LanghamP Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 At age 45 I realized that having a Captain America sticker on the side of my Inmotion V5F was the perfect solution to my mid-life crisis. The helmet works better to cover up my bald spot than my combed over hair + pony tail. However, and with emotion akin to a 2 year old dropping his ice-cream cone on the floor, I failed in putting the Captain America sticker as I could not make it fit smoothly, and further attempts eventually degraded the sticker(s). I did try several things including a hair dryer (I figured I'd buy another sticker and use the present one as practice) but I felt I was trying to square a round peg as I was confronted with the bane of cartographers everywhere; how do you put a flat plane on a sphere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RooEUC Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 You have to make cuts in equal segments from near the centre (but not all the way to the centre) out to the edge and remove thin strips or just overlap. It's quite difficult to get it perfect on such a large sticker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingfelder Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 I've seen gorgeous full-body stickers on some wheels ... some guy in China was making them. Wish I could steer you to him ... but somebody out there is indeed doing these, and with complex graphics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbfrese Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 6 hours ago, LanghamP said: I did try several things including a hair dryer... Did applying heat allow the material to stretch at all? If so, keep applying the heat as you work around the sticker from the middle outward, peeling it back off and sticking it back on as many times as needed. If it is the same vinyl material used for car wraps, it will stretch enough to go on smoothly all the way around. It just takes a lot of work and patience. Was there any indication on the peel-away backing of what the material is? Does it say 3M or other manufacturer name and perhaps a stock number for the product? If it is auto-wrap style vinyl, heat alone should do the trick. I wouldn't cut the vinyl at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RooEUC Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 2 hours ago, dbfrese said: Did applying heat allow the material to stretch at all? If so, keep applying the heat as you work around the sticker from the middle outward, peeling it back off and sticking it back on as many times as needed. If it is the same vinyl material used for car wraps, it will stretch enough to go on smoothly all the way around. It just takes a lot of work and patience. Was there any indication on the peel-away backing of what the material is? Does it say 3M or other manufacturer name and perhaps a stock number for the product? If it is auto-wrap style vinyl, heat alone should do the trick. I wouldn't cut the vinyl at all. I agree if it's auto wrap material heat should let you conform it to pretty much any curve. I thought it was just a simple sticker without any stretch, in which case it would have to be cut and that's a really tricky job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanghamP Posted May 20, 2017 Author Share Posted May 20, 2017 The outer edge of the sticker did not shrink when heat was applied. I was hoping it would act like shrink wrap. Basically there is too much outer edge. I did cut out little pizza slices but the end result looked so sloppy I removed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbfrese Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 22 minutes ago, LanghamP said: The outer edge of the sticker did not shrink when heat was applied. Auto wrap type vinyl doesn't shrink, it's made to stretch. Did you try to stretch it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxLinux Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 3 hours ago, Dingfelder said: I've seen gorgeous full-body stickers on some wheels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanghamP Posted May 20, 2017 Author Share Posted May 20, 2017 10 minutes ago, dbfrese said: Auto wrap type vinyl doesn't shrink, it's made to stretch. Did you try to stretch it? This left me scratching my head as it feels like the diameter of the sticker is less than the diameter of the wheel. That's impossible, of course, and in retrospect. Then it must be the center of the sticker that needed to be stretched; punched out if you will. That I did not attempt or think about at the time. I can conceptualize the process but I wouldn't want to sacrifice another $22 (evidently $30 now) to the great alter of experimentation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingfelder Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 22 minutes ago, MaxLinux said: Great example, those look fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehab1 Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 I purchased a roll of camouflage vinyl wrap for my ACM that I am going to attempt to apply next week. This is a great video showing how to wrap a motorcycle helmet. Granted the helmet is more extreme in contour but the video provides some great advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ombre Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 The correct technique is to spray the surface of the wheel and the underside (sticky part) of the decal with soapy water. Get it really wet so it slides around. Then use a hair dryer to soften and stretch the decal as it lays on the wheel. Work it outward from the center for several minutes carefully to gradually work out the bubbles. You may have to spray on more water, and that's OK. Be patient. Absolutely don't cut the decal! If you end up with a few bubbles at the end, leave the wheel in the sun for a day or two and they may go away. Stubborn bubbles can be pricked with a pin later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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