Vinyl graphics wrapped over most of the plane

I've seen several threads on vinyl graphics. But, has anybody considered or actually wrapped most of an RV in vinyl, like the Pulsar that had a vinyl full-wrap at this past Airventure.

With the relatively uncomplicated wings, tail and fuselage, it looks like vinyl wrapping an RVs aluminum areas and painting the fibreglas parts might be a good way to get a good protective coating at a cost equal or less than paint, lighter than paint and much less downtime.

A Google searched found a PC-12 with an 85% wrap in addition to the aforementioned Pulsar.

Opinions? Thoughts?

Thanks,

Mike

Vinyl for appearance not protection

alcladrv said:

. . . . .might be a good way to get a good protective coating at a cost equal or less than paint, lighter than paint and much less downtime.

Click to expand...

Not sure I would do vinyl wrapping as a protective coating. If it scratches then the moisture gets under it and can cause issues under the vinyl. I think the vinyl coatings that are out there are for appearance only. They are a way to get fancy paint jobs. I would plan on alodining and putting a good primer coat down.

I am thinking about giving it a try. It seems like a pretty simple way to cover a plane.

Anybody else have any thoughts?

I think it's a good idea

a local company has examples of huge vinyl artwork on commercial jets. If it can stand up to that then an RV should be no problem. I would imagine it to be more durable than paint and removable if the need arises. You could combine the dimpled vinyl with a cool design and get a faster hot looking plane!
The only downside I could see was if you had to remove something under the vinyl like the fuel tank.

They use them on race cars which travel more than 200mph, should be fine on Lancairs. Covering is cheaper and lighter than paint, and you can have amazing graphics.

I think the graphic wraps we'll see on planes in a few years are gonna be pretty wild. The only down side is picking a theme!

They put vinyl on Citations jets, pretty sure it would hold up on our RV's.

Go for it!

I wouldn't prime before putting the vinyl on. It is designed to stick to a non-porous surface like alcad or paint.

Louise and I looked closely at the "fully-wrapped" Pulsar at Oshkosh, and while it is a genuine knockout from standard camera distance, when you get up close to it, you see seams and bumps in the vinyl almost everywhere. this is not a single sheet of vinyl - it is lots of bits an pieces. Anywhere there was a complex curve, it didn't lay down ll that well. All the little details that airplanes have (like screw heads, openings for cables, etc) - looked pretty rough. And this was on a plastic airplane that has no panel seems or fasteners in large areas. Laying it over rivets (even flush rivets) - it would look terrible in my opinion.

If you want an airplane that looks good from 50 feet away, or in a full-frame camera shot, this works - but RV'ers are going to look at your plane up close.

Race cars get wrecked a couple times a week, and most fans don't see them up close. I'm sure this technology will develop, as they all do, but based on what I saw on the Pulsar, I sure wouldn't be happy with an RV done that way - not yet at least.

Paul

Up close...

Having flown a couple of airliners with vinyl graphics, I agree with Paul. Up close it looks terrible. Also, on aircraft, buses, and trucks the vinyl is applied to an existing painted surface. On a bare aircraft, the ability of the vinyl to hold moisture in places like lap joints and rivet lines must be considered. At this point in the development I have to look at the vinyl technology as decoration, not protection for the airframe. But hey, my 3" vinyl 'N' numbers are working just fine.

John Clark
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

food for thought...

My RV has vinyl graphics down the side of the fuse. The previous owner installed them. As Paul said, complex curves and rivets do not mix well with vinyl. The good thing is the graphics on my plane do not cover any 'bulging areas' (screw heads and such...). That being said, I think it looks pretty good - even up close, but I think I have a biased opinion... There are a few things that I do to keep from damaging the vinyl. When I wash the plane, I try to be very careful with the brush when going over the vinyl. In addition to that, when I'm waxing I have to go back and clean up the edges of the graphics. They tend to grab a hold of the wax and I get a real nice thick line of wax along the edges...

BUT...the wifey (the artist) has been designing a new paint job for the plane, and I will be glad to get rid of the graphics. Its not that I don't like them, because I do. Its just that I'm tired of dealing with them. After years of being on the plane you can start to see some fading and rough edges - and you can't touch that up.

SO, all things being equal, I love the idea of vinyl graphics. The possibilities for cool stuff is endless. And you don't have to sell a pint of blood to get a cool "paint job" for the plane. I just prefer paint and clear coat...YMMV.

another level

Vinyl wrapping seems to be taken to another level recently. I've not seen the following car in the flesh, but it is wrapped, apparently and it is becoming not uncommon to do Elises like this in the UK. Anyone familiar with these cars will know the compound curves that must be covered and most of the joins seem hard to spot in photos at least. I'll see if Dan, who owns it will post some pics of joins etc on this car

Anybody know the weight per square foot of vinyl or have a comparison with paint?

