What colour?

[Diagro]

Hey

I have decided i will have my car wrapped in 6 weeks.

I'm yet to decide on a colour i want though.

I am tempted by a matte effect, but i feel it would just look odd?

Or a Random in your face colour such as Bright green or Bright yellow.

if you were wrapping your car, what colour would you go for?

 

[cat171]

Don't do it !! wraps look cheap & nasty!

 

[Sargara]

Plastidip it first so its not permanent

 

[Knuckles]

Wraps are permanent? :dapprove:

 

[Dan@Greenlight]

Nah they only last 3-4 years, got a mate that wrapped his.

Recommended that you don't jet wash or clay bar at all.

What colour is your clio just now? You will have to get the door shuts done and possibly engine bay so it doesn't look odd.

 

[Diagro]

It's black atm with hologram effect all over it. Along with lots of paint defects.

 

[Renault Wolverhampton]

Nah they only last 3-4 years, got a mate that wrapped his.

Recommended that you don't jet wash or clay bar at all.

What colour is your clio just now? You will have to get the door shuts done and possibly engine bay so it doesn't look odd.

i think it depends on the quality of the film tbh my roof looks as bright as it did 3/4 years ago and the dash trims are looking as good too!

 

[Diagro]

Im just fed up with black, i was and wax it and the next day its covered in bloody brown dust.

also its getting random light scratches each day! so i want a colour thats not so easy to see is dirty

 

[Dan@Greenlight]

I love that matte blue

 

[Dan@Greenlight]

or that sort of colour?

 

[Diagro]

Im leaning towards a matte Blue, the second one looks good, the first one looks like a faded version of number 2...

But if it "In ya face" Enough? How about Matte Yellow??
http://discountcarvinyls.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130318-142520.jpg

I can get some 3M Car Wrap in that colour for around £50 - 60" x 90" Sheet which should do one side.

So around £200 i can do the entire car if i do it myself.

I have a variable heatgun, so im toying with buying a second hand bumper and having a go at it in the summer

 

[Barwy]

Im leaning towards a matte Blue, the second one looks good, the first one looks like a faded version of number 2...

But if it "In ya face" Enough? How about Matte Yellow??
http://discountcarvinyls.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130318-142520.jpg

I can get some 3M Car Wrap in that colour for around £50 - 60" x 90" Sheet which should do one side.

So around £200 i can do the entire car if i do it myself.

I have a variable heatgun, so im toying with buying a second hand bumper and having a go at it in the summer

Diagro, you're going down the wrong route I'm afraid! 'Discount' wrapping material is a false economy and in my opinion an absolute waste of your hard earned cash if you want a good looking and durable vehicle wrap. I wouldn't trust a website called Discountcarvinyls either! Just implies they sell cheap low quality products, and in the world of vehicle wrapping quality goes a really long way.

I would say to pick a colour, go all out and specify a really good quality wrapping film like 3M 1080 or a Hexis wrapping film. There's others available but I know first hand that these would almost always be my first choice as they look great, are easy to apply, and will stay in recesses if heated in correctly.

3M sell a 1080 product called Matte Metallic Blue, it's my favourite colour out right now!
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...XGgs_FHPMJJSRVL_N2RL3FHWVK_GPD0K8BC31gv)&rt=d


What you want to do is forget wrapping it yourself, get a quote either online or by phone by a well known and trusted Signwriter or vehicle wrapping firm and don't sound surprised when their prices will start from as little as £800 and can be as much as £2500 for door shuts/intricate detailing. You'll get a guarantee which is a must have, so if any vinyl starts to fail you can pop back to the vendor and get that panel repaired for no extra cost. There's a lot of bodgers about, and wrapping vehicles to a top standard requires experience and that doesn't ever come cheap!

If a wrap is installed correctly and looked after with regular cleaning and due care, a full vehicle wrap can last up to 4-5 years and still look good and just remember, it has been protecting your paintwork all that time from all sorts of dirt, grime and UV rays. Take off the wrap and enjoy gleaming paintwork!

 

[Leeshez]

Something like this.

 

[DaveDreads]

Nato green would be my choice.

 

[Diagro]

Something like this.
View attachment 111916

View attachment 111917

Why on earth?

Nato green would be my choice.

Not a colour im into sorry to say.

I have some Samples of 3M 1080 on its way, Some Matte White, Some Matte Yellow and some Matte Blue

 

[Diagro]

Ok.

decided I'm 100% going to try this myself.

I have some matte royal blue wrap on the way.

12m x 1.52m and some squeegees.

