FIRST PLACE
Fabricator
Extreme Graphics
Tampa
(813) 855-4364
www.extremegraphics.com
Designer/Installer
Mike Postill
Client
Chris Biery
Clearwater Jet Boat
Biery, who offers jet-boat rides on waterways surrounding Clearwater Beach, FL, wanted to bedeck his boat with a wrap that replicates a fighter jet. Postill executed the rivets, afterburners and other details using Photoshop and Illustrator. He decorated the wrap on 3M Controltac IJ180C-10 with Comply v3 air-release film with his shop’s Mimaki JV3-160SP solvent-ink printer. 3M’s 8518 glossy overlaminate combats the environmental hazards the wrap encounters.
As with his other first-place winner, Postill installed the wrap solo using the Wraptor, his proprietary installation apparatus that reportedly helps vinyl maintain consistent tension and reduces installation time by using a gimbal joint and a vertical, expanding stanchion that allows 360° vertical and horizontal application.
SECOND PLACE
Fabricator
GatorWraps
Ontario, CA
(909) 390-1020
www.gatorwraps.com
Designer
Jeff Ciavardini
Installers
Jose Barragan
Omar Paz
Client
Gary Rippey
Rippey, who owns a construction company, wanted his private boat to replicate a vintage, wooden Chris Craft powerboat with a patriotic image and a subtle plug for his business. Ciavardini’s biggest challenge was creating the splinter effect where the flag and wood-grain design intersect: “We shadowed and contoured the flag to give the appearance that it’s pushing the wood planks off the boat’s hull.”
The shop fashioned the print with Avery MPI 1005 EZ RS vinyl on a Mutoh ValueJet 1614 printer with eco-solvent inks. Avery’s DOL 1060 glossy laminate, which was applied with a Seal 62 ProS laminator, protects the graphics.
THIRD PLACE
Fabricator
bluemedia
Tempe, AZ
(480) 317-1333
www.bluemedia.com
Designer
Chris Keal
Client
Tilted Kilt
Decorating a racing boat with a scantily clad babe and edgy graphics is always a sure bet to gain attention. Tilted Kilt’s Buford, GA-based, competitive-racing team hired bluemedia to wrap its boat and deliver some rapid branding. Keal designed the wrap using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, and the shop produced it on its HP Scitex TurboJet 8300 with 3M Controltac air-release media and glossy topcoat.
HONORABLE MENTION
Fabricator
360 Wraps
Dallas
(214) 432-9029
www.360wraps.com
Designer
Tommy Strader
Installers
Matt Blanchard
Jayy Esquivel
Nick Gilstrap
Tommy Strader
Client
Kris Tennison