Carbon fiber Vinyl film wrap instead of paint

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

AtomicStorm

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2021
Messages
261
Reaction score
71
Saw this while window shopping on ebay and thought that a rocket would look good wrapped in this. It also says bubble free air release. Anyone ever tried this with any success?Screenshot_2021-05-03-14-29-51-276.jpg
 
Interesting .....
Would be pretty cool I think
Curious also if anyone ever tried this
 
No reason why not. Below is an Estes Big Daddy with a vinyl wrap from Hobby Lobby.

I've also wrapped an Estes Generic E2X in chrome-like vinyl, and I have noticed that near the end of the motor tube, there's some crinkling of the vinyl. I assume this is due to the heat of the ejection charge. So I guess a caveat is that you can wrap a rocket, I don't know how well it will hold up long term.

1620069614220.png
 
I will give my 2 pennies. I use wrap everyday as I have shop that we wrap cars. This stuff is junk putting it nicely. Also using car wrap for a low power rocket would not be good as this stuff adds a lot of weight, some of these vinyl are thicker than the tubing itself. For high power rockets it is fine. If you want a carbon wrap look at Oracal or Hexis but as I said this stuff is not light material.
 
Most of my builds are lpr kits that should be 18 -24mm but i put a 29mm in every one :)
 
Btw, that galaxy wrap is baaaaaangin!!! Wonder if a coat or 2 of clear would stop the wrinklies
 
Sucks that its so heavy, i wanted to do a camanchee 3 build with it. Hmmm, maybe i could go up on motor size a little bit but not mutch in bt50
 
You can use the hobby shop vinyl on LPRs and it will hold up okay, but, as Scott said above, it isn't great stuff. It is an inexpensive thing to try, though, so why not give it a go?

I would also contact Mark over at StickerShock (https://stickershock23.com/). I have used his full rocket wraps on HPRs before and they are superb. He has pictures of LPRs and MPRs on his site with full wraps, so he definitely makes them for lighter weight rockets as well. Here is a 4" Wildman Darkstar full wrap I dubbed "Neutron Star" that Mark made for me:

PXL_20210206_190826054.jpg
 
You can use the hobby shop vinyl on LPRs and it will hold up okay, but, as Scott said above, it isn't great stuff. It is an inexpensive thing to try, though, so why not give it a go?

I would also contact Mark over at StickerShock (https://stickershock23.com/). I have used his full rocket wraps on HPRs before and they are superb. He has pictures of LPRs and MPRs on his site with full wraps, so he definitely makes them for lighter weight rockets as well. Here is a 4" Wildman Darkstar full wrap I dubbed "Neutron Star" that Mark made for me:
Was it pretty easy to apply? Hard to get bubbles out? Also how did you go around the fins?
 
Yep, Mark's video is excellent.

Couple things I learned and I am not sure Mark covers in the video:

- Install the wrap before you install the fins. At least, if the fins are TTW. Not sure about surface mounted fins. For TTW fins, it is WAY easier to trim the wrap out of the slot and install the fins afterwards. I have a feeling the same would be true if you surface mount. I covered this wrap on pages 4 and 5 of this build thread:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/darkstar-series-build.162848/
- Any holes (vent holes, switch holes, etc) should be made first. It is easy to find the holes and cut them out later, but drilling through the wrap could leave you with some jagged edges.

- Mark said you can put the fillets right on the wrap or cut the wrap back a bit. I chose to cut the wrap back a bit.

- A heat gun/hair dryer is your friend! Mark's wraps are super easy to put on, but you will get air bubbles. They came out with no issue with a light application of heat.

- For large tubes, get another person to help

- I asked Mark how well these wraps stand up to high velocities and hard landings. He said they should be good past Mach 1, but said he wouldn't recommend Mach 2 and beyond. He also said the wraps tend to hold up better than paint on hard landings. I can confirm both of his recommendations. I flew this bird on a Loki L-1040 over the winter and it went over 800 MPH with no marring on the wrap. Also this winter, I had one flight on a windy day where the main got tangled with the deployment pouch cord and completely collapsed. It came in from about 300 feet with no main onto a frozen field. No marks on the wrap.

One other remark on Mark's service - he has a lot of great designs ready to go, but he is awesome at custom designs as well. For this rocket, all I did was send him the star picture (found it on Google images) and told him I wanted it to be called "Neutron Star" - he came up with everything else. Amazing work!
 
So on basic lpr estes glossy white paper tubes,( bt50-bt60) can you wrap it without primer or any paint? And if so will it cover your spirals?
 
So on basic lpr estes glossy white paper tubes,( bt50-bt60) can you wrap it without primer or any paint? And if so will it cover your spirals?

Best way is on a bare tube, slightly roughed up with sandpaper. Not necessary to scrape the glassine off, but enough to let the wrap adhesive have some "grab" on the tube. I asked Mark the same question a while back and he said to not prime it first. So far, his wraps have worked for me.

I have not tried a wrap on an LPR, but I have on an HPR cardboard tube and it worked great. Definitely no spirals afterwards!

If you email Mark, he is really great at answering specific questions about rockets, vinyl decals and wraps. You can fill out the contact form on his website, but it is probably quicker just to email him at [email protected]. He is a great guy, been around the TRF "family" for a long time and is great at helping you get what you want for your rocket.
 
<--------<<<<<

Skip the paint and the vinyl wrap. I highly recommend you finish your rocket with wood veneer.

Proper.Rocket.Building.Attire.jpg

Zeke
 
I wish my wife was into rocketry this much lol, i really like the wood vaneer, i just dont know about a wooden looking rocket, i prefer metal or carbon fiber look for realism but this wood vaneer is really unique, idk if all of the fiberglass was necessary but it looks good and im sure it will last for centuries to come! Btw, i like the term fifi (f*** it, fly it!!)
 
Yeh i couldnt justify spending 70 bucks on a $15 rocket and if it where a bigger build, then the airframe would be the real thing. So yeh im going to try the china junk.lol
 
I did just buy a couple airbrushes and lvlp spray guns so i will probably want go paint it anyways.
 
I have been using Avery Vinyl sign material [best quality] for wrapping rockets starting about 15 years ago when I had bought a sign cutter. I sold the cutter, kept my entire stash of Vinyl rolls I had inventoried. Way back then a long roll of regular colors was $25, Chrome was about $40, and Carbon Fiber was $75. That was/is a supply and demand issue as "Rice Tuners" where using it on their street car hop ups on interior and engine areas. [Think original fast and furious] I am sure many other groups are now targeting the Carbon Fiber look Vinyl.
 
$12 worth of Carbon Vinyl wrap from Ebay :)
vR2CVMR.jpg

4wMkQz3.jpg

0kIb8Ql.jpg
 
I just took a look at some vinyl sign material shops, and regular colors are lower now about $17 for 10 yard by 15" and Carbon Fiber is out of sight in price, mostly all cut in sizes to apply to the exterior of Cars and Trucks..
 
I just took a look at some vinyl sign material shops, and regular colors are lower now about $17 for 10 yard by 15" and Carbon Fiber is out of sight in price, mostly all cut in sizes to apply to the exterior of Cars and Trucks..
The last roll of carbon wrap I got 60" x 50' was $1789.00
 
Back
Top