how do i apply a square bit vinyl onto a very curved panel?

[Robert Lambie]

what type of van is it mate and where on the van is this being applied?

[J. Hulme]

dunno make, it going curved bonnet, back window ( which isn’ t there a domed(ish) large metal panel ) and sides, but they didn’t look too bad maybe flater than the bonnet and rear so I can’t see a problem, yet.

I could make graphics smaller, but I’d ideally like it quite large covering a few contours on bonnet if poss

I always get in a right muddle with these curved bits 😉
cheers Rob

[Robert Lambie]

Bonnets are some times killer with the likes of the new transit.
It seems to be a bit steeper and more of a curve like you say.
We have a contract at the moment and on the bonnet is a sort of rectangular logo. “But is text!” 7 out of ten times I can get this on in one go.. No creases bubbles etc.. But the odd time I end up having to slit “between” one letter to allow for the puckering to be lost. It does happen and there isn’t much you can do about it other than heat and stretch out the crease like when vehicle wrapping. The problem with this is that the rectangle will then have some areas deformed because of the stretching. This can be trimmed up but you’re then cutting onto the vehicle, which isn’t good.
Ok so this isn’t helping you any…
Let’s say you have this rectangle, you could apply right across the top then down each side, deliberately bring the pucker which would form the crease into the lower section at the middle. Making it the shortest crease possible. Instead of allowing it to crease you could make a neat slit and allow it to overlap slightly.
I know this isn’t ideal but unless using the wrap method of stretching on this type of bullit shape you/anyone isn’t gonna get it to lay flat…

[Rodney Gold]

Wouldnt a wet application in this case be better?
We and our customers often wet apply graphics to compound curves cos even if they are technically correct as to positioning , often optically it looks wrong and a wet app allows us to reposition easier. In terms of drying and contouring , wet is a little bit of a problem , but we would rather take the hit in terms of time than a restrip , reprint and refit. We dont have enough expertise to do it 100% right first time dry. (tho we are sending our staff on a one day workshop re vinyl application)
We just attended a one day workshop on Perspex fabrication delivered by Degussa (mnfgrs of Plexiglass) and it was an illuminating experience , we thought we had it down pat , but they really gave us a lot of new food for thought in terms of mnfgring methods (A lot of them very longish winded , but would allow us results that you would swear are not glued) and some new glues , methods of application etc etc.

[Paul Goodwin]

Rob and there i was thinking it was me doing something wrong.

any chance of a small demo of this?

[Robert Lambie]

rodney, wet app is certainly the safest all round.
applying on a surface like this, wet, may cause you more problems.
hard to explain typing… basicaly if dry you can manipulate the vinyl better. even when it comes to were the vinyl would pucker it is possible to apply some heat and eliminate/shrink the vinyl to lay perfectly flat.
if it was wet the area that puckers up would probably hold most moisture and getting it to lay flat would cause bother..
again, its hard to explain this without showing what i mean.
if this had to be done wet i would strongly advise going for rapid tac 2.
i do not in any way suggest this a better method of application, but if you apply things wet, this seems to have the best bite.
i did a small test in cold conditions on white alluminium. one dry, one water, one rapid. eactly same procedure for each & the rapid tac stuck far far better than plain water. obviosly dry had the best bite.

mort, this type of demo would be ideal in video. 😉
i will be doing some tests this week, showing short video demos. basicaly to get some feedback on things before moving on.. should be interesting though.
biggest problem is of course file size for download. but we are working on that. at present the files are probably gonna range from 1- 4mb

[evo1v]

Great idea about the video’s, sometimes its difficult to convey exactly what you mean in words! So looking foward to those 😀

Lawrence