Wrap odyssey: Taming the Ducati Fire Skull

Sometimes I wake up in the morning and an idea just pops into my head. No longer content to just head to work, turn on the PC, and run through the day as normal, I need a challenge. It starts as a general desire to do something different, creative, and that pushes the boundaries of my comfort zone and teaches me something new.

Having been a journalist for some twelve years now I have done a lot of challenging things after been struck with the desire to do something that pushes me. These range from working undercover for national newspapers, to abseiling down rock faces while recording an interview, to driving across the country in a souped-up 320bhp Ford Focus turbo-driven beast to get it colour changed and write a story on the experience just in time for press deadline. But it is fair to say that attempting to design a full-colour digitally printed graphic, find someone brave enough to help me, and then learn how to wrap it around a Ducati 620ss racing bike in less than two days will rank in my top five most crazy escapades to date.



The first mission was to find willing conspirators, which came in the form of wide-format printer manufacturer Roland DG and its academy and creative centre manager Joe Wigzell, as well as digitally printable vinyl specialist Metamark. Listening to my initial idea about using its Walsall College-based Roland DG Academy to teach me the arts of wrapping, with the aim of creating a finished bike in one day, Wigzell was enthusiastic and yet a little bemused by my gung-ho ambition.



His advice was sound and he counselled that we begin the project in Walsall and see how far we could get by the time the college locked up at 6.30pm and follow this up with a finishing day at Roland DG’s headquarters and Creative Centre in Clevedon. The final co-conspirator would be one of the country’s most experienced technicians in this area, James Deacon, who is not only Roland DG’s chief wrap trainer and owner of Bigger Stickers, but is also the tame wrapper for none other than iconic UK motoring show Wheeler Dealers. Suitably excited—it is my favourite TV series —I learned he would be the one to teach me the dark arts of getting vinyl to stretch and flow smoothly across the most difficult shapes.

Preparing for battle

The next challenge was to find a bike and design the graphics. Enter Sign-Link’s own business development manager James Taylor and his Ducati 620 Super Sport bike. Being something of a rebel in his younger years his only advice was, ‘Something impressive, something with skulls’. After scouring stock photo libraries, our own database, and spending hours failing to create something in Adobe Photoshop, I finally hit pay dirt. Resigning myself to the fact that this task was seemingly impossible I clicked on one more page and there it was—something impressive, something with skulls. Can we really pull this off, I thought?



Well, sending in the graphic to Deacon after a while of tweaking and shaping, his initial response was happily one of real enthusiasm. Always up for a challenge this would be the first Ducati he had ever attempted in sixteen years on the job, advising that motorbikes are among the most difficult challenge a wrapper can have—no pressure then.

So, with no further ado I sent the bike off for a full deep clean at JHS Racing in Bristol, which specialises in Ducatis. This was a critical first step, as it is essential to remove all heavy dirt from the bike and give it a thorough clean down with some form of detergent before any fine cleaning can take place. The next step was to hire a specially adapted bike transporter from the mysterious sounding Morpheus Motorcycles and get the Ducati tucked in for its journey.



On the road

The next morning as dawn was breaking, one of our cameramen, Lucas Fedyniak–Hopes and I, hit the road and headed north. Arriving at the site we manoeuvred the bike gingerly with the help of Wigzell and Deacon and tried not to drop £5,000 worth of thoroughbred machinery onto the tarmac before wheeling it into its home for day one, the Roland DG Academy’s Walsall College site.

Talking to both of our helpers, they were keen to emphasise that no one can learn to wrap in two days, instead the training courses that are run at the college are designed to give sign-makers a solid grounding in the principles of wrapping and provide them with an armoury of tips, tricks, and techniques to take home and practice with.



The first task was to get the bike sparkling, and so Deacon showed me how each and every recess, crevice, and surface needs to be thoroughly cleaned down using a four step process. We had already done the first clean at JHS Racing. So, the next steps were to use a solvent-based cleaner to go over the bike, then again with a mix of water and pure alcohol, followed by a final clean with pure alcohol. Fast forward two hours of painstaking work and the next step was to remove the existing decals on the bike. This was done using a Makita heat gun and gently melting the adhesive and ever so gently scraping, picking, and pulling them off before cleaning of any residual glue.

“The last two cleaning stages ideally need to be done by the fitter who is responsible for the wrap, not the installer helping,” says Deacon, adding: “This is because the fitter needs to remain accountable for preparing the surface, and not blame the installer later for any problems.”

Up to speed

Now we were ready for the really exciting stuff. The graphics to be used for the bike compromised two mirrored graphics for the side fairings (1200 x 1062mm) depicting a flaming skull, and five smaller 500 x 500mm flame graphics for the front and rear of the bike as well as the helmet—each printed on Metamark vinyl using a Roland DG VersaCAMM and allowed to outgas for two days before. The final design elements were some cut vinyl Ducati logos and silver carbon fiber-effect film for the finishing touches.



The outgassing is an absolutely vital step if you are using solvent inks, as if they are not given this time the residual solvent fumes will eat through the adhesive on its underside and cause the wrap to bubble and delaminate over time. Wigzell also used a roll laminator to apply a protective film to the graphics. This guards it against scratches and grazes, as well as from UV light damage, the laminate also makes it easier to install and much easier to remove.

