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Vinyl Wrap
- Thread starter architech
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Cooter
Well-known member
Hell, my hands aren't steady enough to WRAP it like that! Awesome job!
vve are the end
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2012
- Messages
- 152
Did a test wrap on my windscreen in laminated white yesterday and it came out great. I'll move on to one of the next pieces tonight if I have time.
vve are the end
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2012
- Messages
- 152
vve are the end
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2012
- Messages
- 152
We'll see how clean the front fender and airbox cover come out. haha. I'm a little intimidated by those parts but I should be able to get around to them this weekend. I'm trying to cover them in matte black but this is good practice. If anybody wants some laminated white pieces of CM 1080 controltac I've got extra. If you pay shipping it's yours. I work at a print shop so I end up with it every once in a while.
chevy42083
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2013
- Messages
- 216
Bump.
I figured I might as well add my pics to this thread instead of starting another. I'm working on collecting a full set of plastics... so I'll be wrapping, and swapping... then wrapping and swapping. Every peice, one at a time.
First up...
I work at a print shop that does commercial wraps, so I snuck in a 2nd copy of some artwork next to a current job... unfortunately, that means it's not at "high quality" print setting. Still nice... but I wish I could've printed it at a higher setting.
I didn't get an answer before wrapping on whether the emblem would peel off cleanly (apparently it will), so I wrapped over, then CAREFULLY cut around it with an exacto knife. From 3+ feet away, it's perfect. There's MILD imperfections in the wrap from the amount of glue that collected around the emblem during wrapping. But, from a few feet away, it looks perfect.
I'm debating getting some blue window tint that would allow me to continue the star onto the headlights. Not worried about color... blue over conventional "yellow" bulbs should just look HID/White. BUT... I'm worried the heat will bake it on. And I have the CX headlight gaurd on, which would kinda kill the flow.
I'll be posting my other vinyl stuff whenever I get around to doing it. Still need to start a thread on my bike, so I'll probably post full bike pics there.
Oh... forgot, I did wrap the heal guards. They didn't stay perfect... but haven't seemed to scratch any more after the first week. I think I'll re-wrap and let them sit for awhile to see if it "sets up" or sticks a little better before I gouge it up.
I used 3m 1080 g203 (gloss metallic red). it's a VERY close match the the translucent red wheels. My only compaint is that the metallic seems to be silver flake, versus a red flake.
I ran a SHARP knife around the edges, which cut the very thin vinyl without scratching the metal's black finish.
Next time around I'd either trim around the screw holes, or try an oil to keep the screws from tugging the viniyl. On a flat screw, oil and teflon washer SHOULD prevent it. I'll find out soon enough.
I also practiced some lines on a helmet. "Knifeless tape" is AWESOME. Easy to use once you try a couple times, and awesome results. You lay a pinstripe, wrap over it, the pull a thin wire out of the middle, which cuts your wrap. You can then pull the tape out from under the 1/8in edge and re-stick the edge of the wrap.
I did wrap some on the visor to even it out and look like a full design instead of just 2 random peices red.
I figured I might as well add my pics to this thread instead of starting another. I'm working on collecting a full set of plastics... so I'll be wrapping, and swapping... then wrapping and swapping. Every peice, one at a time.
First up...
I work at a print shop that does commercial wraps, so I snuck in a 2nd copy of some artwork next to a current job... unfortunately, that means it's not at "high quality" print setting. Still nice... but I wish I could've printed it at a higher setting.
I didn't get an answer before wrapping on whether the emblem would peel off cleanly (apparently it will), so I wrapped over, then CAREFULLY cut around it with an exacto knife. From 3+ feet away, it's perfect. There's MILD imperfections in the wrap from the amount of glue that collected around the emblem during wrapping. But, from a few feet away, it looks perfect.
I'm debating getting some blue window tint that would allow me to continue the star onto the headlights. Not worried about color... blue over conventional "yellow" bulbs should just look HID/White. BUT... I'm worried the heat will bake it on. And I have the CX headlight gaurd on, which would kinda kill the flow.
