Hexis HX30000 impressions

[Bosh]

I don't typically post on this forum because I don't often have anything "new" to add, but I haven't noticed much mention of Hexis wrap films.

I recently wrapped a Corvette in their HX30000 matte green. I'd never used Hexis, but the customer liked their color best (yes, I told him I couldn't personally vouch for their product from experience).

Impressions:

CONS:

The HX30000 matte is thick- like bullet-proof thick, stiff, rigid. (they apparently do make the matte colors in HX20000 which is a more normal 3-mil). It takes a lot of heat to do anything with it. The material really "fights back", but it will ultimately conform.

The adhesive is aggressive. Really. This is not "pressure activated", there is no "slideability"- it sticks on contact, like regular cast vinyl. It is repositionable, but you really have to rip it back up violently, even if no pressure has been applied.

It does have very effective air egress properties, which good installers typically barely need- but you will need it with this stuff. Again, it really sticks NOW.

I found that installing this stuff took me back to the bad-old-days of inexperience- carefully working little sections at a time, using lots of heat, relying on air egress to remove bubbles, constantly pulling the film back up, etc. Forget about just peeling a whole 48" x 60" panel flopping it down, pulling it tight and being 90% there.

PROS:

Looks great. Very even finish - no stress marks, no little adhesive lines under the film, perfect color consistency even in areas that push the envelope for stretch. I imagine that's the advantage of a super-thick film- there was truly no detectable fade (neon green film, clear adhesive, black car) when stretched. Thick, even, clean look- better than paint.

Great technical support. I struggled a bit to figure-out how to manage the top corners of the back bumper (Corvettes make a hard three-way transition) with such a stiff film without overstretching (I had it down, but I could just tell I'd pushed it too far to hold-up over time). Their technical guy was totally familiar with the exact bumper, acknowledged that this material would require a less stretch intensive approach, and had a perfectly workable solution. Thanks Albert.

Overall, it made the job a lot harder and more time-consuming, but it does look really good, and the customer was thrilled.

I'd be curious if others have similar or conflicting experiences.

 

[Design it Graphics]

I just finished wrapping a car in Hexis Amazon Purple hx3000 series, absolutely hated it. I've used a lot of the 2000 series and it has been a hit or miss relationship for me. their Red + Emerald green + Blacks have laid down fantastic, Pull up really well as well. Durability and life were great.Their hx2000 white I HATED it was like wrapping with a walmart grocery bag.

The issue I had with the 30 series is it would not stay put even in body lines that were minimal EVEN with bridging. The vehicle we wrapped was a pro drift 240sx car with aero and all that nonsense. The door on the s14 240sx has a hard line that goes horizontally. Its a tiny little dip, But I've made it habit to always work it into the lip and then continue on takes equal time as bridging does.....well it kept coming loose, so I pulled up the door figured maybe it had some oils or something on the back, re did the door same thing (yes i post heated in both situations let it cool / set moved on to other parts of the car kept coming back and it'd never stay). Ended up making a score on the upper side of the lip so you could not see this cut and that allowed it to lay down easier.

The materials LOOK amazing, They install pretty well... it is tackier than 3m/avery like you said but doesn't bother me any more after using it several times.Oh almost forgot, The top laminate they use in their 3layer system blows. Just the friction from a geekwraps squeegee can break the top coat....even without heat... I talked to my Jax rep about it but ended up not really combating it because I don't plan on using hx3000 series at all anymore unless the client MUST have it.

Hx3000 purple + Avery Light blue / Avery Matte black + FL. Pink


Kids 18 years old....1 year of experience and already on a pro level for drifting. 768 whp 900lbs of torque on 8lbs of boost turbo ls3

 

[Bosh]

Metallic Carbon Fiber

I did another job in Hexis 30000 today- silver metallic carbon fiber hood on a Dodge Charger. The material looks great. It was somewhat difficult to work with, but about what you might expect for a textured metallic.

 

[Stanton]

Tried Hexis a couple of decades ago. German sales people came to my place.

Seemed 'crisp". Tended to snap when stretch was required.

I stuck with 3M.


I never lived low. Never on the margin.

 

[HulkSmash]

Hexis is a dumpster material.

/end.

 

[GAC05]

Hexis is a dumpster material.

/end.

 

[GaSouthpaw]

That's awesome.

 

[npcsignworx]

Hexis 20000,30000

Just came across this old thread and chucking in my two cents worth.
My first impression was, WOW this is amazing! But that impression didn't last too long.
Hexis is thick, too thick. Therefore can't do 3D very well. It wants to lift on every curve or angle, not straight away, but a day-a week later. The only way to get this daft heat activated adhesive to properly stick is to heat the Sh*t out of it! I mean like 500ºC 4-5 times. Same goes for recesses. Every job working with this vinyl is almost guaranteed to come back at some point with an unhappy customer, requesting you fix or replace an area.

I've wrapped six vans, two cars and one boat in the HX series, after the first one, the rest were not through my own choice but the customers, because of the Hexis Colour range! I must agree the colour range is awesome and keeps getting better. I just wish they'd chuck some money in their R&D department for a few years and get the adhesive and multi-layer thickness down.

So my preferred choice is still 1st = 3M, 2nd = Avery. My business doesn't run in third place, so i try not to use third place films...

If you've never used Hexis, get a sample and have a play. Wrap something challenging, trim it up nice and neat. And check back in a day or two to see where it didn't hold.

 

[worthy1]

Have to agree with all, only used hexis once it was for a simple roof. When something takes 3 times longer to install then another product it doesn't make sense business wise to charge the same when you spend more time doing it. I see a lot of cars wrapped successfully in it, especially on the paint is dead network, but I always wonder why people use it, most likely for the colour range. Then again you can never see really see the finish from pictures......(corners, recesses, contours etc)

My preferences however are a little different, Avery all the way for us, again found it slightly easier to work with than 3M, its also cheaper here per metre and even though it is benchmarked as the better of the two, even if those claims are not true the specs for both are pretty much the same.

We don't offer a 3rd option either but I have heard the Arlon films are between Avery and Hexis for install. Havent tried it myself but could be interesting.....

 

[worthy1]

p.s - Those wraps look dope!

I would say coming out with all these awesome colours is the reason why it is not easy to work with, I would imagine its not hard to throw whatever colour they want in to make the vinyls. This is why I would say Avery/3M don't have all these colours (yet) as it takes a little more to gel it all in properly to make a high quality vinyl that also installs right...