Vinyl wrap on epoxy primer? Pros / cons?

Reading through a number of older vinyl wrapping threads, I gained the impression that most people who have their planes wrapped just leave it bare metal. A few others however also seem to have it primed or even completely painted in advance.

Personally, I would like to prime the outside of the plane, as we finish the individual parts (tail feathers, wings, etc...) and then have it wrapped, once it is finished.

We are still working on the empennage, but this is a decision we have to make now, as I would like to spray the tail feathers with primer, to protect them against corrosion.

Any objections against this approach? Is epoxy primer a good basis for vinyl wrapping or would bare metal or a top coat be better? I read on some car related websites, that primer is a very bad base for vinyl wrapping, but am not sure if this is also the case for the materials companies like aircraftwraps are using.

Get some vinyl. Start sticking on misc pieces. Try it on bare alclad. Try it on your primer. Which looks better? Which sticks better? It looks like kerap over lumpy paint. It doesn't stick as well on a non-gloss surface. Sticks great on hard glossy type paint and bare alclad.

We used a high grade painters mask when we painted our -4. It didn't stick very well to epoxy primer, even after it was wet sanded. not sure if a vinyl wrap would do the same.

Give a look at my thread regarding my RV-7A's vinyl wrap with Aircraftwraps.com:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=132000

Putting it simply: The vinyl will stick fine to bare alclad, primed alclad, fiberglass, epoxy, etc. However, regarding alclad, it sticks best to bare alclad. If you plan to totally wrap, there's no need whatsoever to prime...just adds weight.

One other thought: Any surface beneath the wrap needs to be sanded/prepped to final finish. The vinyl will highlight any imperfections. Having said that, you do NOT need to fill pinholes, because vinyl covers them (nice ).

So, you are actually confirming what I read on some car forums - primer is not the best base for vinyl wrap.
Frankly, I don't feel comfortable about having no corrosion protection in joints, around rivets, etc. and if I would have to put on top coat, wrapping wouldn't make much sense anymore.

I see you are building a 10. I just wrapped mine last year. Wheel fairings, top of cabin, airscoop, spinner, and front of cowl got painted. Those are the areas with deep compound curves. Could have done them by using more seams, but I wanted to minimize those. The lower doors and part of the top got some vinyl, but that was over paint. The bare aluminum doesn't scare me in the least. Not a doubt in my mind that if the vinyl gets pulled in ten years the aluminum will look better than if it had been painted and stripped. I've been all over a couple hundred freshly stripped planes. They're pretty ugly. Another thing I like a lot is that there's no funky overspray in all the little openings, the hardware and hinges are clean and trim. Health benefits, time savings, and cost reductions are huge.

Oliver said:

So, you are actually confirming what I read on some car forums - primer is not the best base for vinyl wrap.

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Yes, but certainly not the worst. Priming at the joints is never a bad idea. I had primed my project at joints and junctions for the same reasons you are considering, but I did it years before I decided to wrap. I certainly didn't remove the primer. It was simply a non-issue: The wrap holds just fine.

aerhed said:

[...] I've been all over a couple hundred freshly stripped planes. They're pretty ugly. Another thing I like a lot is that there's no funky overspray in all the little openings, the hardware and hinges are clean and trim. [...]

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This and that I could apply primer as we finish each component are actually the main reasons why I thought that priming + vinyl wrapping would be a good idea. Also, if the vinyl gets damaged or for whatever reason the paint scheme has to be changed, the vinyl could be replaced at lot easier than paint.

scrollF4 said:

[...] I certainly didn't remove the primer. It was simply a non-issue: The wrap holds just fine.

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I will shoot the guys from airfraftwraps a mail and make them aware of this thread as I could imagine that this might also be an interesting topic for other builders.

What I certainly want to avoid is that I prime everything, only to learn later that this is neither an suitable basis for wrapping nor that the paint shop is willing to paint over it, as they insist on using their own primer.

We pull a lot of truck wrap at 3 to 5 years in service. I can't say how well vinyl wrap sticks to primer, but it might be a mess to remove, as it is usually necessary to strip transferred adhesive with something like this product from Rapid Tac: http://www.rapidtac.com/rapid-remover.html

FWIW, car and truck wrapping is done over topcoat. Note that it's pretty common to see a VAF post about surface corrosion under the blue vinyl on older kit aluminum.

Hey Guys,

I’m comfortable with everything other than rattle can primer. It (primer) needs the adhere to the surface very well. The primer and vinyl stick... but the vinyl can rip the poorly primed surface clean with the primer still on the vinyl afterward.

Dan did note corrosion under a Vans part that has the vinyl on it. Usually, this is a part stored in moist/damp area. Another factor is the vinyl is added to the part, then the part is cut and formed leaving an edge where the vinyl and metal are exposed to the elements. Moisture seeps in and is held to the metal. AircraftWraps process prevents this situation through our installation process.

We have removed vinyl graphics from bare metal polished aircraft. (Stars and Bars, etc) to find perfect metal condition underneath. Prep and installation are always a key factor.

Oh ya... This might be a good thread to announce big news for AircraftWraps. Vans RV based and grown company expanding to a National 2 coast location operation!



We are starting the CA crew off small... MicroJet small!

Outstanding!

Outstanding to see a Vinyl Wrap service on the west coast now. Had no desire to fly all the way to Fl to get the bird wrapped, but this makes it a no-brainer!

Please post more details about location, contact, etc.

@AircraftWraps: Thank you. I'll give to a call to discuss the details.