I am Chris Duke, and this is Truckblog.TV.
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Now, we have got project truck blog lifted and it's time to show it off at the upcoming Truck Jam Plus and the Sema show. Today on Truckblog.TV, we are going to show you how to create and install vehicle graphics.
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Using plotting software, I opened the art work I had previously created using vector-based software. The plotter software allows me to specify quite a bit including the number of decals I want to make and the amount of space between each decal. After I positioned and sized the artwork, I feed my plotter, a sheet of vinyl and then I send the artwork off to the plotter so it can cut the decal.
Our 24-inch plotter uses a precision razor blade mounted in a pivoting head so that it can move in all directions as the plotter moves to vinyl back and forth, left and right. To score the vinyl, the plotter's head applies slight pressure to the vinyl in order for the razor blade to cut the vinyl, but not the paper backing.
To separate the decal from a larger roll of vinyl, I use a scotch paper cutter. After the plotter has scored the vinyl, it's time to remove the excess material that we don't
want from the paper. I use a weeding tool, which is basically a thick pin to lift off the vinyl I want removed.
Now, I apply a sheet of transfer paper to the top of the vinyl. This is what you use when you apply the decal to your vehicle. Next, using a plastic squeegee, I adhere the transfer paper to the vinyl and remove any air bubbles that might still be trapped. Finally, I use the scotch paper cutter to trim off the excess transfer paper.
The tools you need to get the job done can be purchased from your local sign shop rather inexpensively. They include a plastic squeegee, a pair of scissors or a scotch paper cutter like I use, a weeding tool and a Xacto knife and a roller transfer tape.
Making your own decals is not expensive, but it does require a lot of time, patience and labor.
Now, the first thing you need to do is make sure your truck is real clean. Just grab some decal spray on microfiber cloth and put in some amount of grease.
Now that we've determined the size and cut our vehicle graphic, it's time to hold it up for the truck to check for fitment, making note of the door handles and door jams and you might need a buddy for this part.
Now thanks to Jason's help we have got our graphic positioned on the truck. We have got a plenty of clearance here for the G. We got a door cut that is going to go through here to break up the G, just a little bit. We have got a door handle here so I cut off the top of the B, not going to be a big deal. Another cut line through here for the door jam and here we have got a handle that is going to cut off the top of the U a little bit, not a big deal again. And then with the T, we will cut off just a little bit of the top and at the bottom of the T, just going to wrap around the fender.
Using some masking tape, you want to create a hinge at the top of each letter using two pieces of tape. Now, we are going to use this scotch blade tool here, which has a razor blade inside and protector piece here so you do not scratch your truck and when you cut each letter, just like this.
To apply each letter, we are going to use some application fluid and a squeegee, both available from your local sign shop. Using this hinge we created with our masking tape, we are going to lift up each letter, peel off the backing. We got to spray some application fluid on the truck, and slowly lay down the graphic. Using your squeegee, you want to get that application fluid out of there starting from the center pressing out as much as you can.
It's been about 15 minutes. We are going to go ahead and start removing the application tape from our T. We are going to use a squeegee with the Teflon sleeve on it to work out any remaining bubbles. And the Teflon sleeve is going to make sure that we don't scratch that vinyl. I have got a little bit of overhanging on the top and the bottom of our T, so on the top here, I am going to do a little bit of trimming with our Xacto knife blade, just does it very carefully, score it lightly and take off the remaining vinyl, and you can use your finger or your squeegee to get it on there.
Now don't worry about the extra water in there that comes up a little bit, don't worry about it, it will take a couple hours for that water to evaporate and even the next day you can come back and press it down a little bit more. So, down here in the bottom, we have the option of cutting it right along the fender line here or you can wrap it -- we typically like to wrap it. So this looks little bit clear that way.
Now there is you, it's going to be a little bit more difficult, because we've got this door jam, it's got a wrap around the back of the cab, and we've got the door handle, so first thing that we have to do is, we have to hinge it from the bottom and slip it up as opposed to all the other letters. We're going down. So I am going to make a rough cut around this door handle. It's not going to be very precise, main goal is just to get the vinyl out of way. I'll just use my common Xacto knife blade to do that.
Now we've got a little bit -- use your time working with these odd shapes, corners. Don't be afraid to lift it back up again, just be careful when you do that. Now this is the bottom left-hand corner of the U, which has got to go around the back of the cab and it's kind of some weird angles here, because of the body line, so just use your hand and use the squeegee tool, but you want to just use your hand just to try to conform it and make it go where you want it to go.
Now, pressing kind of in the center, and then I can try to work it out from there, it's a little bit tricky, just take your time, have some patience and work it. There it is, right around that corner. To got our T laid down, and every now and then you get a bubble, you just can't squeegee out, so we're just going to use our Xacto knife blade or we're just going to barely pop the vinyl there, and we're to come in with our finger or our squeegee, we're going to work it out.
Well, in this graphics kit, we've got two layers, we've got the deep blue text and we've got a silver outline, just go ahead and put on the outline, but peeling off the transfer tape at an angle nice and smooth, we'll take our application fluid, spray the back of it, maybe the truck for some good measure, and the great thing about doing it this way, that kind of locks on there, aids in positioning and you start working out with the application fluid, just like we did for the text.
Now wait about ten minutes, then we'll peel that off. Now it's time to pull off our application tape from the silver outline on our T, then you want to go real nice and slow, be careful of areas like up at the top here, we're going to need to cut. So once again using our squeegee with the Teflon, we're going to work out the air bubbles. And up here we're going to cut again, so it matches with the blue. We've to cut again here carefully and then down here at the bottom, we're going to do the same thing or we wrap it, no, we're going to cut that, and that will be all done.
Well, welcome to the drive'sr side of project Truckblog, we just completed the installation of our graphics kit on both sides of the truck with this metallic blue and a metallic silver outline and while we are at it, we are going to went ahead, added our domain name to the bedside side as well as over here on the bottom of the tailgate. That does it for this episode of Truckblog TV. For more episodes, go to www.truckblog.tv. Also check us out on iTunes.
Do you have automotive related ice creams? Truck related or anything like that? Now, we have got project Truckblog lifted, it's time to show it off. It is -- now we've got Truckblog - are we filming? And this is Truckblog TV. And this is Truckblog TV. Perfect. Just going to basically throw it at you. I am Chris Duke and this is Truckblog TV.
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