Rhapsody in hues
Vehicle wrapping is arguably the fastest growing sector in the industry and the ever-increasing range of material options reflects the demands of the market, for full wraps, partial wraps and feature enhancement. Materials are now available not only for printed graphics, but for colour change and, increasingly, for special effects. Films have also been specially developed to meet the wide range of vehicles that now require wrapping—from cars with gently curved surfaces to trucks with complicated recesses, all of which must be made to appear seamless on completion.
“The primary demand is still led by advertising and promotion,” comments Metamark’s director Mike Stuart, who adds: “Part of the growth though is coming from a market for vehicle customisation, where there’s a desire to wrap something purely for a decorative purpose.”
A word to the wise
Car interior created using Grafityp carbon fibre film
Hitting the right balance of material, cost and skill is critical to achieving a successful vehicle wrap, as Jenny Rope, director of expert in the field Totally Dynamic explains: “It’s important people understand that a cheap cast film will take a lot longer to fit than a good quality cast product—so what you save in terms of raw material cost you lose in labour time.”
However, William Smith’s marketing manager Chris Bradley cautions that whether using premium or ‘budget’ materials, when wrapping failures occur it is generally due to the sign-maker not following manufacturers’ instructions correctly: “I can’t emphasise enough how important it is not to ‘cut corners’. Correct surface preparation, including heating the room and the vehicle to the right temperature is critical, and post heating is essential.”
As Bradley explains, proper storage and care of material is also important, especially during cold weather. When vinyls are stored in very cold temperatures this results in rippling on plotters and rippling when used on printers, dependent upon the liner. In addition, if condensation builds up on the film it will not print correctly.
It is also always important to ensure the area where vinyl is stored is warm and dry. If heating is difficult, then make sure that the vinyl is not left on the floor or against an outside wall—at the very least, make sure our film is kept in a dry and insulated place. For example, place insulated board on the wall between the vinyl and outside wall as this will help to prevent the film from rippling.
It’s important people understand that a cheap cast film will take a lot
longer to fit than a good quality cast product—so what you save in terms
of raw material cost you lose in labour time”
Vehicles should also always be pulled in under cover the night before the film is applied to ensure the surface of the vehicle is totally dry. It is also important to pay particular attention to areas under the seals and trims of the vehicle, although these areas can be force dried using a heat gun.
“Many sign-makers are often put off by the complexity and labour time involved in fitting the graphics and it is a skill that needs practice in order to perfect. It is not the same as working with normal self-adhesive applications. But there is no shortage of training programmes available, which APS can assist in organising if required,” says All Print Supplies managing director, Kevin Wallace.
For those who want to get started straight away, introductory video tutorials and top twelve tips for vehicle wrapping are available on All Print Supplies’ website.
Don’t cut corners
Npower vehicle wrapped by Signs Express
Milton Keynes using 3M IJ380
“What makes a good wrapping material? Primarily, a good wrapper. However, a good wrapping material can make a good wrapper’s life much easier,” enthuses Metamark’s Mark Godden.
With this in mind Metamark engineered its MD7 vinyl to cope with challenging applications and, according to the company, it embodies a range of benefits relevant to both the wrap applicator and to the end user.
Godden explains that in addition to its advanced adhesive system it has a very well developed appetite for ink and will stretch to the extent needed to coerce it over complex, highly dimensional surfaces with comparative ease.
Indeed, specialist vehicle wrapper Raccoon used Metamark’s materials to win the 2011 Sign and Digital UK ‘best vehicle wrapping project’ award. Its managing director Richard Clark advises that
both specialist vehicle wrapping firms and sign-makers who offer it as a service need to challenge themselves by pushing materials to the limits of their ability to do the best for their customers. This is so when doing projects they know what a film can cope with, rather than hoping for the best and seeing it fail down the line.
With this in mind there is some concern within the vehicle wrapping community regarding those who see the opportunities that the sector offers as a means to making a ‘fast buck’.
Totally Dynamic’s Rope explains: “Over the last couple of years we have seen the usual sign industry phenomena of ‘Margins? Who cares as long as I win the work?’, which produces a three-fold effect of driving prices down across the board, making companies cut corners when they find they are not making any money out of the project, and in general giving the industry a bad name.”
