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Vinyl Wrap

Zazoos

Well Known Member
Really wanting to wrap my RV 6. So I purchased several 1'x5' pieces of 3M 2080 and 1080 film in various colors and finishes.

We noticed that you could easily scratch the films with a fingernail, especially the matte films. Applying heat with a heat gun would get some of the scratches out but not all of them. Not even close. The gloss black was the worst at not recovering from the scratches.

Feel like I must be missing something as I cannot imagine people wrapping their cars and planes in this stuff and it being so easy to scratch.

Appreciate the feedback.


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Avery

Hey I have wrapped my -7 in Avery Dennison gloss white/gray/...

I've read that matte colors are difficult to apply and maintain.

My experience with the wrap is good. So to start the questions: I'm assuming you're getting good adhesion? but if not then maybe you're not applying enough pressure during initial installation. Are you tempering the wrap to 90c after it is installed?

I would say that the wrap is not as hard as paint, but it also doesn't chip. YMMV

Take a look online, there are some great car wrap videos with lots of good info. It will pay to do your study up front, then have at it!
 
My -7 is wrapped in 1080 vinyl, no issues after 3+ yrs./375 hrs. I am using matte black on my top forward fuselage, again no issues. Get one of those felt covered squeegee to apply the vinyl, it does not scratch.
 
Trent,
I wrapped KELLI GIRL all over with her WWII-esque scheme. Scott at AircraftWraps.com did a fine job back in 2015:

https://vansairforce.net/community/showthread.php?t=132000

After 5.69 years and over 1100 Hobbs hours, here are my findings.

Yes, scratches appear readily, but usually self-heal when parked in the sun for a few hours. Hangar rash is easier to repair than paint, but the repairs are visually evident. Frontal faces in highly turbulent areas (around the intakes, front of wheel fairings, etc.) can take a beating, particularly in rain (but are repairable).

Wrapping KELLI GIRL saved me about 2/3rds the cost of painting ($9500 vs $13000 estimated for this scheme). I also saved 1/2 the weight (12 lbs of wrap material vs estimated 25 lbs primer and paint).

If I had it to do again (and I see that day coming), I'll paint her. You might consider painting the base color(s), then use wrap for accents, etc. They can be replaced.
 
....If I had it to do again (and I see that day coming), I'll paint her. You might consider painting the base color(s), then use wrap for accents, etc. They can be replaced.

Why would you paint it instead of rewrapping?

I'm considering wrapping my RV-3B when I get far enough.

Thanks,
Dave
 
In the larger world, I'm a used truck dealer. We remove about an acre of vinyl wrap every year, so yeah, I'm familiar.

The truck industry's love-hate relationship is based on resale, post-lease. White is highly re-sellable, while company colors are not. Everyone hates removing the stuff, but if done right, the result is a pristine white truck, as the wrap protected the underlying white paint from environmental factors.

Right now we're unwrapping seven Promaster vans, small ones, not the long raised roof model. Each requires about four man-days start to finish. Really good wrap might have cut it to three; cheap wrap is a (insert bad word here). Although a heat gun is the essential tool, to strip trucks we point a big kerosene space heater inside the truck, heating it to 120F or so from the inside out. Otherwise the structure heat-sinks the area under the heat gun, greatly slowing the job.

Most wraps leave some adhesive, requiring chemical removal. The good stuff is called "Rapid Remover" (https://www.rapidtac.com/rapid-remover.html), which melts the adhesive into something which approximates snot.

Most of what we remove is about three years old. Wrap with 10+ years of sun exposure may require cutting it off with an oscillating blade and repainting the truck.

I tell you all this because what goes on will need to come off some day. It will be a long slow process, and you should know it when making the choice.
 
My Question for folks that have wrapped their aircraft is:

Does Wrap breath? How does bare aluminum age under the wrap? Any Corrosion issues?
 
Why would you paint it instead of rewrapping?

I'm considering wrapping my RV-3B when I get far enough.

Thanks,
Dave

Dave,
The wrap on KELLI GIRL isn't going to last as long as I had hoped, and I believe paint will last longer. We're still talking years in the future here for me, but that day will arrive sooner for my wrap than I think it would for paint.

Don't get me wrong. I'm in no rush.
 
