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Does anyone want their boat Vinyl Wrapped?


Jimmiboy

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Would anyone like their boat wrapped? I have been wrapping cars and vans and working in the sign industry for years. Even though I have seen a few on the Internet I live alongside the grand union and I never see any wrapped boats cruising past. It’s gaining popularity with sea going craft but talking to narrowboat owners, even though vinyl is cheaper than painting there are concerns that it isn’t as robust. Obviously it is incredibly easy to stick a new piece of vinyl over any damage and it is virtually invisible however it isn’t ideal.  But there are some fantastic products available now, that can “heal” when you warm up the scratches with a hairdryer.  They are also impervious to ultraviolet so will keep the colours vivid and stop them from fading. These products have been developed to protect supercars and their incredibly expensive paint jobs so in my opinion would do equally well protecting a narrowboat. To put my theory to the test I would be prepared to work for free and get the vinyl at cost if someone is prepared to let me wrap all (or part) or their boat. If I am wrong the vinyl can be removed leaving no damage to existing paint.

Edited by Jimmiboy
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6 minutes ago, Jimmiboy said:

Would anyone like their boat wrapped? I have been wrapping cars and vans and working in the sign industry for years. Even though I have seen a few on the Internet I live alongside the grand union and I never see any wrapped boats cruising past. It’s gaining popularity with sea going craft but talking to narrowboat owners, even though vinyl is cheaper than painting there are concerns that it isn’t as robust. Obviously it is incredibly easy to stick a new piece of vinyl over any damage and it is virtually invisible however it isn’t ideal.  But there are some fantastic products available now, that can “heal” when you warm up the scratches with a hairdryer.  They are also impervious to ultraviolet so will keep the colours vivid and stop them from fading. These products have been developed to protect supercars and their incredibly expensive paint jobs so in my opinion would do equally well protecting a narrowboat. To put my theory to the test I would be prepared to work for free and get the vinyl at cost if someone is prepared to let me wrap all (or part) or their boat. If I am wrong the vinyl can be removed leaving no damage to existing paint.

My mate had his narrowboat completely wrapped. I sold it for him last year, it was wrapped about 4 or 5 years ago. The bloke who bought it remarked on how good the paint looked, nothing to hide so I told him it was wrapped. You wouldnt know unless you were told. It cost him thousands less than a full repaint. 

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2 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

I've never seen a wrapped car, so is it fairly obvious that a vehicle has been wrapped or does it look like paint? (Maybe I have seen one and didn't know it, which answers my own question!!!)

Many cars have wrapped trim parts, often black areas. My own Skoda Fabia has such wrapped areas beside the front and rear door windows. This has bubbled and is now breaking away in small areas. Luckily it has been painted underneath. In this case it looks like mat black paint.

 

I would be very concerned about getting a neat 100% adhered seal around the windows, vents, aerials, and any supports for the hand rails on a  boat and also how it would stand up to banging into branches etc..

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2 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Many cars have wrapped trim parts, often black areas. My own Skoda Fabia has such wrapped areas beside the front and rear door windows. This has bubbled and is now breaking away in small areas. Luckily it has been painted underneath. In this case it looks like mat black paint.

 

I would be very concerned about getting a neat 100% adhered seal around the windows, vents, aerials, and any supports for the hand rails on a  boat and also how it would stand up to banging into branches etc..

My mates boat stood up very well indeed. He didnt have the roof done but both sides and front and back and the stuff didnt peel anywhere. He is good at clouting trees lol and it proved strong. However one major benefit over paint is that if you do score it deeply instead of paying fourteen billion pounds to have the panel painted an exellent repair can be done very quickly at little cost, he had such a repair when he took it THROUGH a tree ?

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There has been a full size narrowboat fully vinyl wrapped on the west end of the K&a for at least 5 years.  Can't yet remember its name, but last time I saw it, it still looked very impressive.  And it is definitely a mover, not a parker!  The design looks similar to a collage of "The Wind in the Willows" sort of picture.

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I used vinyl wrap on my rear door 4 years ago. Still looks good as new, and we are on the boat nearly all the time, so it gets lots of use, bags of coal carried through etc. I have always thought there is a great opportunity out there just waiting for some enterprising person to take it on. My pal has been wrapping police and emergency vehicles for years!

 

 

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In the early '70s Levi were offering to wrap Minis with a Levi denim design for free, so it is hardly new technology I had a mini Traveller at the time, which they wouldn't do).  I've seen a couple of wrapped boats and they do look good.  I would rather use it over a good paint job rather than use it as a means of covering up poor paintwork.

