WWCRD - hydrographics on Wheels

[Otis Nice]

I think that's just called "paint."

 

[Geeto67]

Do they have any options that don’t look like fuckall? Can you do solid or metallic plain colors?

 

I think that's just called "paint."

 

Fair point. I guess I just don’t get it.

 

Hydrogprahics or hydrodipping is just a different way of applying paint. The advantage is being able to apply complex graphics easier than say airbrushing or brush painting.

 

The process is actually very old. Aqueous surface printing has been around Asia since 900 CE. If anybody has ever handled old books and seen the marbled end pages, those were hydrographicaly printed and were common in printing from the 1700-1900s.

 

If you look at the pictures of my sportster at the beginning of this thread, that was done with paint. I floated oil based paint on the surface of the water and used a bbq skewer to make the swirl marble pattern. I suppose I could just float 1 single color on the surface of the water if I wanted a solid metallic or uniform surface, but at that point it would actually be easier for me to just spray the paint directly on to the part.

 

For those who remember the days when airbrushing was the only option in the automotive realm, it took day to complete a piece and there was a lot of masking and and unmasking, and it was tremendously expensive. Now you can design in computer, print with a reconstituting ink on a dissolving substrate and transfer complex designs in minutes for a fraction of the cost. The mess and environmental impact is also considerably less as there is no over spray and the oil paint never mixes so it can be collected out of the water and the water disposed of normally.

 

So here is the follow up question, are most just fundamentally opposed to patterns on wheels in general? or is it just the current offerings are just over the top?

[Lauren]

Do wood grain. That would be awesome.

[zeitgeist57]

Do wood grain. That would be awesome.

 

If he did a pattern on a panel that was static, maybe that would be cool. But something that was spinning will look wierd.

 

If you find out how to do woodgrain, there may be a nice side-hustle in restoring 80s fibergladd "wood" trim pieces on Jeep Wagoneers, Chrysler LeBarons, etc...

[greg1647545532]

So here is the follow up question, are most just fundamentally opposed to patterns on wheels in general? or is it just the current offerings are just over the top?

 

Any pattern on a wheel, no matter how subdued, is sufficiently unusual that it's going to scream "Look at these wheels!" If the wheels in question are 24s on a donk, or 20s on a SEMA M3, or 18s on a crazy kitted out drift car, then go ahead and scream.

 

If they're stock BMW wheels on a DD, don't draw attention to them. You want a subtle improvement, and newer OEM wheels on a older model car is an improvement that most people can't quite put their finger on. It looks better but flies under the radar.

[Geeto67]

If he did a pattern on a panel that was static, maybe that would be cool. But something that was spinning will look wierd.

 

If you find out how to do woodgrain, there may be a nice side-hustle in restoring 80s fibergladd "wood" trim pieces on Jeep Wagoneers, Chrysler LeBarons, etc...

 

wood grain is easy, and actually I'm setup right now to do small trim pieces, the hard part is finding a wood grain that matches the pattern used on the car. There are like 20 different kinds of "burlwood" alone of various shades:

 

https://watertransferprinting.com/product-cat/hydrographic-film/wood-grain/

 

The hard part with old plastic trim is usually the plastic has outgassed so much that it is brittle and warped and often needs repair. Some of it becomes greasy over time too which makes it a bad surface to promote adhesion.