Vinyl graphics Vs. Paint

I work in a lot of different custom paint markets. I am finding that computer generated graphics on vinyl are starting to show up on many commercial vehicles, and some segments of the hobby, like sand rails, and other off road toys.

They don't offer the candy or metallic finishes, or the depth of a glossy finish, but there is no doubt that they can be breathtaking, and offer a degree of art many painters cannot match.

I am seeing some vinyl suppliers charging "paint" prices, but there is usually some savings over paint, if you can live without the gloss-irridescence-depth of paints.

Here is a chance to voice you opinion about their suitability for custom cars.

I can see places the vinyl works, commercial etc. I'm a fan of paint and
the experience it takes to do.

I've kind of got mixed feelings I used a couple of small ones on the Plymouth that I had originally intended to be hand lettered.

At this point I am also considering have a set reproduced for my 76 True Spirit (as the original "pin stripping" , True Spirit name and tailgate name were factory installed decals. I could be wrong, but I think the computor generated graphics would likely be closer to original in style than could be done by hand.....but I guess that depands on the painter.

Personally I think the hand painted stuff looks a little classier up close.

I kind of wonder with the availability of higher quality vinyl designs if we will start to see another short lived (?) fad like we did in the 70s with all the murals and overdone pin stripping.

I was partially responsible for the fad in the 70's as I painted murals on conversion vans @ Winnebago back then and late 70's owned a custom paint shop. These days i do digitally printed stuff, so I guess I'm still bein' a trouble maker. I still prefer the real paint, but I have vinyl on my truck cuz' it would just be wrong to be sellin' vinyl with a painted truck if you know what i mean. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

70`s murals were cool, i cant wait for that fad too come back! As for vinyl, its good on some things but bad on others, i still prefer hand painted hot rods. I was debating with myself today on the hand painted or stick on pinstriping for my car, i do not have the money to pay someone, and my skills are not that good yet imo, so i thought about the stick on stripes, but i cant bring myself to do it , so im gonna try it myself.

Mike, I agree that the vinyl would look more like decal. I think there will eventually be acceptance of vinyl graphics, since the life span is much better than in the '70s when it was used so much on muscle cars. The things that will make a difference in how soon it happens are cost, and if they can be incorporated into the paint nicely, without looking "cheezy" or cheap.

As far as fads, They are all temporary, except flames. last year it was tribal graphics, and skulls. Right now its flat black finishes, and "realfire"/"trufire" flames. It looks like next year will be "all the demons of Hell", and "pinup girl" art. My guess is that the flat finishes, and retro look will be further developed into '40s-'50s art styles, and other colors besides black.

The new shows on television are making it all happen much faster than before. Fads explode in a few months, and then die very very quickly. For those that don't know....the turnkey custom choppers are now flooding the market, values are plummeting, and bike builders are closing nation wide. The TV shows caused the public to get excited, they bought a lot of bikes, and now the newly involved "bikers" found out that they don't like the lifestyle, or that bad roads, or long trips on a chopper will beat you to death! The ones who are staying involved are starting to buy "baggers" so they can enjoy the trip.

Nothing kills a fad faster than when everyone starts doing the same thing at the same time! Consult your TV Guide to see what the next popular vehicle will be! :-)

Some old stuff.

Nice work!

Thanks Hotrod. I was much younger then. :eek: :D :D

With your artistic ability, the vinyl should just become another medium for you to work in.

Seems like these days I have just enough time to knock out jobs and go on to the next one. Never seem to have time for the more creative stuff anymore. Maybe someday. :CRY:

I found years ago that if I kept myself tied up with restorations, I was missing the oportuities to do the custom work, which meant that I also had less custom work out there attracting more of the same. Today I refuse the restorations unless I'm slow.

I've been doing more mural and illustration work in the last couple years, and it's being well recieved, so I expect the interest to continue for a percentage of my customers. You know what they say...."everything old is new again!"

".....Nothing kills a fad faster than when everyone starts doing the same thing at the same time!......"

There is a lot of truth in that.....we saw that with a bunch of stuff over the years CB radios, 4WD, the pastel colors, I remember when almost car show you went to was dominated with tri-5 Chevies.

You guys that have the ability to do the graphics have always amased me. I can see HRPs point about it being just another medium...I suspect there are a lot of guys like me who would have a general Idea about what they wanted but have to leave it to someone with the talent to actually do the work and flesh it out.

Here's an idea -

How about a specially adapted ink jet printer that mounts to the car and 'prints' the image directly on the body panel.

Its being done now in bakeries with cake icing!!!!

But - it would never compete with hand air brushed graphics.

I personally think that there will be a slowly evolving niche for it, but here are some thoughts:

It will not be widely popular for many years.

Cost will be a factor in how fast it is accepted.

Paint will still be preferred by most, because it is traditional, and because vinyl will continue long-term to be viewed by many as being a second rate alternative. In other words, your car won't seem as "classy".

The availability of a high gloss finish.

Some sort of "bordering" that will make the edge of the vinyl less obvious.

The use of art styles that look like painted art, rather than looking like a photo.

Like some i like paint on a speciality vehicle . But for a every day runner and change of mind vinyl is a good choice . I'm allmost ready to change my truck but the rod will be paint .

A nice style for your truck.

I personally think that if someone designed some quality large scale flames, with a gloss finish, in classic and contemporary styles, there would be some interest.......but not if they are only 2 feet long! :-(

HRP this is brothers ranger hood . Birds like it there in W.V. too LOL . The owner of the graphics shop is my sister in laws nephew and he does some good ideas if you bring them to him. I thought of the vinyl for a quickie for the rod untill paint day . But i get them really discounted down . Vinyl can be expensive also depending on height and length.

