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Old 06-05-2018, 09:09 AM   #1 (permalink)
bennelson
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Oconomowoc, WI, USA
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DIY Vinyl Graphics

Hi friends,

I just did a complete custom vinyl graphics package for my car.

This is a 2012 Mitsubishi iMiEV. It was just plain white. However, Mitsubishi had an official partner which provided graphics for these cars as an alternative to paint-jobs. One of them was a cow spot pattern called the "Moo Moo Edition".

There was even a scale model collectable of the Moo Moo Edition, but as far as I know, nobody ever actually got that graphic package.

So, to keep my car from being boring AND have a little fun, I thought I'd make my own.

This was actually pretty straight-forward. I used a Silhouette Cameo 3 cutter. That's a consumer-level CNC cutting device. It's about the size and shape of an inkjet printer. I did a little work in a graphics program to make the cow spots, then exported the files to the cutter.

I cut the spots from a roll of adhesive-backed vinyl. To apply the spots, I spritzed the car body with a spray bottle of soapy water. That made it so that when I applied the graphic, it didn't just stick instantly - I could reposition it as needed. It also made it so I could get the air-bubbles out which would otherwise be trapped under the vinyl. When I was happy with it, I would squeegee out the soapy water and the graphics would be neatly applied and permanently in place.

I made a 60 second video overview and a full-length step by step of the process.




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