Tue Jun 05, 2018 4:05 pm Author: James Culpin
Excuse me jumping in a little late on this one........
Vinyl is a very personal thing, every applicator will have materials he or she likes and doesn't like for various reasons. Personally I've always tried to get on with as many materials as possible so that I can find the right material for my client as opposed to the right material for me. I do still have my favorites though. For both flat plotting work and wrapping alike.
Lets face it, 3M material is always going to perform well (everyone knows 3M across the board do good products), but sit on the higher end of the price bracket.
Having worked in big cities doing jobs for corporate companies and small rural towns where clients were one man bands and farmers, 3M is not best placed for each of these clients. If I was only used to using the high end materials, I'm either cutting my profit or missing out on the work. Neither are acceptable in my book. Only solution is to have a range of materials you can call on to suit the budget, application and your own ability.
I was in a position some years back to be approached by Metamark to trial the MDX before it went on general sale. All the normal tests etc had been done and it had been trialed within the normal channels first. They needed a test run on something live with an on the ground vinyl wrapper, who would be honest and real about the material. Having tested wrap materials and reviewed them for other manufacturers, I was asked to try the MDX. I had a job that was 4 off MWB, LR split rear door transits. They were all the same design, part wrapped which included total rear doors, about a third of the side and the bonnet.
The price fitted perfectly with my clients budget and my margins were where any sign maker / wrapper would want them to be. That's the first box ticked. Printed on a Mimaki JV33 and was a mix of solid colour, images, text etc etc and again, second box ticked. I went with the non-MetaScape system (if memory serves although not 100% sure) as I'd rather the confidence in knowing I have a slightly stronger and quicker grab. Again, each applicator will have an opinion on this. As they should! I have used these systems but prefer them only when there is no sharp/deep contours. Find them best when squeegee does the work and little to no heat is required so the stretch is minimal and only through tension and application.
Material performed well and the job lasted well. Client was extremely happy and returned for other work. Vehicle and general signage. If memory serves, all the vans were done in 5 days which includes clean down, prep and application. I had a second guy helping who was learning so I was training him on the job too.
I have also used this material on internal display items that have been wrapped for photo shoots, again, for this job it ticked all the boxes.
I do think the material fits very nice in the market and wouldn't hesitate to use it again.