After a briefing from Wigzell and Deacon on the scope and mission of the Academy and its courses for the documentary we filmed of the experience (scan QR code overleaf), it was time to get down to business. Making sure the room and panels were up to temperature, to begin with Deacon just gave me a piece of test vinyl and let me get cracking to gauge where my natural abilities lay. And after twenty minutes of sweating, anguish, and over-stretched burnt vinyl he came to my rescue.



“I can see what you’re doing, it’s what I would call a very micro approach to detail straight away. I would tend to look at the overall curves and go for a much broader attack at the early stages of wrapping,” explained Deacon.

He continued, walking me through the principles that would help set me on the straight and narrow: “Start off by heating up the vinyl to give it elasticity. Then go for a high point get it stuck down before stretching and positioning the vinyl so it lays down in the right position—really make sure you are pulling it out at consistent tension and then pin it at a couple of points. Then start from middle points and work out smoothing the vinyl and re-stretching it around the curves.
 
“Don’t be too precious though and have the confidence to work it out in smooth sweeps. Use the heat gun lightly when you need to re-work an area and keep it moving in circles, don’t rest anywhere too long or you will burn the vinyl and the ink will degrade.”



He also explained that choosing the right tools is vital: “You have started to get to grips with the tools and using the squeegee I gave you with the fabric covered edge. It is very good because it will reduce friction and prevent marking the film, which is especially important on digital prints, less so on more basic colour change wraps.

“I would also advise switching between this and a felt pad as they will give a little bit more and are ideal for really making sure the vinyl is smooth and firmed down if you are dealing with multiple curves in a small space like the Ducati. That said, they are not so good at really applying pressure, so make sure you are also working with your hands—wear something like cotton gloves—and really make sure the pressure-sensitive adhesive has bonded properly.


“My best advice is that you don’t want to be someone with all the gear and no idea, so it is very important you get yourself on a course so a trainer can show you all these techniques and approaches, which will cut down massive amounts of trial, error, and failure if you try to teach yourself.”

Indeed, Roland DG runs both one and two day wrapping courses. The former is designed to help people find their feet and is designed to open up access to entry level jobs such as van graphics and how to structure your products and services around this skill level, but is not designed for people to walk out and start tackling extreme curves. The two day course is more advanced and in addition to techniques on more challenging applications and how to get the absolute best out of Metamark materials, covers elements such as artworking, sales, customer communication, wrap aftercare, and the use of other media too.



The two day course is also designed to make students learn about laying up and art working so it fits onto the specific vehicle itself. And while many cars and vans have templates that can be used in design software, Deacon explains bikes are another story: “When a 2D graphic meets a 3D object as complex as a Ducati, it is not a simple matter. The wrapper needs to de-sign the artwork with a thought to how it will flow over all curves, and whether this will distort the image too much. Likewise, when it is applied, the vinyl needs to be fitted as evenly as possible. It is not just a matter of forcing it to fit by stretching and heating it.

“There will some areas that are under a bit more tension than others of course, but start off with some test graphics on the same material you will use for the wrap and experiment with how far you can stretch and stress it. Also be very clear with the customer before you start how the finished product will look once it has wrapped into the curves.”



















So, without further ado and with the extensive help of Deacon we hit the wrap for the next few hours. The key challenges were keeping concentration and focus while staying calm enough to stick, stretch, heat, tweak, cut, and smooth the vinyl around the Ducati’s crazy curves—especially the air vents and screw holes. As our deadline of 6.30pm loomed and the security guard at Walsall started to get twitchy, we had got 90 percent there and feverishly bolted the bike’s fairings back together.



“Yes, it has been a full on day and as you now realise there is a lot to wrapping,” said Deacon as we put on a well-earned brew, adding: “There is all the stripping down as well, you have to be part mechanic, part wrapper, part art worker. But the finished effect is really great and it will be wonderful after we have done the special finishing elements and refining at Clevedon.”

Day two finishing

Cruising the much shorter distance from SignLink headquarters to Roland DG’s Creative Centre and second Academy site in Clevedon a week later we arrived to the site of a car smashed into its wall. Doing a double take I realised it was actually a very clever trick of the eye using wall, window, and vehicle graphics to make it appear as if a car is embedded in its brick façade.



With all the knowledge from day one having sunk in, the final steps were now to spend a few hours at the Creative Centre finishing off.  The tank and front mud guard were done in more flame graphics and black vinyl, while strips of carbon-effect vinyl were also added to both conceal any graphic joins and add some bling to the overall effect. Every bubble and imperfection was also meticulously popped and smoothed, while every last rough edge was trimmed.



At the heart of the project lay Metamark’s MD-X vinyl, which was incredibly forgiving for a novice like me, the Roland DG Academy’s eight years of course structuring experience, and the guiding force that was Deacon.

I asked Wigzell to explain what people get out of its courses, and why Roland DG is currently the only wide-format manufacturer to offer such a dedicated service: “We pride ourselves on growing our customers and growing with our customers. So what better way than to offer training and to help them develop. I have people on the course that have had Roland’s for ten years and they even teach me a thing or two. Everybody always gets a little gem that they go home with that really helps them to progress.”


With the final strip smoothed down, and stepping back from the finished product, the sense of achievement was amazing. Basking in the glow of triumph, we had given birth to the Ducati Fire Skull.


 

For more information on the Roland DG?Academy courses please visit:  www.rolanddg.co.uk/support/academy/

Your text here...