Going to do a partial vinyl wrap on my polished plane - Zenith Aircraft Builders and Flyers2024-03-28T11:00:43Zhttps://zenith.aero/forum/topics/going-to-do-a-partial-vinyl-wrap-on-my-polished-plane?commentId=2606393%3AComment%3A632905&feed=yes&xn_auth=noWillie looks quite pleased wi…tag:zenith.aero,2018-07-30:2606393:Comment:6390062018-07-30T16:08:47.011ZJohn Austinhttps://zenith.aero/profile/JohnLAustin
<p>Willie looks quite pleased with the job and ready for a ride! :>)</p>
<p>John</p>
<p>Willie looks quite pleased with the job and ready for a ride! :>)</p>
<p>John</p> One final pic - with Willie
tag:zenith.aero,2018-07-30:2606393:Comment:6389312018-07-30T15:30:35.304ZGary Welchhttps://zenith.aero/profile/GaryWelch
<p>One final pic - with Willie</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171047606?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="721" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171047606?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="721" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>One final pic - with Willie</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171047606?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="721" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171047606?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="721" class="align-full"/></a></p> I would say that it might be…tag:zenith.aero,2018-07-13:2606393:Comment:6371642018-07-13T17:36:17.634ZGary Welchhttps://zenith.aero/profile/GaryWelch
<p>I would say that it might be possible to do it in two pieces if the spinner was a little smaller than mine (11"). No way i could do my spinner with my vinyl wrap in two pieces. </p>
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<p>Also, the type of vinyl used might make it easier. Perhaps Vivid ir one of the other mfgrs. might be more flexible, but i dont know for sure.</p>
<p>I would say that it might be possible to do it in two pieces if the spinner was a little smaller than mine (11"). No way i could do my spinner with my vinyl wrap in two pieces. </p>
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<p>Also, the type of vinyl used might make it easier. Perhaps Vivid ir one of the other mfgrs. might be more flexible, but i dont know for sure.</p> Again, looks great and the pi…tag:zenith.aero,2018-07-13:2606393:Comment:6367442018-07-13T13:38:47.732ZJohn Austinhttps://zenith.aero/profile/JohnLAustin
<p>Again, looks great and the pictures really help! Now that you are a "pro" :>) do you think you could have done the spinner in two pieces instead of three - or is that just pushing it too far? (Hmm - is there a pun there somewhere? Haha!) In the next to last picture, it looks like you covered quite a bit of the spinner.</p>
<p>John</p>
<p>Again, looks great and the pictures really help! Now that you are a "pro" :>) do you think you could have done the spinner in two pieces instead of three - or is that just pushing it too far? (Hmm - is there a pun there somewhere? Haha!) In the next to last picture, it looks like you covered quite a bit of the spinner.</p>
<p>John</p> One last item to add to the v…tag:zenith.aero,2018-07-13:2606393:Comment:6371612018-07-13T05:58:01.415ZGary Welchhttps://zenith.aero/profile/GaryWelch
<p>One last item to add to the vinyl wrap learning experience. The most challenging part for me was the cowl and I have heard the same from others. The partial solution for me was to add additional seams and that worked out pretty well with some trial and error.</p>
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<p>However, many have said that doing a spinner is near impossible for an amateur. After multiple attempts my "final" effort still looked like crap. Too many wrinkles that were very noticeable. I had spent nearly 6 hours…</p>
<p>One last item to add to the vinyl wrap learning experience. The most challenging part for me was the cowl and I have heard the same from others. The partial solution for me was to add additional seams and that worked out pretty well with some trial and error.</p>
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<p>However, many have said that doing a spinner is near impossible for an amateur. After multiple attempts my "final" effort still looked like crap. Too many wrinkles that were very noticeable. I had spent nearly 6 hours attempting to do this relatively small piece and had pretty much resigned my self to living with the crappy job. But it bugged me and I kept thinking there had to be some way to do it better than what I had done.</p>
