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I have a helmet which is ok, it was somewhat expensive, but I don't like the colour (it was a forced purchase). Can I use something like the stuff they use on cars to wrap it in another colour? Is it stretchy enough to deform around the shape?
I think you might struggle. I have some left over you can have foc to try, metallic grey
Not easily no. I've done some similar sized car interior bits and they were a pita. I'd imagine you have more luck with multiple pieces but that a single piece would not work. Some also need heat to shape which I'd be reluctant to use on a helmet.
I’ve done some cabinets in a camper. It’s not easy to stretch. Lots of bits needed or paint it ?
Wrapping is hard enough if you've never done it before on flat surfaces, a helmet with all its vents and shapes would be very dififcult to do a good job on.
Have you considered getting it hydro-dipped?
I'd never attempt a motorbike helmet but an MTB helmet, depending on design, might be ok 🤔 Especially if it's a chunky, squarish design. All the vents etc will work in your favour. You'll still probably want to do it in more than one piece, but conceivably it might not look completely terrible!
Wrap material is quite expensive though, unless you can scrounge an off-cut, but you'd want a bit to practice with first as there is definite knack to it!
It's flippin maroon. And much of my gear is primary red.
I've bought some wrap off the internet for a tenner and I've watched someone on YouTube. Heat gun yes but only on the vinyl not the helmet, which is mostly what he does in the vid.
It's a road helmet which is mostly vent, and the rest is fairly flat so it doesn't look too curvaceous. Maybe do the back as a separate piece somehow.
what brand? Most of the stuff on eBay is generic Chinese crap unfortunately!I’ve bought some wrap off the internet
You need to post-heat afterwards or it'll never stay stuck where you've stretched it. Decent IR thermometer is vital for this so you can get the temp right as it's quite critical.
For a helmet try laxwrap, they specialise in helmets.
what brand?
Generic crap ltd of China.
I've wrapped a bike frame. Convex shapes are usually OK. A helmet might be pushing it a bit but I'd still try it. Concave shapes are much more difficult.
Another option might be spray plastidip. No guarantee regarding it dissolving the polystyrene helmet though!
Post heat temp ( Unknown due to generic Chinese Crap) will probably melt the styrene inside the plastic outer layer.
3M 1080 / 2080 post heat temp is 100c.
I did wrap a cheapo kids ski helmet, with some offcuts we had from wrapping a truck. It looked okay for a while but couldn't post heat enough without melting the helmet so over time the wrap failed.
I wouldn't bother again and we are wrapping two or three commercial vehicles a week
If you are looking for instruction vids on the toob, it's most like wrapping a wing mirror. An additional pair of hands would be helpful to hold the helmet steady. Maybe use the chin strap to hols it steady on a bench? Your helper won't like it when you burn them with your heat gun. Don't use a hairdryer. It won't be hot enough.
Post pics when you are done, pls.
If it's not stretchy enough when it's slightly warm, then it's not happening, I don't want to melt my helmet.
Seems like it's doomed, but I'll give it a try on something else round first.
https://youtube.com/shorts/2IPW1_oIeMk?si=lRpT4Dqdhz-A5wng
Looks hard enough on a car sized object. Can't imagine it working on a much smaller, heat-sensitive helmet. Which is a shame.
My job was putting the decals on school of motoring cars, and that was challenging enough, even with the fairly thick vinyl we used; the tiniest speck of dust showed up like a zit, and was difficult to get rid of. The heat guns I used ran at 350° C. Also tricky to use, I have the scars to prove it…
The stuff used for wrapping is very much thinner, so easier to manipulate, but dust is going to be a real issue, as is trimming around the vent holes and getting the wrap down into the vents as well.
Personally, I’d mask around the bottom of the shell, rub down with a very fine scouring pad, stuff the inside of the lid with loads of tissue paper and respray it with a rattlecan of your choice from Halfords. It’s got to be easier and more controllable, and probably a lot more durable.
When masking tape and spray cans are a thing, why would you even entertain the idea of wrapping something like a cycling helmet?
I'd adopt the philosophy that you can't see it whilst you're wearing it.
When masking tape and spray cans are a thing, why would you even entertain the idea of wrapping something like a cycling helmet?
Because masking it would be a total nightmare, even harder than wrapping it 🙂
The cheap vinyl arrived today. It goes soft and stretchy really easily and quickly, which makes me feel like it would be easy to avoid melting the helmet.
yes, it stretches easily with only gentle heat. But if you don't post-heat it at a lot greater temperature after wrapping, to reset the "memory" of the material, it will eventually return to its original shape.
What Zilog says.
It is Thermo forming and Thermo setting.
All those DPD vans with the wrap popping out of the recesses on the back doors. Failure to post heat properly and a slightly less than ideal choice of material. (Not my work. BTW). Fitters were rushing and the material was chosen to fit the budget.
I wouldn't do anything that involves heat with a bike helmet - I accidentally left my (admittedly lightweight) Spec Prevail next to a quite low power (700W I think) fan heater, by the time I noticed a good centimeter of the polystyrene spines that form its rear vents had just disappeared (I assume it shrank in some sense, there was no burning smell).
The vinyl stuff is pretty good to work with actually. I clamped my heat gun to a chair and sat at the table, you only need to get it vaguely warm to make it stretchy and you can form it into the vents pretty well. However what's next to impossible is working out where to trim the vinyl accurately enough where the shell meets the polystyrene so getting a good finish in that aspect is far too hard.
The vinyl stuff is pretty good to work with actually. I clamped my heat gun to a chair and sat at the table, you only need to get it vaguely warm to make it stretchy and you can form it into the vents pretty well. However what’s next to impossible is working out where to trim the vinyl accurately enough where the shell meets the polystyrene so getting a good finish in that aspect is far too hard.
That’s exactly what I was thinking, without actually seeing close-up photos of the lid, it’s difficult to really imagine where it would need trimming. I can think of a couple of ways I might do it, like gently heating the vinyl and then running a fingernail along the edge to really define it, then using an X-Acto modelling knife to *very* carefully slice through so the excess can be peeled away. I’ve done stuff like this for years, and I’ve got a sort of feel for it, including vehicle graphics, but it’s not easy, and a tiny nick or a section that hasn’t been cut through properly, could mean the whole piece tearing right across.
Ask me how I know… *sigh*.
I can think of a couple of ways I might do it, like gently heating the vinyl and then running a fingernail along the edge to really define it, then using an X-Acto modelling knife to *very* carefully slice through so the excess can be peeled away.
That was the plan but the shapes were too complex, it wasn't always clear and there were far too many places where to needed doing so I gave up.