Question for plane owners with vinyl art

fritzthefox · **Posted:** Mon Sep 14, 2009 6:40 pm

I was wondering if anyone out there has had vinyl nose art applied to their plane's cowling? If so, does the heat cause any significant issues with the vinyl? Any gotchas about applying the decal?

kmiles · **Posted:** Mon Sep 14, 2009 6:58 pm

The Collings Foundation does not use vinyl nose art, but we do have a lot of names on the side of the aircraft that are cut vinyl. We have bought the highest grade of exterior vinyl and make sure the airplane is really clean and free of any oil residue before applying the vinyl. We have found it sticks pretty well except for where the edge of the vinyl is on a rivet. It might not get as hot as an engine cowl, but that dark colored B-24 gets pretty hot in the summer sun.

Another thing to remember is that when you take the vinyl noseart off, that portion of the plane will have to be repained regardless of the color of the plane. The paint will fade around the noseart and create a pretty noticeable line of different colors of paint.

John Dupre · **Posted:** Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:03 pm

fritzthefox wrote:

I was wondering if anyone out there has had vinyl nose art applied to their plane's cowling? If so, does the heat cause any significant issues with the vinyl? Any gotchas about applying the decal?

Most of the light planes I work on now have vinyl decals applied from the cowling on back. I haven't seen any damage related to heat but we are not talking warbirds here. One thing you can do when placing the vinyl is to coat the area with a solution of soap and water from a spray bottle. This allows you to "float" the decal and get it into exact position before finishing the application. Some people use fine hypodermic needles to pierce any bubbles but I find any fine needle will do. I think that the vinyl appliques do not last as long as paint. Someone has experimented with covering an entire aircraft with vinyl rather than paint. It cost 10% what paint cost and took only 10% of the time supposedly. I smell a trend.

Fouga23 · **Posted:** Tue Sep 15, 2009 2:43 am

We did the Fouga solo display aircraft with vinyl. Some of it covered an inspection panel and we had to replace it a few times because the edges around the panel started tearing off from the speed. The rest was fine but we sprayed a clear varnish over it, just a bit bigger then the artwork to seal in the edges.
Oh, and you do notice a reduction of speed if you put a lot of sticky things on it!

Like John said, apply with soapy water and let dry. Then seal it and it should last a long time.

Django · **Posted:** Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:23 am

In a related note, the new issue of Hot Rod has an article where instead of painting a '67 Impala, they wrap it in white vinyl with orange flames. Pretty interesting.

Second Air Force · **Posted:** Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:42 am

Nascar teams started using the vinyl wrap method a few years ago. Since I don't really pay any attention to it anymore I don't know if it was successful or not.

Scott

Jesse C. · **Posted:** Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:44 am

Didn't China Doll get some paint damage from the Christina Aguilera vinyl? Maybe a nasty rash?

John Beyl · **Posted:** Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:06 pm

fritzthefox wrote:

I was wondering if anyone out there has had vinyl nose art applied to their plane's cowling? If so, does the heat cause any significant issues with the vinyl? Any gotchas about applying the decal?

We were out of time for paint lettering so we used vinyl on the Red Tail this restoration. So far it's hanging in there but it's obviously not going to have the staying power of paint. Float them on with a little soap and water then squeegy the water out from under them once they're where you want them. Prick with a pin any small blisters that can't be worked out. When you design your graphics, avoid sharp corners or points on the outer edges if at all possible since they will be easy peal points.

John

gary · **Joined:** Tue Dec 21, 2004 11:18 pm **Posts:** 142

Brain Reynolds Mustang named "American Beauty" has vinyl nose "art" and script in other areas, it has held up rather well over the past 8 or 9 years............if only I could get him to paint it in an authentic scheme......
gary

bluehawk15 · **Posted:** Tue Sep 15, 2009 2:10 pm

The U-11's name, "Mockingbird", is on the nose in vinyl. The main problem I've noticed is caused by flying through rain. It has damaged and peeled the leading edges of the script letters. It's in black though, so I was able to touch it up with a Sharpie.

Django · **Posted:** Tue Sep 15, 2009 2:54 pm

gary wrote:

Brain Reynolds Mustang named "American Beauty" has vinyl nose "art" and script in other areas, it has held up rather well over the past 8 or 9 years............if only I could get him to paint it in an authentic scheme......
gary

The blue isn't authentic?

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11319

Will Whiteside has vinyl on his Yak and has had some peeling issues as I recall.

retroaviation · **Posted:** Tue Sep 15, 2009 5:01 pm

The Formula One air racer, Invictus, uses one of those wraps, and I don't believe they've had any issues with it yet.........

http://www.airportnac.com/AboutNAC/2009 ... llery.aspx

Gary

Fouga23 · **Posted:** Tue Sep 15, 2009 5:14 pm

bluehawk15 wrote:

The U-11's name, "Mockingbird", is on the nose in vinyl. The main problem I've noticed is caused by flying through rain. It has damaged and peeled the leading edges of the script letters. It's in black though, so I was able to touch it up with a Sharpie.

Spray a clearcoat over it to seal the edges. Worked for our Fouga's. :wink:

The wraps are another thing and can indeed take more beating. All the new Belgian F-16 special color tails are wraps.

gary · **Joined:** Tue Dec 21, 2004 11:18 pm **Posts:** 142

DJANGO, little about that aircraft is correct.........perhaps a coat of brown shoe polish or OD vinyl over the blue......

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