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<p>I remembered a video of a motorcycle helmet wrap on youtube. In the video the guy was using a special type of super conforming vinyl. Using a standard barrel with an open end he placed a large piece of vinyl, sticky side up over the top of the barrel opening and taped down the vinyl very tightly around the outer edge of the barrel. He left some slack in the vinyl so it sagged a bit into the barrel. He then heated up the vinyl and simply pushed the helmet down into this super-stretchy vinyl - and, after it cooled, pulled out a near perfectly wrapped helmet. </p>
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<p>I knew this would not work with the spinner as it is deeper than the helmet and the 3M 1080 vinyl I was using would not stretch as much as what the guy was using. Then I realized I did not have to wrap the entire spinner. What if I continued my original idea of doing it with 3 seams, lined up with the 3 prop blades?</p>
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<p>I would only need to do 1/3 of the spinner at a time and just had to stretch down on the vinyl enough to cover 1/3 of the diameter.</p>
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<p>So I grabbed a trash can and cleaned the top off really well. Then I cut a 30"x 30" piece of vinyl and taped it, sticky side up to the top of the can. Then I placed the knifeless tape where the cuts needed to go. By coincidence I happened to have a spare spinner that was about the same size as the one on the plane, so this is what I used for my experiment. </p>
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<p>With the heat gun on high I heated up the vinyl, grabbed the spinner and slowly but firmly pushed it down into the softened vinyl, making sure I pushed it down far enough to cover the cutting tape border. Then I held it there for a minute or two for the vinyl to cool, and then grabbed my razor blade and cut the spinner out of the surrounding vinyl. It worked! The spinner was completely covered (1/3) and it had laid down perfectly. There was not a single wrinkle or bubble. Honestly I was shocked that it actually worked!</p>
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<p>I immediately pulled the spinner off my plane and pealed off my crappy vinyl job. I'd like to say it worked perfectly on the real thing, but it didn't. My spinner was a little bit fatter and the vinyl bunched up around the edges. However, it was a fairly easy fix and I probably spent a mere 10 minutes to get out the wrinkles. I then did the remaining 2 sections, using a small over-lap at the seams. Ultimately I ended up with a "near" perfect job. </p>
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<p>I would suggest that unless you are a pro wrapper, this is the way to go to wrap a spinner. The whole thing took about an hour for a near perfect job. I spent nearly 6 hours to do it manually and that looked like crap.</p>
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<p>The first pic is the garbage can with the vinyl ready to go.</p>
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<p>The second pic is me stuffing the practice spinner down into the heated vinyl.</p>
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<p>The third pic is how it looked after I had cut the vinyl out of the can. You can see the cutting tape. At this point I had not touched the vinyl on the spinner. It just came out perfect without a single wrinkle or bubble.</p>
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<p>The final pic is after I had used the cutting tape and smoothed down the near perfect edge that it cuts. This truly was "perfect" with the only visible imperfections being from the spinner underneath the vinyl.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171045332?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171045332?profile=original" width="389" class="align-full" height="291"/></a></p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171045773?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171045773?profile=original" width="419" class="align-full" height="314"/></a></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171046032?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171046032?profile=original" width="427" class="align-full" height="569"/></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171074040?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171074040?profile=original" width="421" class="align-full" height="561"/></a></p> Gary, I second what John said…tag:zenith.aero,2018-07-12:2606393:Comment:6368322018-07-12T13:42:02.020ZDon Morriseyhttps://zenith.aero/profile/DonaldMorrisey
<p>Gary, I second what John said...the plane looks great. I learned a lot from this thread, I'm definitely going to give it a try when the time comes. Thanks for documenting this so well.</p>
<p>Gary, I second what John said...the plane looks great. I learned a lot from this thread, I'm definitely going to give it a try when the time comes. Thanks for documenting this so well.</p> Very nice, Gary!
