Hydrographing ? Wrap in Water ...

[ronl1975]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt6_ur8hybY

Anyone seen as such before ?

 

[Idea Design]

s101 user BadAss knows a lot about this stuff. I believe he did a bmx frame in it for his son who is amateur/professional racer.

Look up his posts. Some pretty cool stuff.

 

[BigfishDM]

This is the application Im trying to use to do custom Kayak wraps since its so difficult to get an adhesive vinyl to stick to a low surface energy plastic. I think this stuff is pretty cool for certain applications.

 

[BadAss]

Yeah we do a LOT of this stuff. We do all Taser digital camo stuff as well as a ton of stuff for the Hot Rod industry. This link shows my sons bikes and shoes and stuff we do.
http://www.foxxbmx.com/foxx-team.htm

You can also check out our stuff here.
http://www.realimagehp.com

We haven't updated in a while. Busy enough that don't have the need at the moment (Knock on wood)

 

[MikePro]

any merchant members carry this stuff? Is polyvinyl alcohol printable by standard wide-format methods?
hunting season is just around the corner!!! ... although I think it'd be sweeeeeeter to do ski-boots as Xmas gifts

 

[Sticker Dude]

I have been getting into this for the last month
just got a custom tank made and I have dipped many dashes and my wheels this is an awesome thing to get into

 

[Pat Whatley]

I a little shocked it's only $99 per kit.

 

[Border]

cool stuff...how durable is it against scratching & stuff?

 

[BadAss]

It has to be cleared after dipping. We use only PPG high grade automotive clear. We have been doing it 4-5 years now ( been painting cars and Harleys for over 35) and it has held up remarkably. My son races all over the world. his bikes from last year still look great and they were taken apart and travel somewhere every other week. Even after all that they looked very good. So it all comes down to being good at automotive paint. If you do it right it can last as good as a Mercedes do it half ass and it last as long as the silver on a beat up Silverado.

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

But a REAL setup is MUCH MUCH more. Also forget printing anything other than a (c) design, text, customization or lining anything up. That's how all the ATVs & bows are done.

 

[BigfishDM]

Wraps Wraps Wraps how difficult would it be to dip a kayak? Can you do anything besides just camo?

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

BadAss would know better than I, he's been doing it for 5 years. When I looked into it a decent setup was closer to $100k than $100. A Kayak would need a fairly large tank.

 

[BigfishDM]

Yeah I was thinking like a kiddie pool or something, I will contact badass.

 

[MikePro]

is the material available for in-house print? if so, what do you print with? or do you just have to suck it up and order all designs from the mfg.?

every website for companies that do it seem to have the same patterns, from camo to carbon fiber to skulls and flames.... but they're all just simple tile'd patterns.
can't imagine you want to rely on text to stay aligned/unstretched anyways.

 

[dlndesign]

Didn't have a whole lot of time to watch the videos, just saw the dipping stage. Is there a coating you put on for the pattern to only stick to a specific part of the dipped object, or does it just cling to anything that is dipped?

Also, can you get the material itself and print on it? Or is this a really specialized process?

Thanks, very awesome!

 

[BadAss]

Well I will try an answer those in order.
1 There are 100's of prints, but they are man. in China. To do your art you must order 100 meters or more and pay for the set-up. We have done this for specific clients and it starts out at around 5-6 grand. As of yet no one has been able to make a printer or substrate that can be cost effective for short runs.
2. You base the object with a base coat color of you chosing. and if there are areas you don't want printed you either tape them off or we have done a lot of paint mask of logos and such then that way the you can have seperate areas done.
3 on large items like a Kayak you need a large tank (ours is the largest in the south west) we do a lot of hoods and atv bodies and stuff. And it is very difficult. You have to usually do it in sections as the print will float or not flow and stick well at certain angles. Thar DIY stuff is great for a hobbiest but not even close to a proffessional quality...

 

[BigfishDM]

Yeah just got shut down on the kayaks becuase you literally need to be able to submerge the kayak and thats pretty difficult to do. Back to the drawing board, Im gonna try unsublimated fabric and a heat gun to see what I can do.

 

[James Burke]

Can you say sweeeeeeeeeeeet?

 

[redmondcopy]

Where do you buy the film?

Where can you buy this film in stock patterns?

Thanks,
Grant

 

[BadAss]

Getting just the film from a distributer is almost impossible if you didn't buy dipping eq. from them Even then they are sometimes difficult to work with. There is a Dist. in FL. & one in TX. Jsut do a Google search for Water Transfer Printing and you will find them..Honestly my partner deals with them mostly and I can't remember the names...

 

[AUTO-FX]

yeah , man. i've got inquiries in to both the tx and the fl place. this might be a great niche for my business. going to give it a whirl with the "home" kit first.