web site to Bowhunting.net? So I checked out his site and I guess I fell in love again. 

I love cowboy stuff and he's got a bunch. So I told Steve if he joined up, I would personally do a Field Evaluation of his decals. I don't normally do this because I've got three other guys who are much smarter, more precise and overall do a much, much better job. Besides, I hate to write. But I thought even I could pull this off. I mean how much expertise does one need to slap a decal on ones vehicle? Ok, I had a few questions but overall, it turns out this doesn't  require much expertise at all. 

First, what do you have to do to prepare the surface?
Answer, clean it off. Wow, that was a tough one. 

I was expecting to have to sand blast the area then treat it with acid. Not so complicated.  I used a couple sprits of Windex. 

Second, what is the decal? Every decal is tough 3 mil Avery Vinyl that will last forever. I guess you could hurt them but it would take an effort. 

Next question, and an obvious one to me, how do you put the decal on?
Stay with me here, this is another tough one. Each decal has a stiffer paper back with writing on it with a front paper that is thinner so you can see the decal through it. You separate the two parts, the stiff backing from the lighter shaded, thinner part. You can discard the thicker paper. 

Then you line up the decal (you can see it through the light paper backing) and place it where you want it. You know, where you just cleaned it. Since you do risk bubbles, you'll want to start at one end and gently place the decal on your surface, still attached to the light paper backing and rub lightly with a soft rag, working your way down until the entire decal is applied to the surface. I worked my rag from the center of the decal out making sure I had worked any bubbles out. 

If you do notice a bubble simply lift the paper backing and the decal until you expose the bubble, then reset it working your rag outward. You can do this because it takes about a day for the decal to really set up. 

Then, since I always over do things I worked the rag back and forth across the decal. Satisfied with that, I then started removing the thin paper backing revealing a black steers head with single feather. It is a thing of beauty. I was hooked. They advise you not wash your vehicle for 24 hours. Which won't bother too many of us.

The first one was 5" wide and sits nicely under the latch on my tailgate. I then placed two, 2" wide versions in front of the F250 emblem on my front quarter panels. They look 'hot'.  Not satisfied with just those three, I scraped off the old North American Hunter and NRA stickers (I'll put new ones back on) off my back window and placed a cowboy on a bucking bronco on the right side. Since my window is tinted I chose the white one.

Well my girl friend Heather just became the proud owner of a brand spanking new, dark green 2002 Ford F150 Step Side. She says it's a 'girl' truck which is fine cause my truck is bigger. Something all we men are proud of. Any rate, she saw my decals and naturally, being a woman of taste and intelligence, wanted some too.

Being a thinking man who plans ahead, I had saved (Steve graciously sent me thee sets of the steer head), one in gold, and one in white. Seeing how she had a dark green truck, she opted for the white. 

In less than five minutes I had done a similar design for her. She now sports a white steers head right below her tailgate latch and two smaller ones right below her F150 emblems on her front quarter panels. She's one happy camper and is now eyeing the horse's head, which I feel will be a perfect fit for her (and mine) gas cap cover. I have two, one white, one black.

I'm also eyeing the Proud to be a bowhunter, elk rack, whitetail rack and a few others but my truck is tastefully done now and being one to never overstate things I am content. However, I do have lots of friends, truck drivers all who have been bugging me to turn them on. I feel a sense of power I've seldom experienced and it's all because of a little set of decals.

OK, say you put one on and you decide later you don't like it. Or you buy a truck from your buddy and you really don't like the one he has and want to remove it. To take the decals off, if it is fairly warm you just start at one corner with your fingernail and once you get it started you simply peel it off ... then take some 3m adhesive remover or lighter fluid and gently remove any residue. The other way if it is really tough to get off ... keeps tearing or whatever ... is to take a hair dryer and heat the decal while carefully peeling it off .... this is how most pro shops get off old pin striping.

So, if you want to stand out, make your truck, car, horse trailer, motorcycle, boat, or windows, etc, unique then here's a solution, Silhouette Decals. Go to their web site at www.silhouettesdecals.com, place your order and take the plunge. They have big ones for the tailgates or hoods, for the bold adventurer. They have small ones for the little areas that just scream out for something. And they have the medium size for everything else. I saw one guy who decorated his guitar. No matter what you have Silhouette Decals will make it better. 

For information on these and other products contact:

Silhouettes Decals
Rt. 1 Box 48A
Douglas, Oklahoma 73733
Phone Toll-Free 1-866-862-7652
Local 580-8627652
E-Mail - contact@silhouettesdecals.com
Web Site: www.silhouettesdecals.com