bulldog
Well-known member
What exactly is a vehicle wrap? I have read a lot of definitions that just confuse people so I will put it like this: A wrap is essentially a large sticker that goes on a vehicle or boat. It really is as simple as that. Now getting a design through the design process, getting from a roll of material through the printer and laminator, then being installed cleanly and professionally is a whole other story. It is quite the process but can be done simply and professionally if you go to a qualified shop.
Let me start by introducing myself and my business. My name is John Duever and I am the Vice President and Managing Partner of Vinyl Images, LLC located in Fenton, Missouri, 12 miles west of downtown St. Louis. I own my business with my brother Joe and my sister Destiney. It has been a trip to work so closely with my family members but I am not going to lie to you, we have our blowouts just like any other siblings. If they would just realize that my way is the best, most efficient way then everything would be just fine. :LOL2: We started this business on a whim 9 years ago but we hit the ground running and have not taken a step back since. We pride ourselves on customer service and quality, period. We have a great reputation in our field and choose to keep it that way because that is what we do. We please people and make life long relationships. I don't care if you come to my office to spend $10 or you have a fleet of 200 trucks that you want wrapped for hundreds of thousands of dollars, you are going to be treated the exact same when you walk through my front door. This is how we got to the point of where we are and this is how we are going to continue to find great success in the future.
How are wraps installed?
This is probably the most popular question people ask. I normally give them the "very carefully" answer and laugh. Seriously though it is tough. I have wrapped probably 400-500 vehicles and EVERY SINGLE ONE has its weird corners or fenders or hood scoop or something that is going to give you trouble. Depending on how the panels are printed has a lot to do with how the installs go.
Lets just pretend that we are going to wrap a box truck and we are starting with the box. The panels are normally printed in 54" vertical panels. You always start on the rear of the sides and work your way forward so that the overlaps face backwards. The is so that when you are driving in rain the water just runs backward and does not "catch" on the overlap. This is the same on any wrap you do with vertical panels. Always start in the back and work forward.
If the panels are printed horizontally, like most boat wraps are, it is a little tougher. You need to line up the panel and tape it down exactly where you would like it to go. I then tape a hinge of tape vertically down the middle of the panel, peel the backing off and roughly stick the panel where it needs to go. Then do the same to the other side. After the panel is roughly stuck where you want it to go, work from the top to the bottom with squeegy strokes the length of the boat. You are only going to be squeegying vertically about and inch at a time with horizontal strokes the whole length of the boat.
A video explains it better.
Here is a video of how a bass boat is done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbk47Jp0YOw
Box truck install with horizontal panels, not the usual way to do it but it looks great:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPybZICSVlE
This also shows how it is designed, printed, laminated ect.
Box truck with horizontal panels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeK82-VQ91g&feature=related
NOTE: this truck was probably not going to be driven as the installer started with the middle panel. You should always start with the rear panel.
Now as far as printing goes, the printers nowadays vary from 12" to 60' and print with a plethera of ink types. I have a 60" digital screen press which is basically a very expensive ink jet printer. Depending on the quality I am looking for, I can print 1/16" a pass of the print head up to 1". The printers are getting easier and easier to deal with but the first ones we started with you had to wake up in the morning and put them to sleep in the evening and they were a real pain in the ***. It is a dream working with today's printers in comparison to the past.
That is a brief overview of the wraps. It is a VERY complicated process to try to put in to written words so go to YouTube and type away. The videos on there will answer some questions for you. If you have any questions, please ask them. In this industry we like to say that there is no such thing as a dumb question so ask away.
Thanks for your time and for reading this long post.
John (bulldog)
Let me start by introducing myself and my business. My name is John Duever and I am the Vice President and Managing Partner of Vinyl Images, LLC located in Fenton, Missouri, 12 miles west of downtown St. Louis. I own my business with my brother Joe and my sister Destiney. It has been a trip to work so closely with my family members but I am not going to lie to you, we have our blowouts just like any other siblings. If they would just realize that my way is the best, most efficient way then everything would be just fine. :LOL2: We started this business on a whim 9 years ago but we hit the ground running and have not taken a step back since. We pride ourselves on customer service and quality, period. We have a great reputation in our field and choose to keep it that way because that is what we do. We please people and make life long relationships. I don't care if you come to my office to spend $10 or you have a fleet of 200 trucks that you want wrapped for hundreds of thousands of dollars, you are going to be treated the exact same when you walk through my front door. This is how we got to the point of where we are and this is how we are going to continue to find great success in the future.
How are wraps installed?
This is probably the most popular question people ask. I normally give them the "very carefully" answer and laugh. Seriously though it is tough. I have wrapped probably 400-500 vehicles and EVERY SINGLE ONE has its weird corners or fenders or hood scoop or something that is going to give you trouble. Depending on how the panels are printed has a lot to do with how the installs go.
Lets just pretend that we are going to wrap a box truck and we are starting with the box. The panels are normally printed in 54" vertical panels. You always start on the rear of the sides and work your way forward so that the overlaps face backwards. The is so that when you are driving in rain the water just runs backward and does not "catch" on the overlap. This is the same on any wrap you do with vertical panels. Always start in the back and work forward.
If the panels are printed horizontally, like most boat wraps are, it is a little tougher. You need to line up the panel and tape it down exactly where you would like it to go. I then tape a hinge of tape vertically down the middle of the panel, peel the backing off and roughly stick the panel where it needs to go. Then do the same to the other side. After the panel is roughly stuck where you want it to go, work from the top to the bottom with squeegy strokes the length of the boat. You are only going to be squeegying vertically about and inch at a time with horizontal strokes the whole length of the boat.
A video explains it better.
Here is a video of how a bass boat is done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbk47Jp0YOw
Box truck install with horizontal panels, not the usual way to do it but it looks great:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPybZICSVlE
This also shows how it is designed, printed, laminated ect.
Box truck with horizontal panels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeK82-VQ91g&feature=related
NOTE: this truck was probably not going to be driven as the installer started with the middle panel. You should always start with the rear panel.
Now as far as printing goes, the printers nowadays vary from 12" to 60' and print with a plethera of ink types. I have a 60" digital screen press which is basically a very expensive ink jet printer. Depending on the quality I am looking for, I can print 1/16" a pass of the print head up to 1". The printers are getting easier and easier to deal with but the first ones we started with you had to wake up in the morning and put them to sleep in the evening and they were a real pain in the ***. It is a dream working with today's printers in comparison to the past.
That is a brief overview of the wraps. It is a VERY complicated process to try to put in to written words so go to YouTube and type away. The videos on there will answer some questions for you. If you have any questions, please ask them. In this industry we like to say that there is no such thing as a dumb question so ask away.
Thanks for your time and for reading this long post.
John (bulldog)