Often when we lose out on a project because of price alone, we end up
actually carrying out the work because the customer then finds out,
unfortunately to their cost, that cheap does not mean best”
Rope continues: “Fortunately, the margin-slicing hasn’t really affected our nine centres too badly as Totally Dynamic works on the basis of quality not quantity. Often when we lose out on a project because of price alone, we end up actually carrying out the work because the customer then finds out, unfortunately to their cost, that cheap does not mean best.”
Sign Express’ Brown concurs: “Educating the customer on the importance of using the correct materials and application techniques has been paramount due to the proliferation of sign-makers offering cut price graphics but using inferior products or applied without temperature control. This then often leads to vinyl failure during the first few months.”
An open mind
Truck wrapped by Paul Turner Signwriters using 3M IJ380
With the wide choice of materials available and the range of vehicle types that require wrapping, it is important to keep trying out new products and seeing how they can benefit your business.
All Print Supplies’ Wallace firmly believes if vehicle graphics are to last, then the best materials available should be used.
As a pure vehicle wrapper Totally Dynamic is strict about what vinyl products they suggest their franchisees use and always thoroughly test each one before allowing it onto their ‘approved’ list. As Rope suggests, that is important because if materials fail once they are on a vehicle it will not only cost a business time and money to redo it, but damages the reputation of the industry as a whole.
Signs Express Brown agrees with Rope and says testing a range of films and getting the one that is right for you is important.
One of the UK’s biggest single vehicle wrapping companies is Paul Turner Signwriters. As the company’s name sake explains, using one material type just because you always have is perhaps the wrong approach: “We have been using 3M products for well over 15 years and carried out tests on Controltac film IJ380 prior to its launch. We were amazed at the level of conformity achieved and now use this product for most of our vehicle wrapping applications. As appropriate, we also now specify the complementary Controltac IJ180 Cv3-10 for vehicles with flat or moderately curved body profiles.”
What’s trending?
With the continuing growth of the vehicle wrapping sector, how is this impacting on sign companies products and services? Signs Express has found customers are more willing to experiment with the design of their vehicle graphics and the growth in demand for half or quarter wraps has been substantial.
“This often gives a striking effect and can be combined with cut graphics or digital print providing extra impact to the customer,” comments Signs Express’ Brown.
For Paul Turner the rapid growth of the industry, especially over the last year, led to the decision to add a specialist vehicle wrapping unit to its facilities.
“It’s a double-skin building with bespoke fit-out to ensure that ambient temperature can be easily maintained,” he says, adding: “And with a 26m vehicle bay we have the largest capacity in the region for vehicle wrapping.”
Full wraps have taken over, as you get both graphics and a change of vehicle colour in one job”
Turner has also seen an increase in enquiries for colour change for trucks, as he explains: “Full wraps have taken over, as you get both graphics and a change of vehicle colour in one job. This is ideal where a vehicle may be leased and needs to be returned as original.”
This is a trend Raccoon is experiencing as well. It has moved increasingly from creating letters and single graphic ‘stickers’ for vehicles to full and partial wrapping, which now makes up 70 percent of its business.
What’s on offer
This Kawasaki motorbike underwent a total transformation
with Metamark MD-CF. An example of decorative carbon
wrapping by The SignShop based in Torquay
The sheer volume of materials on offer to the industry is somewhat staggering, so here are a choice few I have picked out that are worthy of investigation and testing.
Metamark:
In addition to previously mentioned Metamark MD7, its sister film MD5—while not as tolerant of extreme elongation—is still a very popular material with wrappers due to its image holding and benign printing qualities. According to Metamark it is also sometimes used for less challenging application surfaces in tandem with Metamark MD7 as the two products print virtually identically.
For purely decorative applications, Metamark MD-CF4 has also been specially designed, in this case for non-printed material designed to closely simulate carbon fibre in look and feel.
Metamark has also recently unveiled MD5A, which it says ‘builds on the technical leadership and quality foundations’ of MD5, but has the added benefit of its new MetaScape adhesive system.
According to the manufacturer, MetaScape features enhanced micro-channels that give air a quicker route out from under the graphic during application, resulting in no bubbling or cracking. This reportedly makes application faster, as air entrapment is less likely and easier to deal with.
