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Wrap of the week
Got approached by the customer to wrap their new van, they’d paid a marketing/design agency to produce the branding and design. They’d had their vans signed previously by the company the agency recommended.
From seeing the visual I knew it was going to be ‘interesting’, seeing the previous van reinforced this, with patches, and pieces cut into the wrap to keep the pattern aligned.
In all honesty, there’s a few things that bug me, but unavoidable trying to wrap straight lines around curves.
Overall it came out OK, the front bumper was wrapped matt black as the stripes wouldn’t work around that. Although it had been resprayed but not removed, and the paint had bled through the masking onto the plastic trims, so unable to tuck vinyl under it, and leaving a horrible white stripe on the edge of the plastics (you can see in one of the pics)
I can see why some people decline to work on vehicles of a certain age, or condition, but I don’t have that luxury. However, the age and condition does reflect the level we went to with the wrap.
Used metamark MD-X, my logic being there’s no real recesses, and the air release will help, with hindsight something with less grad like their metaglide would have helped.
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14 Replies
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at first glance, i thought oh f***k, im not keen on that. 🤔
but once you open the photos properly and large, it actually works. 😎
the colours look sort of metallic and the whole van is definitely going to be remembered and that is the whole point.
wrapping it cant have been easy keeping those lines all straight over the body work.nice work david. 👍
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Cheers, I still really don’t like it 😂
The only ‘complaint’ was the colours are brighter than the previous vehicles they’ve done elsewhere. But the density of the dark blue did bring it’s own challenges, hopefully the latex will resolve those.
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Nice work david. 😀👍
If i was the customer i would have the entire van in stripes with the logo and text all in white.
no matter what, it is a very distinctive van.L ❤
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Hi David
The van looks great mate. 👍
You have done what the customer “asked for” and used “their design” which they paid someone else to do. So there is little to no scope for you to do your thing, so to speak.There are no sharp or deep recesses to negotiate, everything appears to be convex stretching and as long as that’s kept to a minimum, a decent polymeric will be fine. As you say, something with an air-release adhesive system will help, especially in humid muggy weather where the initial tack will increase.
You are right, the age and condition of the vehicle are paramount when it comes to how much and where a wrap can be applied and expect the material to last. A painted bumper is a definite cause for concern. bumpers have all sorts of shapes to negotiate and stretch into. it also takes the wind, rain and road grime head-on as the vehicle travels so the vinyls abuse and performance is pushed to the max.
Good to see you have been busy, nothing like a wrapping challenge to test your patience. 🤣
Thanks for taking the time to share your work mate.
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it looks good David, not that i am an expert but those stripes cannot have been easy over the shape of the van.
i think the design is good and stands out well. what i think is wrong with it is if it was all stripes with white text, as leslie has said. or if it was all white with the coloured text. but the design looks a bit half and half, if that makes sense?
that said, it is still very good and looks nicely wrapped. i think the reason we are speaking about it is because the design is so striking which is probably what the designer was aiming for. -
Nice one David. Did you print the design then apply it? Or did you wrap it in solid pale blue then overlay the stripes ? I think if I was doing this that’s what I would have done (overlaid). Probably using Knifeless tape to try and get the stripes looking straight where you had to stretch the vinyl over compound curves
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The wrap was fully printed, same as the previous ones they’d had done elsewhere.
I agree in an ideal world wrap the dark blue base and then apply the stripes to the top, using knifeless tape to ensure more true lines. The time to do that, additional material, it’s a 2014 van so a bit excessive.
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Nice job david. One of those that only us in the trade appreciate the complexity, customers dont have a clue. Does the back have a join or was the material wide enough for 1 piece?
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Yes the back was done it on piece, but printed on 1600mm media.
We did end up putting a strip down the door join, I tried to make the join between the stripes fall in the door gap, but it distorted that much it had a wavy line, so a 5mm strip down one door made it look better.
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With the wiper, vw badge and no plate area thats a tricky one. Good job
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One of those that only us in the trade appreciate the complexity, customers dont have a clue.
Exactly Martyn. They do not have a clue and they certainly are not always right, as the saying goes.
I had a part wrap i did last week. I declined the job because it was growing arms and legs and the cost “that i wanted” was escalating fast. (for just a part wrap 🙄)
Long story short, they asked me to proceed in the way i saw best to do it and at the price i wanted. so i did not mind in the end, that and they were are a good customer. So we were both happy in the end.
But that is the way “it must be”. The way we as a professional advise, using the materials we advise using, at a fair price for the time and skill involved.
I will maybe post pics up later.-
I very scarcely do ‘trade’ work, for similar reasons. Had a ‘trade’ customer contact me this week for vehicle signage, no idea what the vehicle was, pressing for a time we could do it, like I pull finished graphics out my backside.
Have another customer who agreed in principle a design, paid a deposit, and now wants practically twice as much wrapping, so requoted again for the additional work. And there’s a fair amount with more panel joins, and finishing involved, that’s stalled until they make decision… Oh and reduce the amount of text on it, as it’s too small for them, but I can make their panels any larger.
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unfortunately, this is all too common and seldom do we get the perfect design or customer.
the main thing is you have successfully performed the part you have been paid to do, and that is to wrap the vehicle to your customer’s specifications. the job looks great based on what they asked and that for me, is all that matters. 👍
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the main thing is you have successfully performed the part you have been paid to do, and that is to wrap the vehicle to your customer’s specifications. the job looks great based on what they asked and that for me, is all that matters.
Peters is correct mate, your work is all that matters and you have done a great job.
i like it and the only thing i would have added was to maybe bring the light blue stripe from the back around onto the side at the back. just one. 😎👍
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