Columbia University FSAE Team Car

Again another really fun project with our friends at the Columbia University FSAE team.  What an impressive group of students! Check out their site here.

We worked with the team engineers to create the molds for the cars body out of Precision Board HDU.  The team then molded the carbon fiber panels.  Once completed they sent us the panels for final finishing where our guys wrapped all of the parts in a black brushed metal vinyl.  All of the logo and number decals were then created and installed.

It really turned out great -Congratulations to the 2016 team and best of luck!

Oh and thanks for the tie!

– Steve

RaceCarWrap

Published with permission from KDF Custom Graphics. Source.

I’ll take a Wrap and a Giant Hot Dog Please

This project allowed us to meld two of our skills, vehicle wraps and 3D Sign Making,  into one “unique” looking vehicle.  Our client Callahan’s Hot Dogs in Norwood was in need of a new vehicle wrap to match their now famous Hot Dog Truck. So Nanette dove into the design then Dan called and asked… “Can you build a giant hot dog for the top of the van?”. Of course I said yes

This is how we did it.

First the new design was created for the wrap. As the guys are working on this we’ll have the guys in fabrication building the hot dog.

Callahans-Proof Small

 

We started with the logo and converted it into a 3D file in Enroute Pro. Then sized it up and split it into two parts. We’ll cut the hot dog in slices so we can build a “skeleton” inside of it. This is important – we need this to be strong and solid as it cruises down the highway.

282

Peter has the foam pieces laid out and will begin building the aluminum structure that will hold this all together.

286

 

 

Meanwhile…. back in the “wrap room” Rad and Greg are cranking out the install.

297

292

296 293

We are really customizing this one – all lettering has been removed from the van and we’ll replace them with the name of the van “Minibeast”. we also removed the Ford emblems and fabricated custom emblems that tread “Since 1950″. we cut the letters of out PVC and will paint them metallic with our PPG Paint System.

294

The emblems are cut from PVC then painted metallic. We then printed the graphic directly to the emblem plate.   Once printed we clear coated them.299 300 303

329

Peter has the basics done and he’s ready to test the sizing of the hot dog. 309 318

I’m in the paint room customizing the hubcaps!

328

331

332

334

 

Dan stopped by for an inspection of the wrap – He’s a little anxious to get that Callahan’s hot dog on there! Don’t worry – it’s coming.

345

Holin and Peter have the dog coated with AquaResin, sanded and ready for paint.  We’ll spray prime it and paint the base color then hand paint the details.

377

391

400

 

403

410

Uh oh – can’t get it out the door…. No we got it.

417

Time for the install.        433 442 All good.  (now we have to light it up). And again – I’m hungry.

551

543

– Steve

Published with permission from KDF Custom Graphics. Source.

71′ Chevy Nova SS – Stripes

OK so this isn’t a huge job. BUT this car is awesome and I just thought it would be cool to post the pics.  This classic was brought in for the installation of some custom stripes. And yes – I sat in it!!!

– Steve

IMG_0688

IMG_0691

 

20150723_113642 20150723_113648 20150723_113656 20150723_113714

Published with permission from KDF Custom Graphics. Source.

Vehicle Wrap Color Change

 

A complete vinyl color change on a vehicle is a great way to change things up without the huge expense of repainting. There are so many color and texture options to choose from making your combinations almost endless!

You can full wrap or just accent your vehicle with a huge assortment of colors, metallics, matte, carbon fiber, even chrome!

This wrap began as a red ford fusion sport. The materials chosen were the Avery SW 900 Supreme Cast Garnet Matte Red and Carbon Fiber as accents.

Once again great job to Rad and Greg!

– Steve

IMG_7824

WP_20150528_003

 

 

IMG_7809 IMG_7812  IMG_7826 IMG_7827 IMG_7832 IMG_7833 IMG_7989 IMG_7990 IMG_7991 IMG_7992 IMG_7993 IMG_7994

Published with permission from KDF Custom Graphics. Source.

Let the Wrapping Begin! KDF Custom Wrap Sign

The shop is all abuzz with the news!

We’re very excited  to announce we have completed the construction of our new wrap area! We’ve tripled our capacity and we’re ready to wrap!

Of course now we need a sign for the 18′ walls and you know a small sign won’t do.  So… we went with a 6′ x 7′ footprint.  Nanette came up with a real nice design that we could work with to make a printable dimensional sign.

Here is the original design

Wraps Sign DesignOnce Rad setup the file for production it was time to cut the foam. We started by cutting the elements of the sign out of simple white gator foam of varying thicknesses. 2″, 1″ and 1/2″.
012 Into our new paint shop and all the elements are painted. this is a waterborne paint system so its quick dry – all the parts are back out to the printing department for flatbed printing on our Oce’ 350.

211212

Now its time for assembly. All the elements are on the table – screwed and glued.

213 218

This is basically one long day of work to get this cut, painted,  printed  and up on the wall.

This gives you a good idea of how big this bad boy is. Greg is ready to wrap!

IMG_9853 225

Published with permission from KDF Custom Graphics. Source.