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Question Vinyl on a Humvee with X in doors
- Thread starter New to Printing
- Start date
Johnny Best
Active Member
Use the 3M Scotchlite film with air release and conforms to body of vehicle. Do not remember # of the 3M film.
GaSouthpaw
Profane and profane accessories.
680, I believe. IJ680 is the printable version, anyway.
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
It's actually 780 for the conformable option.
SignosaurusRex
Active Member
Like "Nike" says.... Just Do It! With a little heat applied, It's all conformable. Don't over-think it. The small amount of distortion will hardly be noticed.
printhog
New Member
Having done many hummer wraps in Scotchlite I can tell you from experience that those doors are horrible. Do not expect the 780 or 680 series to work as folks are saying... for several reasons:
1. The deep draw of the door box is too much for that type of film. It will stretch too much to properly bond, and then it will tunnel or lift from the sharp contours.
2. You'll likely not be able to get the reflective to thermally set to keep it's shape. Reflective does not behave the same as vinyl, it has glass beads that retain lots of heat and a metal layer that reflects it. So you have to heat it to a higher temperature for longer to get to the vinyl's glass transition point and get that heat into the adhesive layer under it. This gets near the upper limit of the laminate's and both adhesives' failure temperatures. Then to get the film to "set shape" you have to flash cool it and the underlying door part as fast as possible to thermally set the matrix. (we do this with a fan or mist spray. even a garden hose). All the while following up prior areas as retained heat from the beads and underlying door will re-soften the media.
3. For a moderate convex shape or straight body line reflective is fine, but but for a concave shape it will tunnel and lift later unless you set it properly. for the hummer doors, which are a tightly spaced combo of convex/concave alternating sections, life just sucks.
4. The nighttime optical properties of the film will be next to impossible to keep consistent. Just accept this. Theres no way around it. dark regions will appear in any section you stretch too far. Optional films like Reflexite v-98, 3M diamond grade, or avery Omni Cube 11000 are commonly used to overcome this as they dont have glass beads, but they also are not conformable, and require sectioning to the body contours.
Since you're basically just lettering it, I'd redesign it into flat sections made from a template, the way British police do for their battenburg patterns: (https://ambulancevisibilityblog.fil...nburg-layout-for-police-sedans-and-wagons.jpg)
Sectioning it into the areas and avoiding the sharp contours. If you do try to conform any film, expect at least 1.5 hour per panel, and you'll need 94 adhesive primer in the contours. then full edge seal afterwards.
Tell you client it will likely lift. Let them decide if they want it wrapped or sectioned.
And charge well for it.
1. The deep draw of the door box is too much for that type of film. It will stretch too much to properly bond, and then it will tunnel or lift from the sharp contours.
2. You'll likely not be able to get the reflective to thermally set to keep it's shape. Reflective does not behave the same as vinyl, it has glass beads that retain lots of heat and a metal layer that reflects it. So you have to heat it to a higher temperature for longer to get to the vinyl's glass transition point and get that heat into the adhesive layer under it. This gets near the upper limit of the laminate's and both adhesives' failure temperatures. Then to get the film to "set shape" you have to flash cool it and the underlying door part as fast as possible to thermally set the matrix. (we do this with a fan or mist spray. even a garden hose). All the while following up prior areas as retained heat from the beads and underlying door will re-soften the media.
3. For a moderate convex shape or straight body line reflective is fine, but but for a concave shape it will tunnel and lift later unless you set it properly. for the hummer doors, which are a tightly spaced combo of convex/concave alternating sections, life just sucks.
4. The nighttime optical properties of the film will be next to impossible to keep consistent. Just accept this. Theres no way around it. dark regions will appear in any section you stretch too far. Optional films like Reflexite v-98, 3M diamond grade, or avery Omni Cube 11000 are commonly used to overcome this as they dont have glass beads, but they also are not conformable, and require sectioning to the body contours.
Since you're basically just lettering it, I'd redesign it into flat sections made from a template, the way British police do for their battenburg patterns: (https://ambulancevisibilityblog.fil...nburg-layout-for-police-sedans-and-wagons.jpg)
Sectioning it into the areas and avoiding the sharp contours. If you do try to conform any film, expect at least 1.5 hour per panel, and you'll need 94 adhesive primer in the contours. then full edge seal afterwards.
Tell you client it will likely lift. Let them decide if they want it wrapped or sectioned.
And charge well for it.