We’re all aware of the hassles in getting our cars, bikes, pickups alike, repainted. Because as much as we love them, and no matter how much care we put into them, we can never completely protect them from the hundreds of tiny scratches and dents that come their way from the typical Indian driving conditions.
Whether it be those off pebbles and stones flying around when driving on a rough patch of the road, or by the stubborn mud and tar marks which when forcefully washed off, take away a bit of the paint as well. Of course, we cannot forget the hundreds of nicks and small (big in some painful cases) dents that our fellow civilians bestow upon our rides while racing to save seconds of their time during the daily commute.
When all these need to be taken care of, before everything, come the costs – the area to be repainted, the quality of paint, the labour effort involved and the fact that we’re forced to part with our beloved vehicle for a period of at least a week to ten days. The hassles don’t end here. Issues like the paint shade not visually blending in, making the repainted patch stand out, or the difference in quality and finish of the paint and lacquer of the painted body part and the rest of the car, make it a difficult decision to get our rides repainted.
For all standard problems come custom solutions and this one in particular is creative, “flexible”, hassle free and easy on our wallets.
If you’re looking for the next skin graft on your ride, there’s a new option that’s been trending lately.
Be it a custom theme, a graphic patch, a single body part, or a set of them, or the entire vehicle, Body Wraps have made it smart, quick, custom, and with an “all cuisine buffet” of a variety, can completely level up the looks of our ride and the way we look at it.
Multiple techniques and materials are used to make wraps. There is such a huge variety of Printing Machines available in the market which are used to produce infinite shades, patterns or graphics – sometimes custom to user preference, on large vinyl sheets.
Wraps range from regular Vinyl sheets, to high finish protective film coated quality wraps. Companies like 3M use films with self developed technologies which refine the methods of application that enable multiple lift-and-reposition efforts with what they call “pressure activated adhesive backing”. In order to provide for even, smoothed out, corner to corner bubble free application, these wraps come undercoated with superfine air release channels on the reverse side of the film.
Apart from the basic list of regular colours like red, blue, grey, black, white and about a hundred others, come a variety of colours and patterns like lime green, deep purple, turquoise, flat orange, flat yellow etc. and other exciting textures like – brushed metal, polished chrome, tinted chrome, carbon fibre, azure white, and white carbon fabric – of which carbon fibre and the flats are the recently trending options. One can also make their own pattern on photoshop or other illustration / visual softwares, convert them to coral draw and directly get them printed, while having the option (provided by most printer services) of choosing the material of wrap to be printed upon.
Another of the many advantages that wraps have is of being a protective layer over the paint underneath. They are easily removable for a period of upto three years and leave no paint damage except for some amounts of adhesive residue which can be cleaned without any hassle or painstaking effort.
It is generally advisable not to go for a full body wrap and to leave a certain part or area of your vehicle unwrapped in order to allow for the original colour of the body – the one in the registration – to be visible.
Wraps are also nowadays extensively used as part of marketing and business campaigns by multiple growing companies and even global organizations. Whether it be hospitals, grocery stores, flower and gift shops, enthusiast communities, or upcoming brands with popular products, everyone is going for a wrap on their advertising vehicle.
The next time you see a really eye catching and funky shade on a car, motorcycle frame, or a pickup, or see a very catchy slogan and set of graphics on the side of a minivan or bus, look again carefully. It just might be a wrap!