This pic is a change we did on the truck one good thing about vinyl

I have heard some prices close to what I charge for paint....which surprised me. Seems like they would be considerably less.

You need to charge more or move closer to Chicago . Not really knowing the business but could guess the truck graphics installed would be close to $500

No thanks. I moved away from illinois in '75. :-)

:( ok ill pay plane fare come visit LOL

No thanks, I've been here too long. I can no longer deal with rusted out cars, 90 degrees & 90% would make me melt, and I freeze solid at temperatures below 60. :-)

does anybody on here make vinyl graphics? i am looking into a nice set for mym car just to get a name going for myself nothing big, just maybe some 2-3 feet by 8 inches . something int he terms of "freddy 3 racing" if anybody has photo shop that'd be great if you could make a pattern in a nice nostaligc font . please? :LOL:

I have a vinyl cutter and software for personal use only, as I got tired of being at the mercy of the sign shops when I needed a race car lettered. I purchesed a couple (E.P.S.) cutter files of some hand painted pinstripping to put on the tail of the sprint car and from 5 feet away you can not tell it's a decal and if ya clear coated over it I'm not sure if anybody except a very trained eye could tell.
The vinyl industry, just like everything else electronic is coming at leaps and bounds.
The vinyls are getting thinner and thinner and the colors are becoming available in any thing you can dream up. They evan have a bright treadplate that looks real. Metallics and candies are available. And the newest deal is a digital printing system that will print anything you want on vinyl, I've seen lettering on circle trackers lately where the numbers and/or flames fade from yellow to orange to red and such where untill the last couple of years could only be achieved with an airbrush... Before recently if you wanted a white number with a gray outline and a black shadow you would have to layer the different color vinyls,but not anymore,they just print the say grey & black on a piece of white viny,and then just cut it out on the plotter. With all the new technology and materials that are now available I think your gonna be seeing more and more of it in the custom car field........

i dont know how to resize pics so bare with me! denny, theres more then one old style font :confused: didnt think it was that popular.

im not sure now:LOL: maybe something like,

I do vinyl but I hesitate to offer because I'm so backed up right now I wouldn't be ale to get to it for some time.

transparent,? with the car being yellow that would look cool with a white outline in that font. dang your good! :LOL: how about trying it like the beebe mulligan font, twin colors white n yellow faded together. i was thinking of sticking it on the rear quater up top, long wise down the side of the car, no funny angles or anything. or mayber the front fender up top

:confused: :cool: :confused: :cool:

on top of the quaters under the 1/4 windows to the back of the car on top of the body line. <i was talking about the color from the beebe mulligan :D it looks good!

:eek: :LOL: got any more cool fonts? :LOL: hey i should get one of these programs this is fun

I'd be interested in using them on my big RC airplanes...warbirds. Nose art is very difficult to get anyone to paint and decals just look out of place. Weight is always a concern so thin light weight is the order of the day.

Gas the orange looks the best . Quarter is the best place since hopefully thats what someone else will see.

how about red,blue, green???????? im just guessing differnt ideas.

My initial impression was that this thread was about vinyl graphics like the vinyl wraps that nearly cover the entire car. I have seen some that I would seriously consider using if the design was to my liking and the pricing was reasonable. There is a company name Ape Wraps that did a complete vinyl wrap on a Nova for Horsepower TV. It was really pretty cool. I could see using that stuff versus a complete and very expesive paint job. Currently they are doing vinyls for trucks and custom stuff. Would be nice if they got more involved in art work for rods and customs.

Here is the link for the Nova wrap: http://www.apewraps.com/spike-tv.asp

These were some of the same questions I would ask, considering I've seen some pretty pricey vinyl jobs. If I ever have catalyst poisoning, I'll buy the equipment and sell vinyl. I'll let you know how it works out. :-)

Well, I guess I am guilty!

I tell my kids not to make the mistake of believing that everyone else thinks the same as you. I would have bet a weeks pay that the majority of members here would reject the vinyl as a viable option for custom graphics. I should listen to my own advise. :-(

Maybe it's a function of my being a member of the "baby boomer" generation. I believe we have been conditioned through our experiences that paint was the only reliable way to do things. Perhaps the large age spead our members has shown me that there is more of a market for vinyl today than I thought.

You learn something new every day. :-)

After seeing some of the vinyl wrap commercial jobs in town, I will have to say that I am impressed with what is possible! How it fits into the custom world may be more a function of style, and the operator's artistic ability.

Obviously, it won't fix a rustout or a dent, make a fender fit right, or give a car that "coffee table finish", but I can see it being an alternative for graphics. I don't think it is much of a stretch to guess we will be seeing more people using it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DennyW

Hey, maybe someone should develop a complete vinyl paste on for a paint job. Boy, that would be fun to watch them put that on. :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

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This just occured to me! Say you have an old Datsun, and can't afford a high demand car of some sort. You simply go down to the vinyl store with top, side, front, and back pictures of a '57 Bel Air.......Have it printed on vinyl.....and installed on your Datsun! .....and make sure the '57 in the pictures has a killer paint gloss!

Wadda ya think? :-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DennyW

There ya go !!! You can just tell people it is a little short 57. :LOL: :LOL:

I was just thinking also, what do you do if you get a scratch ? How would you patch that ? I mean, a full cover has to be pretty expensive to do. Unlike paint where you would just do a panel section to repair it.

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If you go over to WalMart, they have swimming pool patch kits. :-)~