The optical illusion of that vinyl wrap is convincing up to about two feet...it's that good.
The optical illusion of that vinyl wrap is convincing up to about two feet...it's that good.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
Guess I'm just trying to get my mind wrapped (sorry....) around the process involved. What is applied to the fabric prior to application of vinyl? Does the vinyl provide any UV protection? How tolerant is vinyl to buffeting from the slipstream? What about applying the vinyl over trim tapes and rib stitching?
Just curious.
Last edited by Sam Buchanan; 12-03-2017 at 08:00 PM.
It was a vinyl wrap. Really looked good in person. If you have not seen it, there is an Albatross DV completely wrapped with the lozenge pattern. The vinyl wrap is the wave of future detailing.
That is the plane Frank was referring to. I did not see his post.
Last edited by bookmaker; 12-03-2017 at 08:20 PM.
Dale Cavin
Florida Panhandle
Current Project: Airdrome Aeroplanes Full Size Nieuport 17
I talked to the owner a bit ago. The vinyl wrap was applied over fabric. He feels it weighs less than paint would. He had a professional vinyl guy do the design, and the individual sheets were about 3-4 feet square. There's actually vinyl on TOP of vinyl, in that the crosses, etc. were separate pieces.
Ron Wanttaja
There was a vinyl wrapped LSA at Ultralights at Osh 2017. It looked good with silver color and fake panel lines and rivets.
The owner said one base coat of fabric primer was brushed on for the vinyl topcoat to adhere.
Thanks for the update, Ron. I'm still wondering if the builder is depending on the vinyl for UV protection or if a coating was applied to the fabric prior to vinyl. I suspect something was on the fabric because I doubt vinyl would adhere very well to bare fabric. And then there are the countless bumps and ridges caused by stitching and trim tapes. Or did he omit trim tapes under the vinyl???? Wow....this gets interesting....I'd like to see the plane sometime.
If all the issues I've raised have been addressed this might be a game-changer for fabric-covered aircraft.
Last edited by Sam Buchanan; 12-05-2017 at 08:26 PM.
I reckon the answer ultimately will come down to "why not?"
I got a lot of questions about UV stuff when I gave a presentation on using latex paint on my N11, and after talking through the technical aspects answered the naysayers with a simple observation:
The aircraft is hangared, and the only time it is exposed to UV is when I'm flying it.
I don't know anyone that keeps their aircraft out in the elements.
For purely recreational aircraft such as these, I suspect unpainted, unsealed fabric would last years, as they live in airplane houses 99.9% of the time.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.