I'll be posting my other vinyl stuff whenever I get around to doing it. Still need to start a thread on my bike, so I'll probably post full bike pics there.
Oh... forgot, I did wrap the heal guards. They didn't stay perfect... but haven't seemed to scratch any more after the first week. I think I'll re-wrap and let them sit for awhile to see if it "sets up" or sticks a little better before I gouge it up.
I used 3m 1080 g203 (gloss metallic red). it's a VERY close match the the translucent red wheels. My only compaint is that the metallic seems to be silver flake, versus a red flake.
I ran a SHARP knife around the edges, which cut the very thin vinyl without scratching the metal's black finish.
Next time around I'd either trim around the screw holes, or try an oil to keep the screws from tugging the viniyl. On a flat screw, oil and teflon washer SHOULD prevent it. I'll find out soon enough.
I also practiced some lines on a helmet. "Knifeless tape" is AWESOME. Easy to use once you try a couple times, and awesome results. You lay a pinstripe, wrap over it, the pull a thin wire out of the middle, which cuts your wrap. You can then pull the tape out from under the 1/8in edge and re-stick the edge of the wrap.
I did wrap some on the visor to even it out and look like a full design instead of just 2 random peices red.
BuellyBagger
Well-known member
as many decals as I have installed and clear rock guard film and ive even wrapped a few chevy emblems with some MossyOak wrap. I still don't have the patience for doing it. Worst time ive ever ha with vinyl is when I attempted to install the "Daytona" panel on the hood of a late model Daytona Charger. $550 decal and I ruined it. I ended up painting it on 
. Your stuff looks pretty good CHEVY [up] , but if I ever go through with doing a wrap (been thinking about having the boat done) ill being letting a pro do it.
. Your stuff looks pretty good CHEVY [up] , but if I ever go through with doing a wrap (been thinking about having the boat done) ill being letting a pro do it.
s0dhi
Well-known member
Looks great. [up]
I bought a full set of white plastics with the intent of having them professionally vinyl wrapped. I just haven't figured out what colour to do yet.
I bought a full set of white plastics with the intent of having them professionally vinyl wrapped. I just haven't figured out what colour to do yet.
chevy42083
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2013
- Messages
- 216
Thanks guys.
It takes patience, and PRACTICE.
I only do the printing at work... but I watch the pros wrap any chance I get when they are doing something difficult. Did a fat harley tank with American and Texas flags... one panel on each side (middle had a chrome console divider)... i was AMAZED they got it on with no wrinkles. Also, there are some good youtube videos to show techniques. You basically have to watch the technique. Then watch it again to study it. Then practice it to get good. Sometimes it just takes some explanation.
Here's the last thing I learned. The vinyl will shrink with heat, but only a certain amount. If you have a surface that'll need even more shrinking, you can "pre-stretch" the viniyl near it. In other words... doing something like a side-view car mirror or harley gas tank... you can heat and stretch the center of the vinyl... let it cool so it holds the stretched size... then begin wrapping. Once you get around the flat surface and onto the large curves it'll shrink down to normal size... and then further it can shrink down to "shrunken size"... enough to avoid wrinkles at the edges. The 3m how-tos show to stretch and let it cool. The guys at work use 2 people to hold the materials corners, and a 3rd to heat the material all over.... then he puts down the heatgun/torch and shoves the mirror/tank straight into the vinyl and attempts to get the vinyl stretched ROUGHLY over the whole thing. That usually cools it, and he can work as normal, from the center out squeegeeing it down.
3M's how-to...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fl1WUNofPs
Also, gotta know how much it WILL stretch... it only has a 30% or 3cm over 10cm distance. So, if your curve is higher or deeper than that, you're gonna need a "trick" like this rather than just straight pressing it down.
This was the first thing i practiced... figured I'd start out hard. It was a 10ft job... lots of wrinkles and also over-stretched the print in places.
It takes patience, and PRACTICE.