Realised I left my heat gun at bloody work.. so will borrow one.

myself and my mate will be doing the bonnet tomorrow. If it all works out then the roof then doors and will finish with bumpers ha

 

[Barwy]

Go for it! Best of luck, the key is in the detail

Show pics of progress in this thread

 

[Diagro]

Wrap just arrived!

Looks a nice colour, bit darker than I would have liked but looks good when it's in the sun.

was a cheap vinyl to be fair, 12m cost £100.
Looked at the back and it's got the air channels and it's a solvent adhesive too.

Would it be advised to use water misted on the back to help apply it?

 

[Barwy]

You can either apply wet or dry, try both ways and see what suits your needs best. When the vinyl is wet you can slide it around and position a little easier, but when it's dry you're relying on the air release channels to let any air bubbles out easily. It's really good stuff, maybe try the first panel wet and the second panel dry and you'll definitely get a feel for it then.

To apply wet:
Fill a spray bottle with a 1:8 part mix of Water and Fairy liquid. Simple and does the job. Spray the panel and then spray the adhesive side of the vinyl and let the vinyl touch the panel. Work from the middle out applying firm pressure to push all of the water out. If at any time it feels like the vinyl isn't sticking just need to keep going over it and pushing the water out. This method makes lifting it back up and re-positioning really easy.

A softer squeegee with a line of felt along one edge is better for vehicle wraps. When doing the roof for example, it's easier with two people working together in long sweeping arc movements. A mate to lend a hand will be really useful. On a Clio the trickiest parts to wrap will be the front bumper and maybe the spoiler.

The deep recesses on the front bumper where the fog lights are will require a small piece of material cut out and applied inside the recess first, and then the rest of the wrap can be applied up to the fogs. There's no way you can heat in a single piece of vinyl into the fogs as it just wouldn't stretch that much. So a cut out piece is required.

Just a note - if you find that you need to cut vinyl once it's applied to the vehicle, be extremely careful. If you press too hard you will simply cut into your paintwork and this is never pretty. The best way to cut on the vehicle is to hold your scalpel towards the top and just apply light pressure, you'll get a feel for it.

Remember to 'heat in' all edges and corners with a decent heat gun. It depends on the material specifications but I'd say 80-100 degrees will be warm enough. Heating in is simply the process of baking the vinyl at the edges and corners so that the adhesive bonds really well to eliminate any risk of the vinyl 'popping out' of recesses and peeling back from corners. You can buy a laser thermometer to check how hot you're getting it. Just be careful, too much heat and you will melt the vinyl and even bodywork. Avoid plastic areas too!


So there you have it, a quick 5 minute crash course in wrapping your own vehicle!

 

[Dan@Greenlight]

Ok.

decided I'm 100% going to try this myself.

I have some matte royal blue wrap on the way.

12m x 1.52m and some squeegees.

Realised I left my heat gun at bloody work.. so will borrow one.

myself and my mate will be doing the bonnet tomorrow. If it all works out then the roof then doors and will finish with bumpers ha

The audi colour from above?

 

[Dan@Greenlight]

This is Bill @ Greenlight's RS, it was ultimate green, been wrapped about a year now... still perfect

 

[Diagro]

Thanks for the guide dude! Very very helpful!

Dan, it's a royal blue matt vinyl.
Will upload a pic when I unwrap it later

 

[Chris V6 255]

That red RS looks epic!
Matt blue looks cool too.

 

[Diagro]

Ok well.
failed today.

Was 80% done, then it ripped!

Was devastated as it was soo hard to get that perfect with heat and the like.

I'm going to re attempt it Tuesday now I know some stuff about it.

heat helps so much. Makes it so pliable.

 

[Barwy]

Just take it one panel at a time! At least now you'll be getting a feel for it and the rest should be a bit easier.

 

[Diagro]

For the bonnet, we started at the top middle and worked down but found towards the front of bumper it started to crease. Was a pain to try and fix that with heat.is there a way to do the bonnet better? And if we were having those problems with a simple bonnet I'm dreading doing the wings or bumpers lol.This isn't as simple as I had hoped but I feel it will be rewarding if I can get it right

 

[Addicted]

I think if you're gonna wrap it, do it like the RS above and don't go for a matte colour, they tend to look s**t pretty quickly tbh.

That one above looks awesome, and as it should be - a colour change that doesn't make it look cheap

 

[Diagro]

Yea, unfortunately I have the wrap now.
why does it look crap fast?

 

[Diagro]

Looks good

 

[Marcos999]

Nice job! Are you learning?

 

[Diagro]

Yup

 

[Marcos999]

Wish I had the time and spare cash to have a go with mine. I've bought some 3m carbon I'm going to have a play with. Oh, and ignore those that say it won't look good, if we all wanted the same thing they'd only make the car in one colour!

