Vinyl Wraps
 

I have always looked to offset my toys from the others some how some way... I have been tinkering with the idea of vinyl wraps. My boat is small, 21+ft Baja Hammer and would like to find someone who is reasonable in printing of the material. I plan on installing it myself as I have dont a few much smaller projects but think Im capable of doing my boat. So, anyone know of anyone who would cut a great price if I were to supply the design idea/image and who can print and ship materials / or can pickup if in West central FL area. Have checked local & some places are just insane with their prices!

Ive been wondering about wraps myself, ill bet "insane" is pretty much the norm. but if i were you i would stay local so you can be there to give one on one instructions. once its printed and shipped and something is wrong i think you are pretty much screwed. jmo...

There is a place in Nederland, TX.
I have seen some of their wraps on boats.
www.showtimesigns.net

In my opinion, they look cheap. I think wraps are great for advertisement purposes. They tear and can't really be fixed. Also, you don't get that really deep wax shine. I would not do it unless your boat really looks bad and you can't afford to paint it or re gel coat it. You would be better off painting it a solid color.

I have seen some cheap wraps..usually on car & trucks around town but I have seen some amazing wraps to... that give a nice gloss appearance. I think it all depends on the quality of materials used and of course that will reflect in the cost.
My boat is in great shape and really nothing wrong with the outside...just like to be one off from the rest plus I plan on giving my boat a name and would like it integrated into the vinyl graphics. They are not damage proof and extra care is needed to keep them nice (dock rub, bumper rub, other boat rub from tying up etc).
I also agree that local would probably be best. I know the install rate seems to be a big factor in pricing....

You should contact Ryan Beckley here on the boards. I believe he is in Sarasota, Florida and did an amazing job on my 32 Skater

I can give you first hand advice. Its DEFINITELY worth doing! Vinyl will transform your boat and its not that expensive to do. What I liked most was the fact that you can do anything you want without any increase in price (design..colors etc). Find the best $50k mitcher t paint job and they can dupilicate it for pennies on the dollar.
I used Raceline in Canada and for $1300 and they printed and shipped my vinyl. I paid a local vinyl shop $650 to install it because I didnt want bubbles and was also worried that if I screwed up the install that I would have just wasted alot of money! So, I ended up paying about $2000 for a 26 foot boat to be transformed. IMO it was money well spent.

http://www.racelinedigital.com/store...index&cPath=89

This was my boat before:

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...trip_030_L.jpg

And this is after:

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...el930t/009.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...el930t/008.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...el930t/014.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...el930t/010.jpg

Powerquest, that looks awsome! what a difference!!! Seeing yours deff makes me think more and more about getting mine done. Took yrs off your boat!
Thanks for the info guys...maybe we can have eveyone who has had their boats wrapped post up pics?!!!!!

Big supporter of the wraps! As said before the quality of the material makes a big difference in the end product. Over the past 5 years this technology has really matured and this is evident if you look at a well designed wrap printed on the right material and installed by the right person!

I plan to do a partial wrap on my scarab in the next 2 months. I finished the design and I am in the process of de-rigging the boat in preparation.

Here are a few of my other toys I have done wraps/full color graphics on and a rendering of the scarab.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i4...i/9ce944c3.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i4...s/749f2b07.png
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i4...b/2c862b47.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i4...b/4e30c0b6.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i4...b/b226339e.jpg

1st off the correct material is not cheap...nor is the printers and the ink to print and the lamanate you need as well..next if you have never done anything even close to a wrap..good luck..send pics when you are done, there's a reason they are not cheap...maybe you want to get a few cases of krylon and go at it ?? just a thought...

I agree with ezstripper. Installing a wrap on a boat is not going to be easy. Not only do you need to know what your doing, but so do the people that are helping you.

turned out great :eekdrop:

Typo....I have done a few much smaller projects......

Preping the surface and working in a sterile enviroment is a big key. The vertical sides shouldn't be to difficult as long as you have good help. The wraps seem to be very forgiving (see youtube videos) and can be pulled and reapplied as you go to make a smooth, bubble free surface. Compound curves and odd bends seem to be where the technic and special tools come into play. I hate to pay the install fee ....but then again I would hate to run into problems....what to do what to do...guess everything is an art form in some way.

Trust me, you dont want to do a BIG vinyl wrap yourself. It took 2 pro's almost a full day (8 hours) to do mine. I couldnt even imagine trying to take that job on myself. You would be suprised at all the bubbles and issues that they have to deal with. Also, on my boat they ended up having to print some new graphics (for the part above the rubrail) because what I had wouldnt cover the colored gelcoat. IMO it was well worth paying $650 to get a finished product that you could be proud of.

and there is about 20 or so different materials for all kinds of uses, the prices vary wildly, and if you are looking for cheap, thats what you are going to get...weather it's what you need or not, we get caught with that crap a lot, as we do install's for co's all over the country, and almost always they get the the cheapest vinyl for flat surface(smooth side box truck/trailer) and we have to work like hell to try to get it to look good on a very curvy car...so want cheap...I'll print you one..just don't *****....just trying to make you understand....what you see on youtube is not what you will see in a real world install in most cases...

