Metallic look and other uses for vinyl wrap

[SolarYellow]

Posted this yesterday at YORF, due to the Enerjet content, but the response has been minimal. So I'm adding a thread here.

I'm planning some Enerjet builds, and thinking about the best way to get the chrome look for that band, as well as the silver look for the lower body tube.

Monokote Trim is NLA in chrome. I'm thinking vinyl wrap would be a good way to do the chrome look. Lots of options on Amazon and elsewhere.

I've been doing some builds with Monokote iron-on for the BT instead of paint. Much lighter and does add durability, scratch resistance, etc. Having the color protected under the durable clear film means it can drag across the playa and look like it did before, while the well-cured Acryli-Quik on the nose cone gets all scratched up. Kinda thinking about picking up one of the last available rolls of Monokote Aluminum. Waffling between that and just going with Tamiya aluminum spray paint.

Interested in any thoughts and experience.

 

[Back_at_it]

I use 651 vinyl on a lot of my builds and quality is awesome. It cuts easily on my Cricut and sticks exceptionaly well. I've never had a piece of vinyl come loose on any flights.

Best part is the stuff is available in any color or pattern you can think of. It even comes in color change. It's fun to launch a rocket that is light blue then comes back bright red from the heat of the motor and ejection.

 

[Hobie1dog]

There's so much vinyl wrap material out there now. I bought my last 2 on Ebay

 

[SolarYellow]

There's so much vinyl wrap material out there now. I bought my last 2 on Ebay

When I searched, I noticed you advocating vinyl quite often. Do you have photos of your completed builds?

 

[Hobie1dog]

When I searched, I noticed you advocating vinyl quite often. Do you have photos of your completed builds?

Nope, I just have a friend with a graphics business

 

[SolarYellow]

Since starting to use model airplane covering for rockets, I'm holding onto pieces I would have thrown away in the past. Rockets are a lot smaller than airplanes, at least the ones I'm building so far. You could probably do some cool finishes with scraps your friend throws in the trash.

 

[lakeroadster]

@neil_w used foil tape for the ferrule on his Skywriter build.
Here's a link: Build thread: 5.3:1 sport scale Super Deluxe #2 Skywriter XL Premium Pro Max - Limited Edition

Awesome...

 

[SolarYellow]

Definitely something to think about. Aluminum on a large part of the body tube would add a LOT more weight than Monokote and eat a lot of performance. It would, however, look more like actual aluminum than pretty much anything else.

 

[neil_w]

@neil_w used foil tape for the ferrule on his Skywriter build.

And it was perfect for that application, where its malleability was critical. I did a lot of shaping of the tape and pressing it into the grooves of the ferrule, and it all went very well.

On the other hand, it definitely is on the heavy side to cover a whole rocket, and it is a real challenge to get it to lay absolutely flat. And it is *so* sticky you really only get one shot at it.

 

[Hobie1dog]

I have an old HPR magazine that featured a rocket that the guy used a roll on Ebay that was exactly the right width to go around the rocket, so all he had to do was order a 10 ft long piece, it was a chrome wrap.

 

[Curtis Enlow]

I found a Cricut Explore One (slightly older model) on Craigslist for $40 and went with a 'Shooting Star' theme on my Super Big Bertha. The yellowish stars are actually Cricut gold 'foil' (Hobby Lobby is a good local source with large selection) which was a little thinner than the permanent vinyl. You can see a piece of scrap foil on the table beside the rocket. I know 651 Vinyl has a wide variety of metal vinyls but I am not sure how they might differ from 'foil' or how much they might transfer any surface texture, but I am going to look into it. It would be interesting to see if one could create different "panels" (i.e., Titan II or Atlas) of bare metal panel variation.

This was my first project with the Cricut and I found it very easy to use. I am excited about future graphics possibilities.

Also, if you do some research on Cricuts you will find a lot of alarm & drama over being charged an online subscription fee just to use their basic software of upload your own designs, but that is no longer an issue as Cricut backed down from that scheme.

 

[lakeroadster]

Definitely something to think about. Aluminum on a large part of the body tube would add a LOT more weight than Monokote and eat a lot of performance. It would, however, look more like actual aluminum than pretty much anything else.

Unless your in some sort of altitude competition... optimizing apogee has little value.