 

[Barwy]

Bonnet looks good man, check out some youtube videos for some tips on how to apply. Generally speaking start from your chosen starting point, apply firm even pressure with even strokes and heat when needed. Remember to post heat to bake the adhesive on the edges and corners.

It's been a while since I've done any hardcore wrapping at work, had a go today and managed to burn through the vinyl with the heat gun while post heating like an idiot. Had to re-do the panel. Live and learn...!

Keep us updated, I am keeping an eye on the thread

 

[Diagro]

Bonnet looks good man, check out some youtube videos for some tips on how to apply. Generally speaking start from your chosen starting point, apply firm even pressure with even strokes and heat when needed. Remember to post heat to bake the adhesive on the edges and corners.

It's been a while since I've done any hardcore wrapping at work, had a go today and managed to burn through the vinyl with the heat gun while post heating like an idiot. Had to re-do the panel. Live and learn...!

Keep us updated, I am keeping an eye on the thread

Disaster struck.

Checked car today, the wrap has formed bubbles in the inner edges of the boot when the number plate is, And once heated and pushed back there are lumps of adhesive around the bubbles edges and now they wont stick ;(

Looks like i will be forced to remove the entire boots wrap and do it again, Might wait till last to do that through as my hands still hurt from last time!

 

[Barwy]

Disaster struck.

Checked car today, the wrap has formed bubbles in the inner edges of the boot when the number plate is, And once heated and pushed back there are lumps of adhesive around the bubbles edges and now they wont stick ;(

Looks like i will be forced to remove the entire boots wrap and do it again, Might wait till last to do that through as my hands still hurt from last time!

Unlucky! Keep going and see what it end up like, you've got the vinyl so why not just give it a bash? If all else fails at least you can just take it off and try something else.

I decided to wrap my fog lights yesterday, I printed a yellow to red gradient onto clear vinyl and applied it, this was the result:

 

[Diagro]

i think i need to apply more heat to the vinyl before doing those bits.
Im collecting my heat gun from work next thursday so will redo it next weekend

 

[Diagro]

I'm tempted to just forget about this tbh.

Once again the boot was fine. Then over night bubbles have appeared in the boot recess where number plate is around the edge and set, not to mention somehow filled with water!!!!

So it's impossible to heat and re stick them.

so that's another 3 hours wasted.

If this is happening o n a small recess like this then I dread to think what will happen on the bumpers which have worse ones.

is it simply because I have cheap vinyl? Should I buy a meter sheet of the expensive 3m to do the boot and suffer the slight colour mismatch?

The boot and other parts are fine with this vinyl

 

[Barwy]

I'm tempted to just forget about this tbh.

Once again the boot was fine. Then over night bubbles have appeared in the boot recess where number plate is around the edge and set, not to mention somehow filled with water!!!!

So it's impossible to heat and re stick them.

so that's another 3 hours wasted.

If this is happening o n a small recess like this then I dread to think what will happen on the bumpers which have worse ones.

is it simply because I have cheap vinyl? Should I buy a meter sheet of the expensive 3m to do the boot and suffer the slight colour mismatch?

The boot and other parts are fine with this vinyl

A picture of the failing wrap would be a real help here, maybe then I could tell you the problem for sure. But to me it sounds like a mix of cheaper vinyl and incorrect application. Nothing wrong with cheap vinyl of course, it just had to be applied with a little more care to make sure it sticks in and stays in. The more expensive stuff lets you get way with murder, air bubbles can be pushed out through air flow channels and the adhesive is usually nice and strong once it cures overnight.

If you're applying with water you'll need to make sure you're pushing every drop of water out which can be tricky sometimes. The best thing to do with a freshly wrapped car is to store it 12-24 hours inside or undercover and away from hot/cold temperatures and rain.

I'd say you've come this far, buy a few metres of 3M 1080 Series and try the boot again. Apply it dry. You should be able to feel how damn easy it is to apply, it's a premium product! I love it. If it all ends up a pain in the butt like I said before, at least you've given it a go. And hopefully, if you should decide to get some quotes from some professionals for a full vehicle wrap, you'll understand that the seemingly high price is really pretty justified - it's a tricky skill to master!

 

[Diagro]

Here is some pics.

I tried to apply some heat and it just made a hole so I need to redo the boot.

I have some .22mm thick wrap coming which the reseller says is close to 3m for quality but half the price. I got a meter which is enough for the boot.

 

[Diagro]

I think k it's because I have to stretch it to get into those areas.

I think I will try and apply the viyle from middle outwards next time. That way there will be limited stretching to get the shape