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How easy will it be to fit vinyl to tankers?
I have been asked to quote to fit vinyl signs to a couple of large road tankers but I am concerned it may not be as straight forward as it appears.
The tankers are to have large 7m x 1.2m white vinyl backgrounds fitted onto each side prior to fitting vinyl lettering over the top. The tankers are relatively smooth but have welded seams running along the circumference every three feet or so. The back end of the tankers which are shaped like a half ball (ie. highly convex curves) have also to have signs fitted.
How easy will it be to fit vinyl to tankers? How do you go about obtaining a level starting point when fitting signs to what is basically a cylinder on its side?
Any tips, advice and experience gratefully received
😀
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6 Replies
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Phill
I have one a couple of tankers.
the sides I just treat as flat as essentially they are.
The ends are a bit different though as you have a convex surface to deal with.
What sort of graphics are you going to apply, words, logo. print?Peter
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Just vinyl lettering Peter – and a straight line running the length of the sign. How do you determine the level on the sides when there is no bottom or top to measure from?
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Phil
Most tanks are mounted parallel to the chassis rails, so find a common point front and back, mark a point the same distance up, then fix a line between the two point. does this make sense?Peter
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hello there,
Use a good old fashioned chalk line to determine your position.
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quote Nick Maybank:hello there,Use a good old fashioned chalk line to determine your position.
I’ve done a couple of waste tankers using the same method. The barrels on these were fitted at quite an angle to allow drain off to the rear. If you run the logo/text parallel to the chassis on these they look wrong so check it out first.
The dome on the ends can be a pain too. I found this the worst part so if any one has any tips on fitting to hemisphericals then I’d be interested too!
If it ends up smiling on the back, just tell the customer you fit ‘happy graphics’ 😀 😀
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I had a very similar project in January.
As Peter says sides are not usually a problem, treat as a flat panel, measure up from chassis after checking tank is parallel with chassis. If not parallel have to decide on reference points to give best result.
Some of the trucks had the joins right in the middle of the graphic and then they have to be slit in the right place.Rear of dome is biggest problem if laying a large area of vinyl.
2 main problems are getting vinyl to lay without creasing and getting it straight.
Straight line. Again measure up from chassis at each side then chalk line accross, or find centre point with a plumbline and then use a rule with level.I had to do this design, and asked all the people I know how they would tackle it.
I was lucky that the ends of the tank were painted green so I could just cut the other colours seperatley.
Suggestions for laying the green if it had had to be coated first were to either lay an oversized cast vinyl stretched to fit the curve and then trimmed to the correct shape, vehicle wrap the whole dome, or PAINT IT.The customer was concerned that the oval would be misshapen as he had had 2 sign companies before try! (a bit of pressure then to get it right).
I applied the oval seperatley by first placing it on a complete piece of application paper which was trimmed tightly to the edge of the oval and after lining it up taped the out side edge to the tanker. I then trimmed out the application paper from inside the oval to leave a ring which would lay flat on the dome, after cutting at one point and removing a few inches then overlapping the join by a couple of millimetres.
Letters went on fine individually. I found centre point of dome then used my ruler with level to mark the base line, checked by eye before final application. However a longer word would be more noticably smiley and more adjustment needed.
Good luck
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