The Bocuse Transformation

admin — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 14:11:13 +0000

You can also see all of these pictures on our facebook fan page! Make sure to “Like” us!

We get some seriously cool requests here at Shadow Graphics. This one is no exception. The challenge: Make this full size 911 Porsche look like its ready to race. But the catch, it has to look exactly like this model car with customized logos and colors. Can we do it? We say “Bring it!”

This Porshe 911 came to us in bare bones. A Basic white paint job. It was our task to transform this car into a racer with specialty 3M and Avery Vinyls. Everything would be customized pin striping with some hand vectored graphics from front to back. Here we have already laid down two lines for a starting template.

There were two challenges we would have to face to do this design.

1. Porsche has very strict standards. This means that we had to get our pin striping as close to Porsche’s standards as possible. Certain logos and pinstripes that Porsche uses have a certain numbers of elements that had to be properly spaced and counted.

2. The design had to be properly mirrored on the opposite side of the car. We promise you, its a lot harder than it looks…

Our other challenge would be the customizing of our client’s logo so it would fit on the side of the car. Keeping in mind we need to consider the surface area of the car, door handles, hinges, and the door itself. This would be a challenge. But, our designer calls that kind of a challenge “fun”.

There are so many curves on the back of this car, that means that pin striping on the back of this would be much more difficult. Keeping all our lines as straight as possible and yet still be able to take our pin striping completely through the back of the car. It becomes quite a chore when the curves of the vehicle can throw off your perception of a straight line.

Once we got approval on the first layer of pin striping, one of our 3M Certified installers begun forming the vinyl to the car.

A very quick request from our client was the desire to have this GT3 Cup vinyl removed and replaced in white over top the 12 inch red racing stripe we would be installing later. Something that would seem simple actually required our designer to hand vector because this is a font that cant be found easily.

Making sure the vinyl lays down properly across this kind of car is much harder than it sounds. Bubbles and folds happen easily as the vinyl is laid down and needs to be tucked properly into every corner. The vinyl also has to be hand cut with a very steady hand directly on the car without damaging the paint on the vehicle itself. This requires a lot of experience and practice. Something that all of our 3M Certified installers have.

Though this vinyl looks stretched across the car. It really isn’t. This is when being a Certified 3M Installer is literally an art form. Our installer takes his time gently smoothing out folds, bubbles, and creases. One rip in this material means he has to start from scratch and new material has to be cut and re applied. These specialty colors don’t come cheap, so patience and excellence is key.

Next is the 12 inch red pin stripe. Both these colors were ordered specially for our client. Centered to the hood you can see the vinyl tucked into every tiny fold of the Porsche’s design. All the way down past even where the bottom fender would be installed. Shadow Graphics strives for perfection. Even the vinyl not seen by the human eye needs to be done properly.

Not even close to being completed, the car has already begun to take on the look of a formula race car. It is amazing what vinyl can do to the final design of your car…

One of our 3M Certified Installers begins the delicate task of mirroring the design from the opposite side of the car.

30% done, the vinyls laid down already will help us make proper measurements for our designers to create the graphics that will be applied next.

These graphics were created by our designers to be as close as possible to Porsche’s specifications. They were then printed, and over laminated for protection. Soon they will be installed on the 911.

We always want to make sure our clients are as satisfied as possible. We double check everything. So taping our graphics in place allows us to take pictures and send them to our client for approvals.

60% complete.

More taped down mockups are placed on the hood and matched up to the model car that is sitting in the middle of the red pin stripe.

This part of the car is one of the most technical parts to vinyl because of all the edges and vents.

Our client stopped in for a surprise visit while we were working on his car, we used the moment to quickly have him approve of the graphics and their positions. He actually stuck around for most of the rest of the install.

Our designer took the JBI logo and custom vectored it by hand and re shaped it to fit along the door panel, our client was there and quickly approved of the design and the position of the JBI over the logo.

Here is the finished front of the 911.

85% Complete! Headlights and spoilers will be installed off site.

100% complete. Within 30 minutes a truck was called and the car was secretly taken to another shop for a tuning to prep for a race on Monday. The car made its debut to the racing world Monday at the Sebring Raceway for Team JBI. Its driver, the one and only Jerome Bocuse, son of the french chef Paul Bocuse. He was a great client and we had a great time working on his new 911 Porsche!DO NOT USE THESE PICTURES FOR YOUR OWN USE. THEY ARE OWNED BY SHADOW GRAPHICS .INC AND WE WILL PROSECUTE!

The post The Bocuse Transformation appeared first on .

» 3m certified

The Bocuse Transformation