Try a different device. They work on three of mine, plus my work gonk.
Linux laptop, Windows laptop, Android phone... All blank. The only photo that comes up for me is the one of you in the first post. You can probably see all of them because they're your photos shared from your account on whatever hosting company you've used.
 
OK, well, bummer. Do the words work for you? That's really the meat of the story for the OP.
 
vs estimated 25 lbs primer and paint

I sometimes wonder about these kind of estimates... is that the weight of used materials solely? Does it take into consideration that most of the spray will not end up on the object? Is there an unknown paint weight loss thanks to the evaporation of the contained solvents?

In other words somebody surely did a before/after painting weighing comparison, anybody with facts out there?
 
When I got my paint estimate and was 'weighing' the decision against vinyl, the folks at GLO said I could expect to see a 22-25 lb increase in weight on KELLI GIRL.

Aircraftwraps weighed my material before (still on the roll) and after (all trimmings and wrap backing paper). The net on the aircraft was 12 lbs.
 
thanks for the FB Scroll.

Still, 22-25 lbs seems a lot, yes I might be wrong. Guess there are also quite some differences depending on the scheme, layers, and so on...

Xcuse the thread drift guys.
 
I vinyl wrapped my -14 a few months ago. I had zero experience. I had trouble getting a shop to commit to the job on the days I wanted to get it done. I used both 3m 1080 and 3M 2080 because some of the colors I wanted to use (cosmic blue) were not yet available in the 2080.

The 2080 really is superior, I wish I could have used it for all of my colors. It has a removal clear film which allow you to be much harder on the vinyl during install. In the end this is labor project. The skill and experience of the installer will determine the quality moreso than the vinyl choice itself. Especially around difficult curves like wheelpants, spinners and air intakes. Yes I wrapped every part!

I used 3m edge sealer on all of my edges. There are places where flaws exist if examined. A good paint job is always going to look a bit more flawless than a good vinyl wrap. One does get the advantage of a finish (gloss white gold sparkle in my case) that would be extremely difficult to put on an airplane at a reasonable weight with paint.

The layout and design work is pretty straight forward using knifeless tape. Pinstriping abilities are the only limitation!

The rolls can be bought in 25 yard lengths for a little over $600. I ended up using 1 blue roll, 2 white rolls and smaller quantities of the other colors for a cost somewhere around 2k. I have a ton left over and made a bunch of mistakes as I was learning. 2 rolls might do an entire plane.

I know now how to wrap an airplane or car but I am not entirely sure its a skill I wanted to learn. Its a little bit like putting a screen protector on the phone over and over again. I am excited by the cost and appearance and will definitely wrap any future builds! I would strongly consider hiring a pro to do the actual vinyl application in the future. I would be better served I think to be the mechanic, taking the airplane apart and reassembling, while also serving as an assistant on larger pieces of vinyl. With just one person the process is long and tedious, I estimate about 40-50 hours of labor for me, a beginner. A pro will know how to approach the difficult parts and tricks for smooth and quick application that I learned by frustration.

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estimate about 40-50 hours of labor

that would be very quick work! My hangar neighbour had stripes "only" applied on his -7 by a pro, and that took the better part of a working week...

Attractive scheme, well done!
Now I sure know what I'd do, shall I ever want my bird to wear a new cloak ;)
 
Anyone have actual and direct experience with the more premium wraps as to whether or not they'd cover underlying colors? How opaque are they? I have a well-bonded but "thin" paint job that I'd like refreshed.
 
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Anyone have actual and direct experience with the more premium wraps as to whether or not they'd cover underlying colors? How opaque are they? I have a well-bonded but "thin" paint job that I'd like refreshed.

While not on an airplane, but on a carbon fiber boat. Hulls are black gloss gel coat. If you want to see the color look at Vespoli racing hulls.

I have used 3M as well as Oracal. Mainly their performance lines 1080. 3M being about 40% premium cost. They last about the same in similar conditions. I normally use Oracal as it lasts just as long in vert harsh conditions.

At the end of the day the black does not telegraph through any colors, even the white unless.... you really over work it or stretch it. Even then it is not too noticeable but you can see some bleed. Don’t paint your spinner black and expect white vinyl to look pristine. Also don’t try to cover 10 sq ft with that 9 sq ft scrap you have left.

While I have not tried all colors I can tell you gloss white, standard orange and marine blue cover black without and transfer.

I have been doing this for 6 years and while there are dings and chips on the boats they still look great a arms length.
 
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