Grafityp:
GrafiWrap printable film developed by Grafityp UK was the first laminated cast wrapping system to appear on the market. GrafiWrap is made from a combination of two self adhesive films. The first film layer is a high quality white cast self adhesive film—Grafiprint S34P—which can be printed using a a number of wide-format ink technologies. The second film is a thinner transparent cast laminate—GrafiPrint LAM040—which is applied to the print using a laminator, thus offering perfect protection.
“Of course, the success of the GrafiWrap vehicle wrapping system is closely connected with the craftsmanship of the technician applying the system,” comments Grafityp marketing manager, Debbie Astle, who adds: “So, both in the UK and Belgium, we offer training designed to teach participants the art of vehicle wrapping using GrafiWrap materials, and have been doing so for the past eleven years”
For colour change applications the Graficast range of films also offers a choice of 37 options and counting. In addition it has engineered its own Automotive film series, ranging from carbon fibre, through army camouflage to leather look. It also has a Deco series of imaginative textures and finishes, a long with speciality vinyl options from opalescent finishes through to stardust effect films. Astle says these are proving very popular with end-users looking to enhance their vehicles with high quality effects.
3M:
The wide range of vehicle wrapping solutions available from the commercial graphics division of 3M includes the flagship Controltac Plus Graphic Film IJ380, IJ170/180Cv3 films and Clear View Graphic film 8150—all of which are supported by 3M’s renowned performance warranties.
3M says IJ380 is its flagship vehicle wrapping solution, offering high conformability on surfaces with deep corrugations or three-dimensional graphics found on many large commercial vehicle fleets.
Complementing 3M IJ380, both IJ180 and IJ170 graphic films incorporate 3M’s Comply Version 3 adhesive technology, which like MD5A, enables air to escape during application of the film via micro-replicated channels.
These films are supplemented by the 3M’s 1080 series of vehicle wrapping films to which three new colours—brushed black metallic, matte grey aluminium and dark grey aluminium—have recently been added.
In addition 3M Scotchcal Clear View Graphic Film 8150 offers a combination of print and transparency in a single-sheet solution, enabling a number of special effects to be carried out on vehicle windows. This including fades and colour gradients, simulated etched glass, one-way vision and double-sided graphics.
Arlon:
A relative new comer to the industry that is making a name for itself is Arlon 6000RP and the new Arlon Ultimate PremiumPlus. The latter is a cast PVC film that comes in a choice of 44 colours and effects. According to end-user reviews it is easy to apply and provides a very smooth and even finish even on difficult surfaces. Arlon 6000RP is a gloss white cast vinyl film, specifically designed for large-format graphics. The company says it is ideal for fleet and vehicle graphics and is designed for flat, riveted, contoured and complex curved surfaces where good conformability is required.
Avery Dennison:
Avery Dennison has also recently enhanced the range of colours and finishes available in its Supreme Wrapping Film. Robert Horne Group offers 33 colours and finishes to choose from in this series, recently adding 13 new options, including metallics, pearlescent, white and matt. The patented Avery Easy Apply RS adhesive technology, like its contemporaries, reportedly allows for simple, speedy and bubble free wrapping.
For textured effects for vehicle wrapping, Robert Horne is also now stocking 130µ Oracal 975 Carbon Fibre effect film. Available in five colours and with a deep carbon fibre emboss, it can be used to enhance the finish on all types of vehicles and has the added advantage that it is suitable for uneven and arched surfaces.
Avery Dennison’ JAC D9110 gloss white printable 50µ cast wrapping film with grey medium tack permanent solvent-based adhesive is also a good option. This can be printed using solvent, eco-solvent and latex ink technologies. For deep profiles the package laminated recommend is JAC’s L9130 gloss clear 30µ cast wrapping film with permanent adhesive.
Opportunity awaits
Full vehicle wrapping now makes up 70 percent of
Raccoon's business. This eye-catching commission
saw its wrappers transform a traditional Indian
'Tuk Tuk' into a promotional vehicle
Overall the future certainly looks bright for this growing market and there are significant rewards to be gained by those prepared to put the time, care and effort into developing a quality service.
Roland DG UK’s business manager, Rob Goleniowski sums it up perfectly: “Vehicle wrapping has been recognised as quite a lucrative speciality application for some years now but it is by no means saturated and represents an excellent opportunity for anyone willing to put the hours into perfecting the art. Vehicle wrapping is a difficult skill but that’s why the rewards can be so good,” he says.
