[s-cars] Clear bra info

Tom Green trgreen at comcast.net
Mon Sep 8 21:04:02 PDT 2008 

The benefit of having the material pre-cut to the exact pattern  
needed to cover the hood and each portion of the front end can not be  
overstated.  If it is already pre-cut for a certain area, then you know
that you are not over stretching the film too much or not putting it  
on straight.  The film is flat and must be stretched some to fit the  
shape of the vehicle.  It's more technique and art than it is rocket  
science, so some practice leads to the perfect installation.  If you  
have the material pattern cut to start with, you can do a master  
installation on the first try.  If you are starting with roll  
material, I don't
give you a chance in hell  without a professional installer whom you  
have personally watched install raw material on a vehicle.  The sad  
part is, this CAD file exists somewhere that makes this a DIY
job.  This thread is all about the money.  A pro can easily provide  
you with a high quality job, but you can do it for 1/2 if you have a  
good kit.

Tom

On Sep 8, 2008, at 11:24 PM, Jack Walker wrote:

> Guys,
>
> The 3M Scotchgard material is pretty easy to get in many  
> thicknesses, exceptionally so! Any large format solvent based  
> inkjet printing company can get it in the thickness necessary for  
> covering paint on cars, and use their in house X-Y cutting systems  
> to cut it into the shapes necessary. I'm going to wager that the  
> material comes in 30", 50" and larger roll widths, all that's  
> necessary for the shapes is a Freehand, Illustrator or vector based  
> file to cut them out of the material, not some high end CAD file  
> for a die cutter. These materials are cut in exactly the same  
> fashion as "cut vinyl with blade type cutting devices, and some  
> actual lasers in some really high applications, unless you have so  
> many of one type of vehicles they can justify the expense of  
> actually making dies, which aren't cheap! This is exactly the same  
> cutting formats on stuff I did for many POP campaigns for large  
> format advertising!
>
> But the material alone isn't the issue as you can see when looking  
> at any vehicle wrap you might see on the street! The real issue is  
> installation; it's truly an art form to get the stuff on the cars,  
> convex and concave shapes and extra material. Although, any  
> competent vehicle graphics installer can do it. I'll have to go  
> back into my notes, but 3M has an official installer network which  
> could be used with our cut material.
>
> And Tom makes an excellent point, we can make the templates, and  
> put it on cars! But the stuff looks crappy on anything other than  
> good paint jobs!
>
> Jack Walker
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:s-car-list- 
> bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of chris chambers
> Sent: Monday, September 08, 2008 2:33 PM
> To: Tom Green; s-car-list; weski at icubed.com
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Clear bra info
>
> Gentz,
>
> The Invinca-Shield.co web site is automaticly forwarded to
> http://clearfilmprotection.com/
>
> I'm gonna guess this new site bought out Invinca-Shield.com
>
>
> HTH
> Chris
>
>
> --- Tom Green <trgreen at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > Unfortunately, Invinca-Shield went out of business last year, Paul.
> >
> > I had called wanting another kit for my avant, but I was told by
> > Kim Handy, the finance director, that they were in negotiations for
> > selling that part of the business as a package, and the company
> > president did not want to jeopardize negotiations.  When things
> > hadn't moved much I offered to buy a number of kits ( 5 to 10 ) in
> > September 2007, but that was nixed as well.  They had a graphics
> > business separate from the clear bra, and I understood they
> > would likely remain in business there, but only sell off the clear
> > bra operation, because it had grown so much, and the installation
> > and dealer installation  training was such a big part of that  
> part of
> >
> > the business.  The president, Bart ? , promised to let me know
> > who bought the patterns (cad-cam software patterns on a H-P
> > computer).  Since nobody is likely to measure another S4 and S6
> > for a kit, I suspect the custom install is the only option now.   
> $600
> >
> > or so instead of the $260 kit.
> >
> > Then, when I tried to call a month later, the phones were dead and
> > the web site gone.  I have no idea where that hard drive went,
> > but surely someone has it.  It had motorcycle, airplane, motor home,
> >
> > and about any motor vehicle you could imagine in the data-
> > base, all painstakingly measured by hand and transferred to the
> > digital software program via a large x-y plotter.  The pattern
> > cutting was all automated and controlled by the computer just as a
> > CNC milling machine operates.
> >
> > I haven't found any more information about them.  I had hoped  
> some of
> >
> > the installers would know something or a new web site would
> > appear with all their patterns on it.  I am sick about the effort I
> > put in this, only to have this happen.  If you see anything out  
> there
> >
> > that
> > is similar or find anything about this company, please let me know.
> >
> > N. Wilkesboro, NC is such a small town and well off the beaten
> > path that I doubt that any employees that would know the facts
> > remained in the area.
> >
> > I do have an unused kit for a '98 e-class mercedes.  :-)
> >
> > Tom
> >
> > > Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2008 06:00:23 -0400
> > > From: "P. Dooley" <weski at icubed.com>
> > > Subject: Re: [s-cars] Clear bra info
> > > To: Floyd Noel <floyd.noel at gmail.com>
> > > Cc: S-Car-List at audifans.com
> > > Message-ID: <48C4F7B7.6060406 at icubed.com>
> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
> > >
> > > That's it Floyd!
> > >
> > > Thanks so much.  I'll be calling them later today.
> > >
> > > Paul
> > >
> > >
> > > Floyd Noel wrote:
> > >> http://www.s-cars.org/postnuke/modules.php?
> > >>
> >  
> op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=196&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
> > >>
> > >> Is this it?
> > >>
> > >> On Sun, Sep 7, 2008 at 7:20 PM, P. Dooley <weski at icubed.com>
> > wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> So, I remember someone talking about a 3M clear bra kit for the
> > >>> C4 S6
> > >>> cars but I can't find it in the archives.  I thought I saved  
> that
> >
> > >>> post
> > >>> too cause I knew I was going to get some new paint this year and
> >
> > >>> would
> > >>> want the clear bra before winter.  Well, I've got the paint done
> > and
> > >>> aged and know I can't find any place that sells a kit for the 95
> > S6.
> > >>>
> > >>> Does anyone still have the link from the old post?
> > >>>
> > >>> TIA,
> > >>>
> > >>> Paul
> > >>> 95 S6 getting stone chips on a pristine bumper
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > S-CAR-List mailing list
> > S-CAR-List at audifans.com
> > http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/s-car-list
> >
>
>
> Make April 15th just another day http://www.fairtax.org
>
>
>
>
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