"Finishing" and paint after that! So this is right timing for me, although I would have liked to see somebody do it before me!

I am considdering all options. Looking at some U-tube video's, a full "wrap" sure looks possible and there is a ton of artistic ideas that can be done with the graphics. It seems to be a lot less work than painting (and possibly cheaper to!)

I have the whole plane primered with Akzo Nobel Aerospace FCR primer, before it was assembled. This stuff is very corrosion resistant and should be a good base for the wrap?

I was wondering where the seems swill be on the tail feathers though?

Regards, Tonny.

vehicle wraps

Hi all,
I'm no expert, but have done a few wraps on cars etc.
a couple of comments;
there are some areas on an RV that would be very difficult, even for a pro, to make look good. ( cowling, fairings tight compound curves). Doing a jet is much easier in this regard due to the scale.
Most designers take pains avoid these areas, and incorporate the base (paint) colour only in the graphic.
here in Canada, a digital print, with a laminate ( required) on premiuim vinyl run about $10 per square foot, plus design time and installation at say $75 per hour. you do the math.
the inks and vinyls are intended to last 3-5 years before fading etc. If your plane is hangared, and you wash and wax it every week, of course the wrap could last a decade or two.....but by then, it will be very hard to remove!
I'll try to get some weights etc. and post here later.

my plane has no graphics whatsoever....go figure.

Wraps....

Like others have said, the 'wrap' process looks really good from a distance. However, up close, it isn't what I would call great. I am speaking of a FULL wrap.

I wrapped a Kawasaki Mule (for my business purposes) and it was done by a local professional business in Fort Worth, TX. It looked fantastic from a distance, but terrible up close. I did this mainly for advertising (my machine was featured on the front cover of a trade magazine), and after this was done, I eventually peeled it all off. Speaking of, it will start curling up on the edges, bubbling in places, etc. When I removed the full wrap, start to finish the removal took about 30-seconds and left ZERO residue.

The graphics are endless. You can have a full-blown photograph wrapped onto your project if you wanted. But again, it is highly pieced-together. On a final note, I watched the install process on my machine. About 75% of the final install was done with a butane torch, while working the vinyl down and around curves, screw heads, etc.

Your mileage may vary, but for me, it wasn't the answer. Not to mention, it is REAL expensive to do @ most places.

Take care,

Vinyl Wrap Concern

I thought of this as an option to repainting my -8. One concern I have is how would you monitor detecting a working rivet or a skin crack?

Regards,

I have a pile of recycled beer cans in the garage right now, so all of this is only theory at this point. But many thanks to those of you who have consumed and recycled your beer cans that make up my RV-10!

I'm planning on painting the airplane a plain and simple white. Besides being easy to match, it's cheaper too. (But cost isn't really the driving factor)

After painting I'm planning on adding color through the use of vinyl stripes and ribbons. The idea is that I can change the look of the aircraft for a few hundred dollars anytime I want. So if today's modern look changes, I can order new decals and change with the times.

I'm also banking that white will always be a primary aircraft color and that's probably a pretty good bet since a white base has never gone out of style.

Phil

Fleet graphics and custom wrap jobs are not the same. Both can be full wraps but a quality full wrap can look almost identical to paint on solid surfaces. I can imagine the screws holding the tank would look interesting unless you put stainless screws in after the wrap was applied.

If I were doing this I would paint the aircraft a solid white and then apply a partial wrap. Again, don't put this on primer, it won't last. You can even switch up the paint scheme every few years for a tenth of a good paint job.

Again, just because you saw a wrapped plumbing truck and the wrap looked like **** that all wraps look that way. Most of these wraps is done on a 3M material (IJ180C) but this material looks like paint on top of duct tape. There are better looking materials out there but they are harder to use so fleet graphics are not usually done with them. The quality of the wrap suits the intended viewing distance. Have any of you guys ever looked at a billboard from 10 feet away? You usually can't even tell what it is supposed to be.

I don't wrap vehicles for a living but I make my living in the industry. A wrap will work fine on an airplane but it has to be done by the right person. The company I work for recently released a metallic ink that could potentially make for some very cool and unique aircraft graphics.

I'll PM the contact for someone in Kentucky that is a true wrap professional to anyone that requests it. You will think it is airbrushed on when done.

vinyl graphics

I have a sign shop. A roll of 3M Controltac, 54 inches wide, is quite heavy. Then you print on it and laminate it. Heavier still. I believe that a complete wrap would weigh significantly more in vinyl than paint. The manufacturers of the film suggest a 5 year life expectancy on the colors before some fade occurs. We have some digital prints that have been outside longer here in California and they still look good. I would suggest painting the aircraft first and adding prints for all the detail. There are ways of getting the vinyl to lay down over rivets and curves but there will always be little creases and bubbles. To me, you get a good paint base then let your imagination go crazy with the vinyl.......then when you get bored with the appearance, you peel it off and do something different.