I only do the printing at work... but I watch the pros wrap any chance I get when they are doing something difficult. Did a fat harley tank with American and Texas flags... one panel on each side (middle had a chrome console divider)... i was AMAZED they got it on with no wrinkles. Also, there are some good youtube videos to show techniques. You basically have to watch the technique. Then watch it again to study it. Then practice it to get good. Sometimes it just takes some explanation.
Here's the last thing I learned. The vinyl will shrink with heat, but only a certain amount. If you have a surface that'll need even more shrinking, you can "pre-stretch" the viniyl near it. In other words... doing something like a side-view car mirror or harley gas tank... you can heat and stretch the center of the vinyl... let it cool so it holds the stretched size... then begin wrapping. Once you get around the flat surface and onto the large curves it'll shrink down to normal size... and then further it can shrink down to "shrunken size"... enough to avoid wrinkles at the edges. The 3m how-tos show to stretch and let it cool. The guys at work use 2 people to hold the materials corners, and a 3rd to heat the material all over.... then he puts down the heatgun/torch and shoves the mirror/tank straight into the vinyl and attempts to get the vinyl stretched ROUGHLY over the whole thing. That usually cools it, and he can work as normal, from the center out squeegeeing it down.
3M's how-to...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fl1WUNofPs
Also, gotta know how much it WILL stretch... it only has a 30% or 3cm over 10cm distance. So, if your curve is higher or deeper than that, you're gonna need a "trick" like this rather than just straight pressing it down.
This was the first thing i practiced... figured I'd start out hard. It was a 10ft job... lots of wrinkles and also over-stretched the print in places.
DrogeN Omen
Well-known member
thats some awesome wrapping...
chevy42083
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2013
- Messages
- 216
I've been working away over the holidays and when I have free time. These are all learning pieces. I am no expert, just observed a lot, and have slowly attempted harder and harder parts.
No before pics, but it was an OEM belly pan, marred up, but no gashes. Black.... cause i knew couldn't wrap inside the mounting holes. Middle piece was grey.... eh. You'll see. DRILL the rivets, don't grind the back off them. Grinding will melt them into the plastic and just be a PITA.
First hole i trimmed... tried free hand. No go... can't get a straight cut. The goal is to never touch the plastic with the blade. It wouldn't matter on THIS set, but on MY OEM ones, I want them pristine if I remove the vinyl. Also, there's LOTS of excess material around this corner... it has to have a seam of some sort. I should have planned ahead and laid a small strip of knifeless tape, then I could've had a single seam here instead of the overlap.
I'm worried about the exhaust heat loosening the material, so I wrapped it around back when possible. This leaves a larger adhesive area, as well as a much stronger bond of the un-stretched material. A stretched vinyl will want to shrink and pull away.
I also made sure to wrap under any area there would be a physical hold (pressed between the pieces).
This hole was much better... same technique as above, but more practice.
Complete look. I happened to have some stainless license plate bolts... that'll work for now.
This was experiment. On the left, I wrapped around to the backside... to see if it'd hold better. On the other side, it's trimmed right at the plastic edge. In the hole, I wrapped under to pull it tight, otherwise that would DEFINITELY shrink and pull away from the concave inset.
Two things. One, I didn't want to stretch too much, as that is more likely to peel up, especially with heat. Two, this carbon material simply doesn't flex and shrink as much as the other materials. It's easier to get looking good on simple surfaces, but touch on the tight curves.
If the belly piece was black, I might have just stopped the carbon at the edge. OR.... wrapped the edge with a strip of wrap, and had a butt seam between them.
No before pics, but it was an OEM belly pan, marred up, but no gashes. Black.... cause i knew couldn't wrap inside the mounting holes. Middle piece was grey.... eh. You'll see. DRILL the rivets, don't grind the back off them. Grinding will melt them into the plastic and just be a PITA.
First hole i trimmed... tried free hand. No go... can't get a straight cut. The goal is to never touch the plastic with the blade. It wouldn't matter on THIS set, but on MY OEM ones, I want them pristine if I remove the vinyl. Also, there's LOTS of excess material around this corner... it has to have a seam of some sort. I should have planned ahead and laid a small strip of knifeless tape, then I could've had a single seam here instead of the overlap.
