Vinyl wrapping?

So I bought a Century 40 deck from Subsonic. I absolutely love the deck- I had it done with a couple extra layers of fiberglass to support my big fat ass and it’s great… Except for the colors. I originally wanted to have a Boise State blue and orange scheme, but the “blue” turned out to be a teal and I just didn’t like it at all- I know in the pic it looks okay, in my florescent shop lighting it actually looks like a good blue- IT IS NOT.

I’ve ridden it for a couple months now, hoping that I’d get over it, but I just can’t.

I’ve also rethought the Boise State motif and instead am thinking about a grey/black/chartruese theme that would somewhat go with my other hobby money suck Ruckus…

I don’t want to try and paint it- I’ve had mixed luck in the past and I generally don’t trust myself (at all).

I tried to DM @Sender, but my used deck is likely not something he’d want to screw around with, I would imagine I could get a new one and he’d take on the project, but I’m not sure I’m ready to shell out for another deck PLUS the sexy ass finish like that just yet (I will still order his calendar when it’s available though).

I have some friends that have had success wrapping shit in that vinyl heat shrink-type stuff, I also saw @Skyart wrap his latest 4wd build in red vinyl and it looks good…

So what do you people who’ve wrapped recommend process/product wise? I’m thinking I’ll try to wrap the deck at least, maybe the enclosure too- and maybe try to wrap my puck remote to match?20190819_184413|690x388

1 Like

I used a mix of 3M 2080, Vivid Vinyl, and 3M Scotchgard as a ‘topcoat’ of sorts. The Scotchgard was a PITA (had a ton of micro bubbles that I needed to ‘pop’ one by one), and seems to scuff pretty easily so I’m not sure if I’d go that route again. Also, learned that as I tighten the truck bolts, it grabs the vinyl and makes a stretch swirl around each bolt, which looks like shit to me… def not an expert, and it took a whole damn day, but that was my experience. Happy with how it turned out in the end :man_shrugging:t4:

15 Likes

@Tsobo nice work man I saw you post that on the FB page. Love it!

OP- I’ve vinyl wrapped a few things for esk8 main stuff I can reco is, clean the surface and make sure it’s dust/dirt free, if you are going around edges get the heat malleable stuff so you can stretch it, and patience is key.

4 Likes

Can you guys put some links in this thread for the noobs I have this that I’ll be using some day :call_me_hand:

VViViD Teak Wood Grain (12 Inches x 48 Inches) Roll Sheet with Air-Release Membrane https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BLPUDJK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_O8orFbTXN50BS

3 Likes

What rims are those and beautiful build :call_me_hand:

1 Like

I used a local Wrap Shop. One11ink SoCal has wrapped everything from our Race Cars, Daily drivers to Race Boards.

4 Likes

I’ve actually been wondering this, do they only wrap metal or could they wrap plastic or abs or wood.

1 Like

@DEEIF :call_me_hand: @Skyart you need to get on this thread

https://youtu.be/Jy2aeQ9UDO0

4 Likes

Yeah that was a great video, i deffinetly need to rewrap the 4wd at some point

2 Likes

I used vvivid carbon fiber vinyl on my BigBen enclosure, I think it turned out great

It’s gotten a little scraped now but not bad

3 Likes

that’s a good video- gives me anxiety watching the razor in that new Tesla interior :flushed:

My buddy used that same brand, I could probably steal a little to play around with…

1 Like

that came out nice dude- very clean, I think I’m going to wrap the enclosure for sure… maybe grey…

3 Likes

That looks sweet! How well did the grip tape stick on top, any issues? or is it frit?

1 Like

Thanks! The corners are real tough, gotta find the right balance on your heat gun

1 Like

I saw your post on this- I really like those flux decks and that build looked soooo slick. I like your wrap on it too, came out really nice! I have a heat gun but it’s not great at modulating the temp- how maleable does the stuff get, does it melt through really easily? I’ll definitely mess around on something to practice first, but just curious.

2 Likes

thanks man!

So I used my heat gun on medium heat which on mine should be 700 to 800 degrees F. I held the gun probably like a foot to 8 inch away from the material. I found this stuff (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L9J4KKC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) quite malleable, like stretch over any angle I threw at it. However, I do reco cutting a little 60 or 80 degree angle on corners so you don’t have too much material overlap.

I think you’d have to hold a heat gun like 1 inch from the material for a full minute to burn a hole in it

1 Like

Grip stuck easily, no issues. Though I did have a lot of bubbles for each layer - I bought a heat gun just for the job and it started smoking first use :man_facepalming:t4: Plus I refused to do a typical vinyl install using a spray bottle/water because, well, :zap: so a dry install was probably the hardest install I’ve done (I’ve only wrapped a car interior before). I used an exacto blade and individually popped a few hundred micro bubbles to get it looking flawless - had me wishing I could leave it at “good enough”

1 Like

Thanks brother! Followed your ‘tale of two Prototipos’ builds, definitely gave me some ideas for the future :smiling_imp::fire::fire:

2 Likes

The rims are from Land-Surf - requested a special finish. Matt Hoover has amazing customer service and the wheels are sick af in person :fire::fire:

1 Like

Another option you have is to get it hydrodipped. There is lots of different options available and depending on your taste you can go loud or subtle.

1 Like