True Flame Vinyl's????
 

Can anybody do a true flame with thin vinyl? I dont mean a small one neither, i am talking the entire front end all the way to the middle of the door on a Fbody. Sure be better then having to repaint an expensive ass paint job on a daily driver.

I would think you wouldn't get near the depth a painted true flame job would have. In short, it would look like half-assed garbage (which would be accurate, if you're doing true fire, do it right).

Yeah I havent seen one done and dont think it would give the same effect. Sure would save me some time though :eyes:

Definately wouldn't look right. The kandy colors won't do what they are supposed to.

Hey Darren there is a place out in deep ellum that can do all kinds of cool stuff with vinyl. They do a lot of wraping and I've seen some of their work. They say they do partials too. I'll look for their info. I was looking to have them do some work on my truck and they said they could do fire..

:werd: The closest you could get with vinyl would be if the vinyl stock to be painted were the exact same color as your paint job. By it's very nature (using the candy colors) Tru-Fire is supposed to fade away into the paint. Vinyl has to be cut somewhere. It would never look as good as the real thing. IMO, you'd waste more money trying it with vinyl, and most likely being unhappy with the results, than actually painting.

How much do shops usually charge for a Tru Fire paint job?

depends on the shop really. Some could charge upwards of 15 grand just to paint a car with true fire and others could only charge 3 grand. I know Lavallee the creator of true fire is charging at least 15k per car and 5k per cycle. He has a 500 dollar minimum on anything that he paints. Best bet is to ask around and find someones style you like and get some quotes cause they will all differ like their true fire.

That's not completely true. You could print what you want on the vinyl and it is as good as the printer and the design..

Check this place out
http://www.skinzwraps.com/

I don't think you are familiar with kany colors and layering with paints. Have you ever seen ghost effects or those mystic paint jobs that change colors in different lighting? This trufire effect does the same thing because of the compound layers. In different lighting conditions, it changes colors and shades. There is no possible way to print that out on any kind of printer because at any given pixel no matter how small, it can only put 1 color down. If it layers colors, they mix and turn a different color at that one spot. Overlapped paints can do that effect, but there is absolutely no way a printed piece of vinyl can do that. Anyone who has ever seen a true fire paint job in person can verify this. ;)

I'm not saying it will have the same affect or exactly the same look as paint but it doesn't look bad and I think when people think vinyl they think cutting out the design.... in this case it wouldn't be a cut as much as a print. I've seen the work of this company in person and they can do a 3D look. Yes it won't change color or look the same but it would still look good.



Spending 1k on a wrap won't look as good as spending 2k-3k on a GOOD paint job. I'm not saying it does

If you saw the work this place does in person you would see how good it looks and the affect that their graphic program does. The eclipse in one of the pics has a spider on it and you can see the reflections of the light off of it and it has all kinds of detail. Its wild stuff. Does it look like paint? NO but it does look great and costs much less and you can get some detail in the work that you could only get from a master air brusher.

I'd be interested in seeing them do fire. Got any pics of that?

let me see what I can find... I have some old pics so I'll see if I can find them

So… what you're saying is that every square inch of surface is going to be covered with vinyl?? :confused: Unless that's what you're talking about, the vinyl will still have to be cut somewhere. And, if you are covering the entire surface with vinyl (which would be stupid, IMO) then the paint job is irrelevant. I know what printed vinyl looks like. I've seen plenty of things done with vinyl wraps. It's a great advancement, as far as that technology goes. But I can tell you, from first hand experience, you can tell the difference, even from a distance. Vinyl will never have the surface qualities (as far as texture, reflectiveness, depth, etc.) that a well maintained painted finish has. So… there you go. :judge:

I just dont like the idea of have a $3K flame paint job (not including the rest of the car) and driving everyday and having it get all rock chipped up. If I was a show car only or a trailer queen I wouldnt mind, but cars are meant to be driven.

Amen, brother! :judge:

btw, vinyl chips too… (then tears)

Vinyl flames would look like crap on our cars IMO. Plus, can you imagine how much you'd have to pay someone to custom-fit and cut flames? Think of all the contours and angles and lengths on the front of a car and then try to get vinyl to wrap over that without wrinkling. Kind of like having a sheet of paper and telling someone to cut it into shapes that will allow you to make a perfect sphere without any creases or lines. See how easy that one is.