Van's Air Force
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Graphics
- Thread starter Abbygirl1
- Start date
Mike S
Senior Curmudgeon
flyboy1963
Well Known Member
a little advice
certainly go with a pirep from someone who has had a good experience with a specific shop. If you can't get that, then....if you folks are interested,
you want a cast vinyl, not calendared. The offerings have become blurred recently, with thinner and longer life, low cost films, so that the shop can make a little more margin.
what you want, of course, is the longest lasting, premium product. You do NOT want to be removing and re-doing your graphics in a couple years, so this is not the place to look for a 'good deal'. If I were designing and applying numerous lettering, emblems etc. on an aircraft, i would expect the materials to cost about 10% of the total job.
insist on name brand, premium cast vinyl, 2 mil thick, with an opaque, permanent adhesive. 3M, Avery, oracal, calon/arlon are a few of the most common.
I have yet to see a shop that does an excellent job in applying graphics over the tiny, tight rivets and seams on an aircraft. It is best to cut the vinyl at lap seams, so that when slight shrinkage occurs, it will not bridge and lift, causing a failure.
There are a lot of new, premium automotive 'wrap' films coming out, that are solid colour, have great re-positionable adhesive, but I've yet to see the track record on longevity.
after 30 years in the business, call me a cautious cynic!
certainly go with a pirep from someone who has had a good experience with a specific shop. If you can't get that, then....if you folks are interested,
you want a cast vinyl, not calendared. The offerings have become blurred recently, with thinner and longer life, low cost films, so that the shop can make a little more margin.
what you want, of course, is the longest lasting, premium product. You do NOT want to be removing and re-doing your graphics in a couple years, so this is not the place to look for a 'good deal'. If I were designing and applying numerous lettering, emblems etc. on an aircraft, i would expect the materials to cost about 10% of the total job.
insist on name brand, premium cast vinyl, 2 mil thick, with an opaque, permanent adhesive. 3M, Avery, oracal, calon/arlon are a few of the most common.
I have yet to see a shop that does an excellent job in applying graphics over the tiny, tight rivets and seams on an aircraft. It is best to cut the vinyl at lap seams, so that when slight shrinkage occurs, it will not bridge and lift, causing a failure.
There are a lot of new, premium automotive 'wrap' films coming out, that are solid colour, have great re-positionable adhesive, but I've yet to see the track record on longevity.
after 30 years in the business, call me a cautious cynic!
vfrazier
Well Known Member
+1 for Perry's advice. Make darned sure that your shop is only using the best vinyls such as Oracal 951 or Avery 900. There are many others, but make sure they are rated for 9 years or more of outdoor exposure for the best longevity.
Also, if the vinyl is metallic, printed, or other than a solid color, you should expect less longevity.
On the other hand, we typically keep our planes hangared, so there is some leeway in longevity, but please don't let a non-aviation shop tell you that the vinyls are all the same. They are not.
Just look around your town. You'll undoubtedly see lots of older signs with cracking, fading, or peeling letters. Those are often the result of using cheap calendared vinyls.
Think of it this way "CAST (vinyl) is made to LAST."
Also, if the vinyl is metallic, printed, or other than a solid color, you should expect less longevity.
On the other hand, we typically keep our planes hangared, so there is some leeway in longevity, but please don't let a non-aviation shop tell you that the vinyls are all the same. They are not.
Just look around your town. You'll undoubtedly see lots of older signs with cracking, fading, or peeling letters. Those are often the result of using cheap calendared vinyls.
Think of it this way "CAST (vinyl) is made to LAST."
