wu99wu
New Member
Sup everyone, i'm pretty new here. I know I know this has been discussed a while back and the thread was closed. However that was a couple yrs ago. been going back and fourth with some UK/Russian vehicle wrap/foil shops and have gotten some new info that you guys may be interested in! this is all the info i have gathered about this, please feel free to chime in if you have other info/ correct me if i'm wrong...
for starters some of the chrome vinyl availible in the for the US market that is 48" or wider in cuts:
1-stuff from china, you guys have probably all seen this stuff on www.alibaba.com. got a small sample of it, it's like 6mil, air release, but super hard to get to conform around a sharp corner and it has a checkered pattern that you can see through the chrome finish, similar to a 3m 180 material.
http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/vinyl-chrome.html
2-stuff from www.alsacorp.com, got a sample of this stuff, looks really good, actually stretches and conforms better than the chinese stuff, 6mil, but no air release, and you can really overheat it pretty easily. it's almost like you gotta hold the heat gun on low and about 12" back so you can get a consistant heat over the whole surface and stretch it slightly as you go... being that the stuff is sooo thick it's hard to say if you can just pop the bubbles and press them out like regular non air release vinyls... also the chome'ness/ mirror like finish of this stuff is slightly cloudier than the chinese stuff, almost like a polished lip on a rim that is allllmost fully polished if you get my drift. i think i need to play around with it a bit more to get the full concept on how this stuff is supposed to work/ be able to wrap a whole car with this stuff...
http://alsacorp.com/strechchrome/index.html
3- oracal 351 chrome polyester vinyl. super thin think it was 1mil, but as you all know polyester vinyl doesn't react to heat, thus cannot be stretched over a corner/90degree angle/curve... i learned this by experiance. overall, this stuff does have the nicest reflective/mirror like finish that you would want out of a chrome vinyl.
what they are using in the UK/Russia/Dubai, etc...
3m 7752-420 chrome vinyl (cannot find this model # anywhere in the US)
overlaminating it with hexis c4000+ transparent colors (sold in the US comes in 48" cuts also) to get the red chrome/blue chrome/etc...
and this is a response from a UK company,
"Hi Mark
Yes is the only cast chrome 3M make and its expensive! And on top of that to
be able to wrap with it you have to laminate it onto a true wrap vinyl then
laminate it with a clear cast as it scratches very easily and then after all
that it’s a ******* to wrap with!! Hope this helps you mate."
so sounds like they get something like 3m 1080/ oracal 970ra vehicle wrap with air release film and overlaminate it with the 3m 775-420 then overlaminate both with either a clear overlaminate for "chrome" or a hexis transparent c4000+ film for a "colored chrome"....
This is the info i've gathered on this topic, mainly because i really want to wrap my personal car in a "black chrome" finish. all in all i think this stuff is probably gonna be super $$$ at the end of the day and probably a PIA to instal this stuff considering you would be working with something like 6-9mil worth of materials!...
mark
for starters some of the chrome vinyl availible in the for the US market that is 48" or wider in cuts:
1-stuff from china, you guys have probably all seen this stuff on www.alibaba.com. got a small sample of it, it's like 6mil, air release, but super hard to get to conform around a sharp corner and it has a checkered pattern that you can see through the chrome finish, similar to a 3m 180 material.
http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/vinyl-chrome.html
2-stuff from www.alsacorp.com, got a sample of this stuff, looks really good, actually stretches and conforms better than the chinese stuff, 6mil, but no air release, and you can really overheat it pretty easily. it's almost like you gotta hold the heat gun on low and about 12" back so you can get a consistant heat over the whole surface and stretch it slightly as you go... being that the stuff is sooo thick it's hard to say if you can just pop the bubbles and press them out like regular non air release vinyls... also the chome'ness/ mirror like finish of this stuff is slightly cloudier than the chinese stuff, almost like a polished lip on a rim that is allllmost fully polished if you get my drift. i think i need to play around with it a bit more to get the full concept on how this stuff is supposed to work/ be able to wrap a whole car with this stuff...
http://alsacorp.com/strechchrome/index.html
3- oracal 351 chrome polyester vinyl. super thin think it was 1mil, but as you all know polyester vinyl doesn't react to heat, thus cannot be stretched over a corner/90degree angle/curve... i learned this by experiance. overall, this stuff does have the nicest reflective/mirror like finish that you would want out of a chrome vinyl.
what they are using in the UK/Russia/Dubai, etc...
3m 7752-420 chrome vinyl (cannot find this model # anywhere in the US)
overlaminating it with hexis c4000+ transparent colors (sold in the US comes in 48" cuts also) to get the red chrome/blue chrome/etc...
and this is a response from a UK company,
"Hi Mark
Yes is the only cast chrome 3M make and its expensive! And on top of that to
be able to wrap with it you have to laminate it onto a true wrap vinyl then
laminate it with a clear cast as it scratches very easily and then after all
that it’s a ******* to wrap with!! Hope this helps you mate."
so sounds like they get something like 3m 1080/ oracal 970ra vehicle wrap with air release film and overlaminate it with the 3m 775-420 then overlaminate both with either a clear overlaminate for "chrome" or a hexis transparent c4000+ film for a "colored chrome"....
This is the info i've gathered on this topic, mainly because i really want to wrap my personal car in a "black chrome" finish. all in all i think this stuff is probably gonna be super $$$ at the end of the day and probably a PIA to instal this stuff considering you would be working with something like 6-9mil worth of materials!...
mark