I definitely agree with using Vinyl prints to add color and detail to a solid cover airplane - I have seen some incredible stuff done that way! My comments (above) about the Pulsar were directed solely at the FULL airplane wrap - still has a long way to go in my opinion....

Paul

DAGO said:

I thought of this as an option to repainting my -8. One concern I have is how would you monitor detecting a working rivet or a skin crack?..

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I am not concerned in the least about what lays hidden beneath this star graphic I applied to the wing of my -6A. Purchased from Aerographics, when I first applied it there were air bubbles all over. In a few weeks those air bubbles completely disappeared. This photo shows how well the graphic has taken to conforming to the aluminum. As you can see, the rivets beneath it are readily apparent. Obviously, attempting to remove the graphic at some future date may prove to be somewhat "interesting." Still, I can't help but think that cleaning away all stubborn graphic residue will not be much of a big deal using the electric polishing equipment I have on hand. That is the plan at least.

I agree with PD about the Pulsar. I can't imagine how vinyl can be as durable as catylized hardened paint, especially when it covers the entire plane. If it's cheaper, I'd say you are getting what you are paying for. If not, you're not. This probably doesn't apply to stripes and line graphics. But if you cover the entire plane with it (like the Pulsar) you'll get a 50 foot paint job. You know what I mean....

Scott

Phil said:

I'm planning on painting the airplane a plain and simple white. Besides being easy to match, it's cheaper too. (But cost isn't really the driving factor)

After painting I'm planning on adding color through the use of vinyl stripes and ribbons. The idea is that I can change the look of the aircraft for a few hundred dollars anytime I want. So if today's modern look changes, I can order new decals and change with the times.

I'm also banking that white will always be a primary aircraft color and that's probably a pretty good bet since a white base has never gone out of style.

Click to expand...

That's the approach I've taken. Here's a photo of my plane being moved. I've not yet finished applying the blue vinyl stripe that extends aft and up from the baggage door.



I bought a vinyl cutter (25" wide) for about 4350 from US Cutter, and 4 rolls of 12-year, 2mil vinyl (Orocal 951, I bought red, grey, and blue) from Fellers.com for about $70 per roll.

Some experience to share, if you are considering going this route:
- Inkscape is a free, open source program that will allow you to design your vinyl scheme without the expense of investing in something like Adobe Illustrator. Inkscape works pretty darned well, especially for $0.
- Don't waste your money on the Flexi cutting program. The SignBlazer Elements program that's included (free) with the MH-721 vinyl cutter works fine, and is more reliable (IMO) than Flexi.
- Orocal premium vinyl (single color rolls) can be easily purchased from US Cutter or Fellers, and both can have it drop shipped to you. That gives you access to the entire Orocal palate, not just what happens to be in stock at the retailer.
- US Cutter's starter kit is handy. The application fluid works great.
- Fellers sells a great teflon squeegee for about $15. Sounds like a lot for a squeegee, but it is worth it.
- Transparent application tape, at least 20" wide, is a good investment.
- You can use the vinyl cutter machine as a plotter with the included plotter pen to plot the design on freezer paper (translucent), and use that as a guide to line up the vinyl pieces during application.
- There are lots of good vinyl application videos on You Tube.
- Seams/repairs are hard to see if you use vinyl in dark colors. Seams/repairs are easy to spot if you use light colored vinyl (like the yellow Pulsar at OSH this year).

Vinyl Wrap Concern

Rick6a said:

I am not concerned in the least about what lays hidden beneath this star graphic I applied to the wing of my -6A. Purchased from Aerographics, when I first applied it there were air bubbles all over. In a few weeks those air bubbles completely disappeared. This photo shows how well the graphic has taken to conforming to the aluminum. As you can see, the rivets beneath it are readily apparent. Obviously, attempting to remove the graphic at some future date may prove to be somewhat "interesting." Still, I can't help but think that cleaning away all stubborn graphic residue will not be much of a big deal using the electric polishing equipment I have on hand. That is the plan at least.

Click to expand...

Rick,

Thanks for posting the photo. I have a perfectly great paint job on this aircraft, thanks to the previous owner/builder. I just have a "thing" about wanting a P40 paint job. I haven't seen an -8 in that scheme. I would use the vinyl for the graphics plus using a vinyl cut over the canopy to somewhat replicate the P40 canopy.

I need to down a few more bottles of South Carolina "white lightening" to help smooth over the ultimate decision process.

Regards,

Anyone have any updates on vinyl wrapping their entire plane? Would adding some vinyl as a temporary "dress up" be a big mistake? I was thinking adding some color in the year or so of flying before getting a top notch paint job.