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Vehicle Wrap Horror Stories??

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So, what kind of stories do you have out there of your first vehicle wrap experience. I'll go first. I did the quarter and a door on my truck today, and lets put it this way, if we count how many wrinkles are there you have Barbara Walters! Ok, all bad jokes aside, jeez I thought this was going to be a little easier. Probably doesnt help that I have to cut 60" vinyl on the ground, and the wind would not cooperate by stopping! Wrinkles, blems, and cuts oh my! The real question is should I press on and potentially waste the rest of the $250 spent for the Hexis, or should I cut my losses now?! Hmmmm....

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First time wrap should always be done WET WET WET WET.... vehicle and material...... (Assuming you aren't cutting and just wrapping with Carbon or something.....)

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I've done many full color wraps NON PERFORATED and haven't had an issue 1 doing them wet..... Soak it down, position it, squeegee the snot out of it as you heat, not a problem at all... Never a wrinkle or complaint.......

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You will only learn by trial if you do not get any formal training. There is a few good videos out there to watch, Everyone has a little different method. Find yours and go with it. But always remember post heating to set the vinyl.

Also if your not laminating your material it is going to be pretty tough to get it laid down nice.

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ok so you are not talking about a wrap. you are applying large cut vinyl pieces. a WRAP is done by using printed vinyl on vinyl + laminate made just for doing a vinyl wrap. ex printed IJ180cv3 with 8518 overlaminate. not standard cut vinyl. if you wet install wrap vinyl you will never get out all the water from the micro air release channels. it will cause the wrap to fail!!!

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If your using a wrapping cast, never wet install. period. If your "wrapping" with a regular sign vinyl then you might want to do it wet but I do not suggest this at all. It is all together wrong material for the job.

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Sa, you are correct in the HExis being cast. Here is a link to what I bought - http://www.ebay.com/itm/110836734567?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 . This is my 1st time ever doing something to this extreme. I am frustrated to say the least. I suppose I might be exaggerating the wrinkles a little bit, but there are a few that are definitely noticeable at 5'. At 10'+ the vinyl looks great (i think?!)! I'll put a few pics up tomorrow. I am also having sticking issues from going down, peeling up, down, up, etc.. I know that I just need to go slow and lay it down easy. My door I did, was going great, until I got the main part below the window.. then it went to hell.. lol

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Ya do not apply that material wet. It is re-positionable also start at the top, work your way down, pop it off if you get a wrinkle and work it out. Watch a few vids and see what they do.

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I agree with SA 1000%. Never apply any wrap material wet. It will in time disolve the adhesive and fall badly. Get in doors out of the wind, wrap material is way easier to apply at a steady temp.. You will learn a feel for it. Stroke from the middle to the outside of your panels. When you get wrinkles pull it off and apply just enough heat to form it back, then reapply. Never tent or stretch it over a concaved area. Push the vinyl in. Try to not stretch the vinyl, only apply heat until it looks like glass then squeegee. If you have had to stretch any area make sure you post heat so the vinyl will lose memory.

Justine Pate has great videos, or take one of the mmm courses.

Good Luck, you will get there!

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I've just had my first ever (spam link removed) returned and I'm very unimpressed with the job. The wrapping guy is pressurising me to sign it off so that he can get paid but I feel really reluctant to do so. He tells me that my expectations are too high but I find the finishes around certain areas unacceptable. It's been vinyled in two horizontal sheets with about an inch overlap, made to look even worse as the pattern doesn't line up. In addition to these finishes, the logo and contact details are vinyl cut and placed onto the wrap and so have lost the effects that I placed on them and he has lost some clipping paths on an image that I used on the rear, so the background colour doesn't come through.
Are my expectations really too high?

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If he losteffects then it is not ad agreed. I wouldn't pay until done right

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All the wraps I have ever seen they only did seams at smart locations like where the side panels meet the roof etc... Never seen them have an overlap on door panels. Maybe he has an undersized printer? For what those costs I think I'd make sure it made me happy. 

 

Tell him that if he wants to leave it the way it is he needs to add some more vinyl that says "This crappy wrap job was done by....:" so he can get proper advertising for his efforts. Ha ha!

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Just Blatant Advertising....................

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8 minutes ago, Sue2 said:

Just Blatant Advertising....................

Where ;)

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Well...the forum sheriffs have removed the bandit text &  link!

Thanks!

Sue2

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A sherif is paid so this is more like a group of vigilantes with arrest powers.   Like one step below Barney Fife but with some skills

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On 5/11/2015 at 1:10 AM, clifford smith said:

I've just had my first ever (spam link removed returned and I'm very unimpressed with the job. The wrapping guy is pressurising me to sign it off so that he can get paid but I feel really reluctant to do so. He tells me that my expectations are too high but I find the finishes around certain areas unacceptable. It's been vinyled in two horizontal sheets with about an inch overlap, made to look even worse as the pattern doesn't line up. In addition to these finishes, the logo and contact details are vinyl cut and placed onto the wrap and so have lost the effects that I placed on them and he has lost some clipping paths on an image that I used on the rear, so the background colour doesn't come through.
Are my expectations really too high?

Nope!  Expectation should be high (depending on the price you paid for the wrap).  I've done almost 100 full wraps now and panel alignment is key, it's like having your car painted but the doors are different shades of the color that the quarter panels are.  

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