The vehicle branding specialist recently used Drytac Polar Premium Air and Weathershield Matte to create a stunning wrap effect for the horsebox.

Bristol, UK: Vehicle branding and customisation specialist The Vinyl Guys recently worked with Drytac Polar Premium Air printable self-adhesive vinyl to complete an innovative project, cleverly transforming the look of a horsebox and giving the vehicle a new lease on life.

Founded in 2014, The Vinyl Guys work with customers across a range of markets, providing them with all manner of colourful and eye-catching vehicle branding projects. Using their in-house Roland DG printing technology, the company produces everything from smaller-format vehicle graphics through to all-over wrap pieces.

For their latest project, the company was approached by a new customer, who had spoken with other printing businesses in the local area about a somewhat tricky job. This involved producing a wrap for a horsebox that was not in the best condition due to the state of its surface.

While other print companies said that an all-over wrap was not possible because of the condition of the horsebox, The Vinyl Guys team leapt at the chance to try and transform the vehicle. To start, Alex Liggett, Owner of The Vinyl Guys, spoke with the customer to get a feel for the type of effect she was looking for.

“I went to look at the horsebox in question; the paint wasn’t the greatest and the finish to the edges of the panels and windows was not suitable for the wrap finish that we would normally deliver with wrapped and tucked corners,” Alex said.

“The customer wanted to give the vehicle a new lease on life within a specific budget, so I explained the issues with the vehicle and how they related to the process of wrapping; trying to manage her expectations of what a wrap could do to her vehicle.”

An effective solution

Alex and the team at The Vinyl Guys came up with a clever solution that would achieve the required all-over wrap effect without further damaging the surface of the vehicle.

The team elected to print the base colour of the graphics, close to the actual paint colour of the van, on separate panels. These were then applied to the van a few millimetres away from the edges of the vehicle, as these areas were not suitable for wrapping due to silicone sealants, minor damage, and partially poor paintwork.

The Vinyl Guys chose to use Drytac Polar Premium Air, combined with Weathershield Matte polymeric PVC overlaminating film, to create these panels. The company has been working with Drytac materials for several years and was fully aware of the benefits these products offer.

“I knew that while Polar Premium Air wasn’t a high tack material, it was quite ‘grabby’ compared to some others, and would be a suitable material for the project,” Alex said. “I carried out some patch testing on the worst of the areas of the van, did a visual proof of the customer’s design along with a small test print to colour match, and the customer was over the moon with the plan!”

The Vinyl Guys used their Roland VG2-640 eco-solvent printer/cutter to print all graphics in-house, with their specialist team completing the wrap for the customer in April 2024. The final design features the outline of a horse against the stunning background of a Union Jack flag on the three main sides of the box.

“The customer was initially amazed at the fact we would take the project on,” Alex said. “When it came to the final product, she was even more amazed. We were delighted that we could produce the piece for her.”