Thanks for…tag:zenith.aero,2018-07-12:2606393:Comment:6367302018-07-12T11:00:37.696ZJohn Austinhttps://zenith.aero/profile/JohnLAustin
<p>Very nice, Gary!</p>
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<p>Thanks for providing so much detailed information and pictures. Don't sweat the areas that aren't "perfect!" If you're anything like most of us, we obsess about slight imperfections that 99% of the rest of people won't even notice since 99% of the rest of the project looks great! ;>)</p>
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<p>John</p>
<p>N750A</p>
<p>Very nice, Gary!</p>
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<p>Thanks for providing so much detailed information and pictures. Don't sweat the areas that aren't "perfect!" If you're anything like most of us, we obsess about slight imperfections that 99% of the rest of people won't even notice since 99% of the rest of the project looks great! ;>)</p>
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<p>John</p>
<p>N750A</p> Finally got her done. Not per…tag:zenith.aero,2018-07-12:2606393:Comment:6367292018-07-12T05:21:41.045ZGary Welchhttps://zenith.aero/profile/GaryWelch
<p>Finally got her done. Not perfect, but a lot better than my rattle can accent paint job.</p>
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<p>Everything looks pretty good except the spinner. It looks like crap. I did it in three sections but it still was a pita and ended up with a bunch of wrinkles.</p>
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<p>Here's a pic and a link to the video. Looking forward to not having a chore to work on the plane.</p>
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<p><a href="https://youtu.be/U3WSTh0V_a4" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/U3WSTh0V_a4…</a></p>
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<p>Finally got her done. Not perfect, but a lot better than my rattle can accent paint job.</p>
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<p>Everything looks pretty good except the spinner. It looks like crap. I did it in three sections but it still was a pita and ended up with a bunch of wrinkles.</p>
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<p>Here's a pic and a link to the video. Looking forward to not having a chore to work on the plane.</p>
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<p><a href="https://youtu.be/U3WSTh0V_a4" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/U3WSTh0V_a4</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171048762?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171048762?profile=original" width="640" class="align-full"/></a></p> I knew the spinner was going…tag:zenith.aero,2018-07-10:2606393:Comment:6360282018-07-10T05:37:06.765ZGary Welchhttps://zenith.aero/profile/GaryWelch
<p>I knew the spinner was going to be a pita and it didn't disappoint.</p>
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<p>I realized that there was no way to do this in one piece and since I have a 3 blade prop I decided to do it in three sections. Initially I was going to do butt joints. This did not work out well for me so decided to do an overlap joint.</p>
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<p>I first laid out the knifeless tape on the center of the prop blades and ran to the point of the spinner.</p>
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<p>Here's an important tip I learned the…</p>
<p>I knew the spinner was going to be a pita and it didn't disappoint.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I realized that there was no way to do this in one piece and since I have a 3 blade prop I decided to do it in three sections. Initially I was going to do butt joints. This did not work out well for me so decided to do an overlap joint.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I first laid out the knifeless tape on the center of the prop blades and ran to the point of the spinner.</p>
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<p>Here's an important tip I learned the hard way - <strong>tape the ends of the knifeless tape down. </strong>There are few things more frustrating than spending an hour getting a small piece of vinyl to lay down, only to discover the tape has gotten all balled up in the vinyl! Arghh!!***! Rip off the perfect, wrinkle-free section and start over. Frustrating!</p>
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<p>It took the best part of an hour to get the first third of the spinner done (and this is a very small piece). This took more patience than I had in me, but after a couple of breaks and deep breaths I got it done with only the smallest of wrinkles.</p>
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<p>I spent another hour making two more attempts to do the next section and screwed up both of them - arghh!!!**! Did I mention it was 100 degrees in Cloverdale today? </p>
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<p>The one thing the spinner is teaching me is the art of stretching the vinyl - with or without heat. I think this really is an art because there is no way to explain how to do it. In some situations stretching without heat works best.</p>
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<p>In other situations using heat before stretching can solve a major problem. Don't be afraid to stretch it quite a bit if you aren't using heat. If using heat you need to be more careful as it will tear easier when softened by the heat gun.</p>
