Suggestions First time rally stripes

[Stacey K]

Hello! I recently opened a storefront and have three customers looking for rally stripes. I've never had a request for these before and I'm looking for some advice. I've attached a clip of the first one I plan to attack (2012 Silverado 1500). I looked for pre-made rally stripes in this style but did not find any so it looks like I'm doing these from scratch. I have quite a bit of experience with applying vehicle graphics but not rally stripes and haven't done any type of wraps either.
1. Should I use wrap vinyl for this or a regular pro-cast vinyl?
2. Do I cut around the handle and Chevy emblem or do I need to remove the emblem?
3. Any tips? Paper mask and wet apply I assume?
Thanks everyone!

 

[papabud]

that looks pretty straight forward. i would remove the logo, you will never get a good look by cutting around it.
premask would be very important to keep it all straight and the pieces together.
no need to wet apply something like this.
the logo can be put back on with the original adhesive if you dont destroy it. or a little vhb will do the trick

 

[eahicks]

Get some knifeless tape and go around the door handle and emblem. Or, you can plot the vinyl with the shapes cut out and just drop in place.

 

[JTBoh]

Wrap the roof too or it'll look bad.
+1 for knifeless tape

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

1) I would recommend 3M 1080 or a similar air release vinyl for these applications. It will be a lot easier to apply over contours than regular vinyl.
2) I would suggest removing the emblem and reapplying with VHB tape. The handle should be easy enough to cut around.
3) Mask, but do not wet apply if you use the above suggested material.

 

[ams]

1. Cast is always nice, but isn't required. Do whatever you want.
2. If you want to remove the emblem you can, alot of people cut around it. But if you cut it wrong, it'll screw the whole stripe up.
3. DO NOT WET APPLY

 

[OhioSigns]

This truck should be pretty easy. I would remove the emblem and use knifeless tape around the handle. My go to materials would be 3M 180mC and RTape 4075RLA.

If you are going to be doing quite a bit of stripes, keep in mind that going over front and rear bumpers or crazy shapes in the body is tricky since body lines will throw the stripes off at angles. You either have to make a template to accommodate for the angles, design it in your software and cut them with a plotter OR you can use knifeless tape to lay out the design. Knifeless tape is my preferred method unless I'm going to be doing a bunch of the same exact vehicle and you can't get away with just straight stripes. I've seen some hacked up jobs where they just use straight stripes and then cut and overlap the vinyl at every body line. Striping is more time consuming than it looks to do them correctly, especially if they don't just start at the hood and end at the trunk with straight stripes

 

[ikarasu]

I was going to say use knifeless, then I saw your small out stripes.

Cut 1080/180 with a plotter, premask, dry apply. I'd remove the emblem... If your good enough with illustrator, you can add a 1/8 offset around the door handle, it'll make it look good and you won't need to remove the handle.

I guess you could do that with the emblem too... But they come up with a little beat of heat and a scraper pretty easily, so long as your not prying at a weak spot they shouldn't get damaged either.

 

[Stacey K]

Update and another question! Thank you all for your help with these rally stripes! I learned a few things...
1. Do NOT try and cut around the emblem...it just does not work
2. Knifeless tape is the best thing since sliced bread.
3. 3M 180 is some great vinyl and dry apply with this vinyl is a breeze!
I started on the tailgate thinking I could cut around the handle and emblem...ya, that didn't work. Then I plotted around the handle and removed the emblem with some heat and fishing line. I spent the next 30 minutes removing the sticky stuff...(need a better way to do this). I cut a hole where the handle is so I had a perfectly smooth application then just had to touch up a bit around the handle. The hood went well except that I had a hard time reaching and had a couple bubbles. I waited 15 minutes for them to go down a bit then divided them into quarters and worked them out with my finger. Did I do this right? IDK but it turned out pretty good for my first try. I attached pics..it's raining...those aren't bubbles LOL

QUESTION! How do I put the emblem back on? Do I use a grease pencil and trace the emblem then cut like 1/2" in and then reapply the emblem? How much "underlap" should I leave? Thanks All!