I had my boat wrapped for 1/10th of the cost of paint and wont hesitate to do it again! Material my guy used was marine grade and guaranteed for 5yrs. IMO it was very durable. I used bumper covers as a pre caution. I was happy with the shine of it and I had many people that couldn't tell it wasn't paint until I showed them the seams. Ill ad a couple pics when I get home tonight

Rattle can it!

:eekdrop: :lolhit: I also think the wrap looks pretty good I have seen some really cool ones that look shiny and real clear. I too would do it also.

I paid $3,900 for an amazing Mitcher T paint job on my Velocity 280, that included both sides and deck. It looks more like $39,000, I would check him out before I did a wrap.

Got any pics! Curious of the level of detail for $3900

Mitcher t did some awesome work to my 288 for 3k

He will be redoing my a/t when it becomes time. He's a real pleasure to work with and always been reasonably priced in my opinion.

Ya I hear you guys....deff a big job to take on...wasnt looking to cheap out on the materials used, just the labor..but then again, If I pay good money for material and f*** it up, then what was the point.....
Anyone out there in central Florida need a small "test bed" boat to wrap for a good price :whistle: lol

That was my fear! You spend $1300 on the materials and then ruin them because you dont know how to install them correctly (trust me, its a big job and it would be easy to mess up). Its nice just being able to watch THEM do it while you watch them work and then DRIVE AWAY with a nice, new boat (or at least it will look like one).

heres pics of my wrap

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o..._2022704_o.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o...251123_o-2.jpg

Awesome! Looks pretty shiny to me! :D

nice job...you cannot get a good quality wrap printed and laminated for $1300...even for your boat..

My buddy has a 32 Ultimate Warlock V that was wrapped last season and turned out pretty good. Especially considering he has 3K or less in it.

i think Drock's was a little more than $1300.

The guy that did mine charges $100/ft printed and installed

Drock78
That looks sweet!:eekdrop:


In fact...funny enough... I was looking up google images of wrapped boats...I ran across your boat and thought MAN that looks Great! Just enough to set it off from other boats! What is the length of your boat?

Another question....
With the gelcoat graphics that are already in my / on my boat, will wrap be thick enough to cover them? like places I might have white or light color in the wrap, will it cover the red and black gelcoat strips of my boat?

good quality wrap vinyl will cover the old design...now if they are painted on(I know your Baja is not) you can still feel the paint edge if you do not sand it 1st

Will wraps stick to primer or sanded with 320grit for paint?

does a paint job hold up better than a wrap to say dock hits or bumpers rubbing?

PM Mr Vinyl here on oso. He was very helpfull with a project i did last year! You'll find him in the Magnum section. Rich

REALLY?? Thats cool!!

The colors will have to be dark where your colors are dark. Like EZ said...if you can feel a "edge" on your graphics you will want to sand the edges down or you will be able to see the outline

I sanded my whole boat with 400. Make sure you get in the edges and body lines real good

If it will scratch paint it will likely scratch the wrap. i had bumper covers maid out of orange fleece to match

Tying up...
 

For those of you that have a fully wrapped boat... How is tying up with other boats??? Do your bumpers do a sufficient job of protecting the vinyl? REALLY REALLY INTERESTED. Thinking of pulling the trigger on the Boat Wrapping.

Is it just a coincidence that your first post to the forum is about whether bumpers adequately protect vinyl wrapped boats and your screen name is "Taylormade" who is a popular producer of boat bumpers? A little market research perhaps?? :lolhit: :)

Anyway to answer your question, no. A straight up bumper will mar the vinyl wrap from the rubbing back and forth, the easy fix for this is a bumper cover made out of fleece or something soft!

Thanks
Jim

Haha. Nope just a guy with a last name of Taylor and a Baja named Taylormade. Dbrock recommended the same but said to also be careful with your ropes marring as well.

I don't have a full wrap, actually I wouldn't call mine a wrap at all. ANyway, mine was a solid white hull (blank canvas) so I was able to get a nice graphic without a full wrap. My graphic ended up being $900 installed. I tried doing it myself..... It didn't take long to realize it is best to leave it to the pros...

As far as fender go. An uncovered fender will kill a vinly graphic in a matter of hours. Hell they tend to scratch gel-coat as well... FOr my primary set of fenders I bought a high quality Polyform fender cover. They were about $35 per cover. For my secondary set of fenders (seldom used) I bought a set of less expensive thinner covers for $30 for the set of two. Yes, I carry 4 8.5" fenders as I would rather carry a little extra gear, than rely on someone with too small fender for their boat or dealing with uncovered fenders.

http://www.bradzgarage.com/velocity/IMG_0382.JPG
http://www.bradzgarage.com/velocity/IMG_0382.JPG

Big time i like the way my wrapped looked, BUT>>>>> look at it wrong and it gets messed up!!!!:angry-smiley-038:

Skydog