THE NITTY GRITTY
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| Once the vinyl is in place and squeegeed down to activate the adhesive and remove any bubbles or wrinkles, trim tight to the edges of the body panel and around the headlight. Place the second sheet on the adjacent area to be covered in the same manner as the first, allowing 3-4 inches of overlap onto the previous graphics. |
What does it cost to give a full-size pickup or SUV the full-Monte camo job?
A camo kit for a full-size SUV or a pickup with a bed shell runs about $1,000," says Joe Warner, president of Camoclad Inc. and the inventor of this style of body wrap system.
"But you can get a full kit for a Jeep or small pickup or SUV for about $450. The price of each kit depends on the type of graphics you want and how much area you need to cover."
"The best part is if you remove the vinyl in three or four years you still have a brand new paint job underneath," says Warner.
Installation is as easy as removing the protective backing on the 4x5-foot sheets of vinyl film and pressing it down over the bodywork with a plastic squeegee to work out any air pockets or creases that might pop up. The process is then repeated until the job is done.
We went the professional-installer route with Project Deepwoods. Richard Trahan, owner of Advanced Sign & Graphics in New Iberia, Louisiana is a 10-year veteran of installing vinyl graphics and handled our job with ease.
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| Trahan overlaps each sheet and cuts the overlapping edge of te new sheet in an irregular pattern; the irregular cut magically blends over and into the previously installed piece. |
It took Trahan and his 13-year-old son about 10 hours to complete the full body wrap on our 2007 Tundra Double Cab and the A.R.E. bed shell.
The job used a dozen sheets of Camoclad Mossy Oak New Break-Up pattern. The sheets shipped from the company in a heavy duty tube to protect the film from damage during shipping.
Camouflage graphics, especially full-body, aren't for everyone. But for those who do there is no better method than this one.
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| Corners and rounded surfaces pose a problem as vinyl doesn't like to lay flat around contours. Not a problem. Richard uses his extra-sharp razor knife to cut "relief" slits from the point of stress to the edge of the remaining vinyl. This is critical around the corners of the cab, bed shell, bumpers and headlights/taillights. The "falp" that is made folds nicely over to make a smooth transition. It takes about 12 hours to do a full body wrap such as we did on Project Deepwoods. This is a good project to get your kids involved with as Trahan's son, Trevor, shows. They make excellent leaf cutters! |
