Digital Output - March 2008 - (Page 31)

industry. “Their white is whiter than anyone else and the price point is excellent. I like the Bubble Free and RAYZor combination because it is so easy to work with. As long as you have the right temperature, then the vinyl doesn’t tack up nearly as much and is more forgiving,” shares Schiltz. The car, created for Leroy and Kevin Rumley, competed in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series (WoO LMS) event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, NC. WoO LMS premiered in 1988 and is considered the most competitive tour for dirt Late Model racers. The Dirt Track in NC traditionally holds the finals doubleheader at the end of each racing season. Located directly behind the racetrack, Schiltz says the Dirt Track is considered one of the Mecca’s of dirt racing, being a 15 million dollar facility. Out of 75 cars at this particular race, the Rumley’s was the only dirt Late Model completely wrapped. The wrap prompted a writer representing Circle Track magazine to contact Schiltz and ask him to write a how-to article on wrapping dirt Late Models. Schiltz took the same concept to PRI, where he wrapped his own dirt Late Model entirely in tiger stripe printed vinyl in homage to a sponsor, Tiger Rear Ends. This wrap is tentatively slated to run on the cover of Circle Track. Connecting Land and Sea Not Your Average Auto Shop West Coast Customs, based in Corona, CA, opened its doors in 1993. This one-stop auto shop offers a wide array of services including paint and body, audio/video, interiors, metal fabrication, exhaust, and lifting and lowering kits. The car remodeling company is well known for its many television appearances. First it was showcased on MTV’s Pimp My Ride and is now currently seen on TLC in the new show Street Customs. Ryan Friedlinghaus started the business with a single concept, to keep auto work under one roof—from full paint jobs to interior fabrication. This vision helped Friedlinghaus and his shop stand out from the crowd. In 2005 the shop began experimenting with vinyl to once again widen that gap between the average auto shop. According to Brad Adamic, art director, West Coast Customs, it was a logical investment. “Vinyl is a very versatile medium. You can wrap on the walls of people’s homes, their cars, the average spending customer and help them avoid spending $40,000 on a customization job.” It also helps West Coast Customs’ business grow, allowing them to create promotional wraps for corporate businesses. Recently Adamic wrapped three RVs for Rockstar Energy Drink. Printing with the 64-inch Mutoh ValueJet 1604 on Oracal vinyl and laminate, the team at West Coast Customs wrapped all three RVs in one week. These tight schedules create challenges. “Deadlines are always the worst,” shares Adamic. Deadlines are even harder if you factor in time differences. The shop has clients worldwide, in countries including, but not limited to, Australia, Dubai, Germany, and Russia. Franchises are located in the Middle East and Russia. Currently, West Coast Customs is advertising its wrap services through its Web site, www.westcoastcustoms.com, but plans to start flooding the market with other multi-media campaigns soon. The shop is a good example of an existing business successfully integrating vehicle wraps into its services. West Coast Customs’ experience and solid customer base aided in this achievement; proving that with knowledge of the market, helpful partners, and strong business sense any shop can create a wrap and profit. GatorWraps formed many partnerships over the years, one of which is with Monaco, a division of Monaco Coach Corporation, one of the largest recreational vehicle manufacturers. They offer a wrap package in conjunction with the RV manufacturer. In Fall 2007, a GatorWraps customer wanted both their Monaco RV and Ranger bass boat wrapped. There are a lot of challenges to wrapping a RV and a boat individually, these challenges more than double when it comes to wrapping them simultaneously. GatorWraps uses a Mutoh ValueJet to print their RV and boat wraps. When wrapping a trailer and boat together, the graphics should flow accordingly. Mike Faulkner, VP, GatorWraps, explains, “You need to make sure you hook the boat up to the back of the RV so you can see if the graphics match up. You have to think about the height of the boat and the height of the RV.” A solid wrap strategy is also needed because boats can’t be wrapped below the waterline. “We design at an angle to create boat graphics,” shares Faulkner. “A boat is slightly taller in the back, so when you design, you need the back to be a little bit taller than the front, meaning from front to back the graphic has to gradually get bigger.” One major boat wrap consideration is water damage. The front of the graphic needs to overlay the back. If the opposite occurs, when the boat is running at high speed the water will beat on the edge, causing it to peel back. When the front overlays the back, the water goes right over it, causing no problems. GatorWraps uses Avery’s Easy Apply RS vinyl on their boat wraps. Faulkner claims clients www.digitaloutput.net trucks, RVs, and we’ve even wrapped a casket.” The shop opened its own vinyl division—West Coast Customs VINYL— with an inaugural 60-foot Renegade car hauler wrap. His main expertise is art design, but Adamic also oversees wrap printing on a Mutoh ValueJet 1604. He religiously uses FELLERS The Bad Wrap software for all wrap templates. “This software made me faster and more conscious about how much material I was wasting before I started using it.” When it comes to actual installation, Adamic usually has someone else lay down the wraps for him in the shop’s 30,000 square foot space. Although he is capable of installing himself, most of his technique developed from trial and error. Adamic admits he wish he knew all of the tricks before he started wrapping. On most projects one of the 30 employees at West Coast Customs aids him in laminating and trimming the vinyl. About 30 percent of the company’s business is vinyl wraps and Adamic feels that number is rising. One reason is affordablity. “It has opened the door for many other customers that want to get something done by West Coast Customs but don’t have a ton of money,” he explains. “Vehicle wraps bring in Wraps created by West Coast Customs. Wrapped in Oracal vinyl and printed on a Mutoh ValueJet 1604. March 2008 Digital Output 31 http://www.digitaloutput.net

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Digital Output - March 2008

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