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<p>The other part of stretching which is also impossible to explain is which direction to stretch in. This is not at all obvious in many cases. My takeaway is to always try to stretch without heat first. Try pulling it a number of ways, either with one hand or if that doesn't work, try a two hand pull. </p>
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<p>This detail work takes patience. Try and work one small area at a time. If it's just not working out, lift it up and start over. If you get part of it laying down right, take a breath and walk away. Then go back and work very small sections at a time going slowly to minimize "zippers" (wrinkles). If the vinyl gets too wrinkled and stretched out, reheat it to shrink it back to its original shape. You have to go slow and have the patience of a sloth. </p>
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<p>The pros use the heat guns on High setting. Don't do it! Every time I've tried this I've ended up burning thru a nearly complete section. You can do the same thing with low heat, it just takes a little longer. Use the low heat setting for everything. </p>
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<p>There are two important steps to completing the vinyl section.</p>
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<p>One is to push down on all areas of the piece with a felt covered squeegee. You need to go over the entire piece, after you've gotten all the bubbles out. You need to push down fairly hard to ensure good contact with the adhesive. </p>
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<p>Lastly you need to go over the entire piece with the heat gun. You need to get the vinyl quite hot (without burning it). I keep the heat gun moving, about 2" from the vinyl, and go over the piece in both directions as well as along the edges. The pros use an infrared thermometer to ensure they are getting the vinyl hot enough. </p>
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<p>Here's the one section of spinner I managed to get done today. You can see the end of the knifeless tape for the next section has been taped down.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171047272?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171047272?profile=original" width="435" class="align-full" height="580"/></a></p> More progress today - the dre…tag:zenith.aero,2018-07-09:2606393:Comment:6359842018-07-09T04:20:03.054ZGary Welchhttps://zenith.aero/profile/GaryWelch
<p>More progress today - the dreaded cowl. I was very nervous about this as the I had previously rattle-can painted the cowl. I knew this would be a problem. When I tried to wrap the lower cowl and lifted the wrap up to re-position - a layer of paint came up stuck to the back of the vinyl. I then had to go back and re-paint the lifted part and re-apply the vinyl with a single lay-down.</p>
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<p>So when it came to the top of the cowl I was worried I would have one try to get it right. A…</p>
<p>More progress today - the dreaded cowl. I was very nervous about this as the I had previously rattle-can painted the cowl. I knew this would be a problem. When I tried to wrap the lower cowl and lifted the wrap up to re-position - a layer of paint came up stuck to the back of the vinyl. I then had to go back and re-paint the lifted part and re-apply the vinyl with a single lay-down.</p>
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<p>So when it came to the top of the cowl I was worried I would have one try to get it right. A big part of wrapping with vinyl is the need to repeatedly lift up the vinyl to remove wrinkles or stretch in a different direction. I should have known I was setting myself up for failure. And I did fail. I got it almost down, after an hour and a half - and then melted a hole right thru it when i got the heat gun a little too close - Arghh!#**!!.</p>
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<p>The only good thing was the paint did not come up when I pulled the wrecked vinyl off. Learning my lesson, I added a seam down the side of the top part of the cowl to minimize the number of compound curves to deal with. This change made the process so much easier. I had both sides of the top cowl done in an hour and a half. Only a couple of small wrinkles. </p>
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<p>The first pic is the wrapped curve at the front of the fuse. Since this was a flat piece of metal it went on very easy. The knifeless tape made cutting the curve easy.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171046940?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="721" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171046940?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="394" class="align-full" height="525"/></a></p>
<p>Here is the top cowl with the nearly invisible seam down the side.<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171046984?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="721" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2171046984?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="399" class="align-full" height="299"/></a></p>
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