I'm worried about the exhaust heat loosening the material, so I wrapped it around back when possible. This leaves a larger adhesive area, as well as a much stronger bond of the un-stretched material. A stretched vinyl will want to shrink and pull away.
I also made sure to wrap under any area there would be a physical hold (pressed between the pieces).
This hole was much better... same technique as above, but more practice.
Complete look. I happened to have some stainless license plate bolts... that'll work for now.
This was experiment. On the left, I wrapped around to the backside... to see if it'd hold better. On the other side, it's trimmed right at the plastic edge. In the hole, I wrapped under to pull it tight, otherwise that would DEFINITELY shrink and pull away from the concave inset.
Two things. One, I didn't want to stretch too much, as that is more likely to peel up, especially with heat. Two, this carbon material simply doesn't flex and shrink as much as the other materials. It's easier to get looking good on simple surfaces, but touch on the tight curves.
If the belly piece was black, I might have just stopped the carbon at the edge. OR.... wrapped the edge with a strip of wrap, and had a butt seam between them.
chevy42083
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2013
- Messages
- 216
AIR BOX COVER
This was a pretty beat carbon piece I got from ebay, and gave a 2nd life.
I really liked the reflective blue vinyl... would've looked awesome with Hero Blue wheels. Looks like the previous owner saw cracks, sanded down to see how far they went, and gave up when they were in the material (not just paint). More of these surfaced as I wrapped... but i was flexing on it a lot working alone.
I used some professional grade vinyl remover. Worked AMAZING... though this paint wasn't in good condition, so i didn't have to be careful either. Let it soak then scraped with an old gift/credit card. "Goof off" was ok, "Rapid Remover" worked AWESOME.
Trying to layout what I wanted on it, get things even. Going for looks, but also need to break up the wrap as I KNOW it can't be done in one piece. I think the top portion is possible, but it'd take 2 helpers (heat the entire piece of wrap, then press the cover into it... should stretch to cover the majority, then just need the usual working around the edges)
Laying out the knifless tape to do a butt seam. Youtube it.
One side down, one to go. It was impossible for me to get the curves in EXACTLY the same place on both sides. I gave up at "no one will ever notice" level of perfect.
Side was very easy to wrap. Almost no stretching at all... just laid down nearly flat. At the edge, just hair dryer heat to shrink it a hit and press it down.
I would consider this alone as a tank protector. It won't provide any extra "knee grip" though.
Side one. AAHHHHH!!!! Just didn't get it right. I THOUGHT 90% of the wrinkles were passed the knifeless tape line and what LITTLE ones weren't, could be smoothed out once it was cut. Wrong. Bonus badness, when cutting through wrinkles, the knifless tape doesn't keep a straight line. Learning. That's why I'm doing this. Repeat that over and over i my head.
Honestly, most people won't notice. Until they get up close trying to look at the carbon or the seam to figure out what I did.
MAYBE.... they'll look at side 2. I did MUCH better over here. I stretched the material as I came over the covers corner, which enables it to shrink down even more "After the rise", which is near the edge. Basically, instead of shrinking from neutral to shrunk, it was going from stretched to shrunk... so it gathered up more material without wrinkles. If that makes sense.
The stripe. 1.... I wanted something on the cover. 2... it breaks the top into 2 sides making it easier to wrap alone. As stated above, with some help, I could've avoided the need for it (no matter what, the sides need separate panels of vinyl). I kinda wanted a brushed black, but I'm working with what I have.... and I have plenty of white.
The final look (may add a little something more as far as stripes go)
Sidenote: This is the same red I used on heel guards above... so it'll all match the wheels quite nicely.
Also, I don't REALLY plan to run the white belly with the red cover... basically making 2 full sets of plastics to swap. BUT I might add some red to the belly, or wrap the tail in white... this would tie it all in together.
This was a pretty beat carbon piece I got from ebay, and gave a 2nd life.