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17 minutes ago, SUIGENERIS said:

I used vinyl wrap on my rear door 4 years ago. Still looks good as new, and we are on the boat nearly all the time, so it gets lots of use, bags of coal carried through etc. I have always thought there is a great opportunity out there just waiting for some enterprising person to take it on. My pal has been wrapping police and emergency vehicles for years!

 

 

Did he do this one?

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3 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Surly its all down to  what is under the vinyl and how good the original paint is ?

This is true. My mates boat was very scratched all over due to his driving ability!! however it wasnt rusty so needed no prep before being wrapped. The saving was significant and the steel was already protected by paint so a good result for him. If a boat has been left to go rusty then wrapping it in my opinion would not be a good idea. He mainly did it to change the colour of the boat.

Edited by mrsmelly
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2 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

Many cars have wrapped trim parts, often black areas. My own Skoda Fabia has such wrapped areas beside the front and rear door windows. This has bubbled and is now breaking away in small areas. Luckily it has been painted underneath. In this case it looks like mat black paint.

 

I would be very concerned about getting a neat 100% adhered seal around the windows, vents, aerials, and any supports for the hand rails on a  boat and also how it would stand up to banging into branches etc..

The best thing to do is remove all external fixtures, Then refit them once the vinyl has been fitted. If it’s something that cannot be removed then it would need to be cut around. This is why you get a professional  vinyl fitter to install it for you!  As previously mentioned a vinyl patch could be put over any damage quite easily by anybody. There is a clear vinyl product available now that can be fitted over the top of any existing finish. This has the ability to “heal” any surface scratches using hot air, it will also protect from fading due to ultraviolet light.

1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

This is true. My mates boat was very scratched all over due to his driving ability!! however it wasnt rusty so needed no prep before being wrapped. The saving was significant and the steel was already protected by paint so a good result for him. If a boat has been left to go rusty then wrapping it in my opinion would not be a good idea. He mainly did it to change the colour of the boat.

Any rust would need rubbing down and treating, however even if the boat was patchy with primer and paint it would have no effect to the finish of the vinyl as long as the surface underneath was smooth. The vinyl is very thin so like someone pointed out, The better the surface underneath the better the finish. Obviously Matt vinyl will hide lumps and bumps much better than gloss.

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13 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Can you just vinyl wrap over the spiders, or do they need to be squashed flat first like you do when painting?

Jen ?

Splat them flat afterwards, it’s simpler. 


Or leave them as a conversation piece...

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16 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Can you just vinyl wrap over the spiders, or do they need to be squashed flat first like you do when painting?

Jen ?

They will be in the brochure as “natural features” and we don’t charge extra for them!
If you are doing it outside you can almost guarantee to get some insects and encapsulated forever.

  • Haha 1
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2 hours ago, Jimmiboy said:

Would anyone like their boat wrapped? I have been wrapping cars and vans and working in the sign industry for years. Even though I have seen a few on the Internet I live alongside the grand union and I never see any wrapped boats cruising past. It’s gaining popularity with sea going craft but talking to narrowboat owners, even though vinyl is cheaper than painting there are concerns that it isn’t as robust. Obviously it is incredibly easy to stick a new piece of vinyl over any damage and it is virtually invisible however it isn’t ideal.  But there are some fantastic products available now, that can “heal” when you warm up the scratches with a hairdryer.  They are also impervious to ultraviolet so will keep the colours vivid and stop them from fading. These products have been developed to protect supercars and their incredibly expensive paint jobs so in my opinion would do equally well protecting a narrowboat. To put my theory to the test I would be prepared to work for free and get the vinyl at cost if someone is prepared to let me wrap all (or part) or their boat. If I am wrong the vinyl can be removed leaving no damage to existing paint.

This is something we have been discussing having done. We've new windows going in later this month so timing could be just right

 

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5 minutes ago, Amber34 said:

This is something we have been discussing having done. We've new windows going in later this month so timing could be just right

 

There ya go Jimmiboy,   yer first victim  :D

  • Greenie 1
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8 hours ago, Mike Tee said:

I've never seen a wrapped car, so is it fairly obvious that a vehicle has been wrapped or does it look like paint? (Maybe I have seen one and didn't know it, which answers my own question!!!)

This guy does it on supercars https://dave.uktv.co.uk/shows/yianni-supercar-customiser/ 

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9 hours ago, Jimmiboy said:

To put my theory to the test I would be prepared to work for free and get the vinyl at cost if someone is prepared to let me wrap all (or part) or their boat. If I am wrong the vinyl can be removed leaving no damage to existing paint.

I'm interested. :)

 

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