First ever wrapped Chimaera - sneak preview

[debaron]

One of the things on very long list of stuff to do on the Chim was get the paintwork sorted. It's tired and old as well as full of stone chips!
I had some absurd quotes for respraying it and it even crossed my mind to spray it myself. That was until 'wrapping' it became my idea of choice!

For those not familiar, a thick adhesive backed vinyl film is used to stick all over the car. It's been around a while - mainly for liveries and snazzy artwork on vans but you can get some really nice colours now. The quality of the film is getting much better too. The best ones have 'air release' so the bubbles just pop out of them.

I have a starmist blue Chim and really like the colour plus it matches my interior so I didn't want to go too far off course. I also really like matte colours on cars. Except matte black. That just screams 'drug dealer' to me - especially a bl00dy matte black BMW!!!

I eventually found some matte dark blue - was very hard to get hold of! For some reason matte dark blue isn't really a popular colour - christ knows why - I think it looks amazing.

Anyway - I've spent the last couple days on the bonnet. I won't lie - it's tough!!!!

First attempt ended up in the bin!!! I foolishly whipped the backing paper off and slapped it straight on the bonnet which was horizontal on a work table. Big mistake.......

I wrestled with it for 3 hours before throwing the towel in. You might get away with that on a square flat bonnet but not on the Chims curves.

The technique is to start upright with a strip in the middle and work out to the edges. Then you've got the vents to deal with Honestly - I think this is probably one of the most difficult parts to get right. Not a good car to do your first wrap on!!



Anyway - I struggled on and this is the result: I think it looks stunning.........



























Still a bit of tidying and trimming here and there but the hard work is done. Cant wait to get cracking on the rest of the car

And yes - that is a Cliff Richard calendar on the workshop wall

[Tanguero]

I thought you said you didn't like matte black

[debaron]

I don't - this is matte dark blue.
Moonlight metallic blue to be exact

[braders]

Looks very nice

[alphaone]

Must be the light as it looks matt black in the photos.

Is the wrap much darker than the paint on the car?

[JnP]

It's absolutely great work !!

How much do you think it will cost you for the entire car ?

[debaron]

The wrap came to £320 for 20 meters x 1.5 meters (on a roll - 2 x 10)

The 3M and Avery stuff is about twice the price. I used Oracal who are also very good. Stay away from the budget stuff though.
Whichever one you get make sure it has air release! Can't imagine doing it without!

[gordonsalive]

Great job so far, be sure to post pics of the completed article!

[Stevie Mojo]

Looking good so far.

[YesItsARover]

I think that looks incredible, and extremely tough to do! Would love to see the finished Chim.

[pridaux]

Well done do you not use a heat gun when applying to make it a little more plyable i saw a AC Cobra alluminium body not fiberglass done at the Bromley Classic last year and was a really nice job he could not decide what colour to do the car so did this in the mean time and decided to keep it that way.
Looking forward to seeing the finished job
Andrew

[threespins]

Would it be feasible to do the front of the bonnet say 18" as a form of stone chip protection?

[simonej]

Looks good. Any ideas how you plan to tackle the wheel arches where it transitions from paint to that matt black protective paint? Or where the rear lights are siliconed in and the edge is anything but straight?

[AutoAndy]

It will be interesting to see mat finish on a TVR (As you say only beemers at the moment), although this was at the autosport show in Jan which did look good.



...you could also rent it, and possibly the girls as well