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21st September 2006
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

NYL FRONTIER

Sticky backed plastic has come along way from its Blue Peter days, as Colin Barnett discovered when he checked out its growing role in vehicle liveries.

When the CM team visited BCA's headquarters at Blackbushe for some guidance in used vehicle appraisal, it soon emerged that the appearance of a commercial vehicle is one of the most important factors in its saleability.A high mileage van with a clean interior and an exterior with unmarked factory standard paint will be more saleable, and thus more valuable than a low mileage alternative with a scruffy multi-coloured livery.A potential buyer is bound to be more attracted to a plain coloured van (and it doesn't have to be white) rather than one which is, for example, yellow with assorted green panels.

Thankfully, an answer is at hand.With modern vinyl technology, even the most complicated company livery can be applied over a single, saleable base colour. If required, the whole vehicle can be vinyl covered. For example,who, even in Germany, would want to buy a used Mercedes C-Class painted in the compulsory taxi beige? Wrap it all over in beige vinyl, however, and you can have a used car in whatever colour you think will he selling well in a couple of year's time.

Another example closer to home is the growing number of police fleet engineers who realise that a dark blue Range Rover or silver BMW is going to be worth more than a white example at the end of its first life.Another benefit of plenty of vinyl is the added protection from minor body damage.

To see what's involved in today's world of vinyl, we called in on one of the South-East's leading CV livery suppliers. Vinyl Signs & Designs is now located in the rear of the large Kent farmhouse that is home to owners Paul and Val Richardson.ln a reversal of the usual process. they began the business in a small industrial unit, but moved home to take advantage of some under-utilised farm buildings.

As all livery application is carried on customers' premises, the only need is for the production area, together with an office and some storage space. Only two other staff are employed: Andy Flood, on production; and Rob Davies, the mobile fitter, who manages to carry all his kit, including a large trestle system, in a Citrothi Berlingo (which is, of course, immaculately liveried).Flood is fully skilled in the black art of traditional sign-writing,but those skills simply aren't in demand in today's road transport industry.

Get out of town

Vinyl Signs works principally for truck and van dealers and operators in Kent and surrounding counties, but prefers to stay out of London. Its widespread and high-profile customer base ranges from Kent County Council, currently adopting a bold but business-like new livery, to the smiley sun colour scheme on the Variety Club's nationwide fleet of liveco Daily Sunshine coaches.

One of its most prominent vinyl body wrap clients is Initial Citylink, which now uses green panels applied over factory yellow paint, in place of its earlier system which comprised green and yellow films over white paint. The livery production process is computer driven at every stage, from design to the cutting out of the finished vinyl. Probably the most important single fact an operator needs to consider is the type of vinyl.

Cast vinyl is formed by spreading a thin layer of liquid plastic onto a flat surface, giving virtually no intrinsic tension to cause subsequent shrinkage, unlike the shorter life 'calendar film' which is squeezed out like pasta.The cast vinyl used by Vinyl Signs is only 45 to 60 microns thick (0.05mm).

First select your image

The first step in creating a new livery is to select an appropriate high-resolution vehicle image from Impact Art's comprehensive CD graphics library.The operator's design is then overlaid using a powerful 'vector' drawing programme that allows individual elements to be resized or relocated at will.

Any required modifications are easily incorporated; once the finished product has been approved by the customer, complex designs are produced by one of a selection of vinyl printers and cutters, which use tiny computer-controlled blades to cut the shapes.

Moderately complex multi-coloured designs such as the smiley sun are created in multiple layers, while large, simple designs are cut direct from metre-wide rolls of coloured film.

Photographic designs, such as the picture of a bull being incorporated into a design for a local butcher, are also handled in-house.The only material which is bought in is the dotted one-way vision material used on bus windows; this is part of Kent's new livery.

The final stage of production involves manually trimming waste material, such as the middle of the letter '0', drawing guide lines for the fitter and applying the mounting paper.

Having seen the production process we moved on to watch it being applied.

Fortunately Davies was working just a few miles away at the yard of Staplehurst Transits,which despite its name, actually runs a fleet of LGVs, mostly Scanias, hauling 13.6m reefer trailers. When we arrived on site at around 11:30 am, Davies was working slowly so as not to finish before we had taken some photographs— working normally he can easily complete two trailers in a day, singlehanded. Part of this impressive speed is down to dry application (some suppliers in this sector still use soapy water) but mostly it's a matter of skill as man and squeegee work in perfect harmony to leave a bubble-free surface first time. Although there is a short curing time for the adhesive, the trailer could happily go straight to work as soon as the last letter's been applied.

Speed is appreciated

If Staplehurst Transits is typical, the speed of this final stage in the commissioning process is appreciated.The ease of restoring the livery after any accident repairs is also welcomed. 'The operator keeps livery layout diagrams on file and simply circles the damaged areas and faxes the diagram to Vinyl Signs. Richardson demonstrated the speed of response by producing a large red "1" in less than 10 minutes from opening the computer file to having the completed lettering ready for fitting.Accident damage apart, the vinyl livery has a service of at least five years.

Which brings us to the final stage of the process: removal at the end of its first life. If maximum resale value is to be obtained, as much care should taken in livery removal as in its application. A few extra pounds spent on giving a good polishing to the inevitably faded original paintwork should more than pay for itself as your smart single-coloured vehicle sails through the auction hall. •


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