I really liked the reflective blue vinyl... would've looked awesome with Hero Blue wheels. Looks like the previous owner saw cracks, sanded down to see how far they went, and gave up when they were in the material (not just paint). More of these surfaced as I wrapped... but i was flexing on it a lot working alone.
I used some professional grade vinyl remover. Worked AMAZING... though this paint wasn't in good condition, so i didn't have to be careful either. Let it soak then scraped with an old gift/credit card. "Goof off" was ok, "Rapid Remover" worked AWESOME.
Trying to layout what I wanted on it, get things even. Going for looks, but also need to break up the wrap as I KNOW it can't be done in one piece. I think the top portion is possible, but it'd take 2 helpers (heat the entire piece of wrap, then press the cover into it... should stretch to cover the majority, then just need the usual working around the edges)
Laying out the knifless tape to do a butt seam. Youtube it.
One side down, one to go. It was impossible for me to get the curves in EXACTLY the same place on both sides. I gave up at "no one will ever notice" level of perfect.
Side was very easy to wrap. Almost no stretching at all... just laid down nearly flat. At the edge, just hair dryer heat to shrink it a hit and press it down.
I would consider this alone as a tank protector. It won't provide any extra "knee grip" though.
Side one. AAHHHHH!!!! Just didn't get it right. I THOUGHT 90% of the wrinkles were passed the knifeless tape line and what LITTLE ones weren't, could be smoothed out once it was cut. Wrong. Bonus badness, when cutting through wrinkles, the knifless tape doesn't keep a straight line. Learning. That's why I'm doing this. Repeat that over and over i my head.
Honestly, most people won't notice. Until they get up close trying to look at the carbon or the seam to figure out what I did.
MAYBE.... they'll look at side 2. I did MUCH better over here. I stretched the material as I came over the covers corner, which enables it to shrink down even more "After the rise", which is near the edge. Basically, instead of shrinking from neutral to shrunk, it was going from stretched to shrunk... so it gathered up more material without wrinkles. If that makes sense.
The stripe. 1.... I wanted something on the cover. 2... it breaks the top into 2 sides making it easier to wrap alone. As stated above, with some help, I could've avoided the need for it (no matter what, the sides need separate panels of vinyl). I kinda wanted a brushed black, but I'm working with what I have.... and I have plenty of white.
The final look (may add a little something more as far as stripes go)
Sidenote: This is the same red I used on heel guards above... so it'll all match the wheels quite nicely.
Also, I don't REALLY plan to run the white belly with the red cover... basically making 2 full sets of plastics to swap. BUT I might add some red to the belly, or wrap the tail in white... this would tie it all in together.
DrogeN Omen
Well-known member
i like this one
would look cool with Blue instead of Red.
would look cool with Blue instead of Red.
chevy42083
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2013
- Messages
- 216
Maybe in the future. For now, matching the red wheels was the plan.
I will have a similar metallic blue, as that's the plan for my girls bike... once she decides she really wants it. So maybe I'll try blue w/ red accents. I think without any red, they'd look out of place with red wheels
Also... I took a hard edge squeegee to the wrinkles, with some heat, and they smoothed down a bit more.
I noticed an imperfection along the edges.... caused from pushing the wrap down onto the edge of the knifeless tape. From now on, I'll press it down the middle, but avoid pressing into the groove at the edge of the tape. This line doesn't go away with heat/squeegee, but it's not noticeable until you try to get a reflection on it either.
I will have a similar metallic blue, as that's the plan for my girls bike... once she decides she really wants it. So maybe I'll try blue w/ red accents. I think without any red, they'd look out of place with red wheels
Also... I took a hard edge squeegee to the wrinkles, with some heat, and they smoothed down a bit more.
I noticed an imperfection along the edges.... caused from pushing the wrap down onto the edge of the knifeless tape. From now on, I'll press it down the middle, but avoid pressing into the groove at the edge of the tape. This line doesn't go away with heat/squeegee, but it's not noticeable until you try to get a reflection on it either.
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