Remembering the Snowman

Brent Luther is co-owner of Creative Color Studio (formerly Nu-Form Graphics) in Burnsville, MN.

 

Kevin Morgan, from Canton, PA; Tyler Hambrick from Newnan, GA; and Greg Vassar from Burnsville, MN, met at the 2007 Bandit Run, a 30th-anniversary reenactment of the Texarkana-to-Atlanta run with smuggled Coors beer (which was then illegal east of Texas) made by Bo “Bandit” Darville, played by Burt Reynolds, and Cletus “Snowman” Snow, portrayed by Jerry Reed, in Smokey and the Bandit.

At the time, they had no idea of the roles they would play in recreating Snowman’s trailer graphics. They also didn’t envision they would befriend the late Reed’s family and bring them tremendous joy with their work.

 

Persistence pays off

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Hambrick builds small versions of the Snowman’s rig. For his replicas, he used a stagecoach graphic of poor quality from the Smokey sequel. Strangely, the first movie’s stagecoach graphics had never been graphically reproduced. Tyler asked Vassar, a graphic designer, to create a stagecoach graphic like in the original Bandit. After working on the graphic for hours, Vassar tried to tell Hambrick he couldn’t handle the job, but Hambrick and his Vassar’s wife, Jan, insisted he keep trying.

With Adobe Photoshop, Vassar continued perfecting the graphics. He used its "smudge" tool, which smoothed out all the image’s shadows from the trailer ribs. After working for months, he finally finished the graphic. After he talked with Hambrick, Vassar realized he had created a digital-file scale with sufficient resolution to be rendered on a 40-ft.-long trailer. Realizing the file’s possibilities, they decided to restore their own Snowman trailer. Their only obstacles were no money, no truck and no trailer.

Hambrick found a 1971 refrigerated trailer in a field in Newnan, GA. Local businesses helped bankroll the trailer’s restoration, along with Bandit Run members – who, of course, were big fans and made generous monetary donations. When asked if it could be done, we gave the response Snowman gave in the movie: "Well, they said it couldn’t be done. Well, that’s the reason, son."

Chris Harmon and others at Wolfman’s muffler shop in Newnan handled the trailer’s repair and modification. A side door had to be removed, and that area was replaced with ribbed siding from the Great Dane Corp. Thermo King made reefer-unit modifications with parts it donated. The repair crew checked and fixed the wheels and mechanical parts as needed. We purchased air lines, brakes, lights, tires and Sherwin-Williams paint at reduced prices and benefited from free labor because each person or business involved knew they were part of something big.

 

A trailer with a purpose

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Tyler had sent the Reed family a Smokey and the Bandit model in the past, so contact with the family was already established. Greg started emailing the Reed family about the trailer project. Lottie Reed, Jerry’s daughter, recommended using the trailer to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project in honor of her dad. Jerry was very much involved with this organization, especially during the last few years of his life. Morgan, Hambrick and Vassar wanted to continue the work Jerry started to help our veterans.

Vassar transformed the trailer into an historical memorial that features images from Jerry’s career. One image depicts Jerry as the Guitar Man in honor the country-singer facet of his career, and another memorializes Snowman. Each graphic decorates the trailer’s rear doors.

Vassar had worked with Burnsville, MN’s Creative Color (formerly Nu-Form Graphics), a graphic-design and print-production facility, on a prior project for his 1977 Trans AM SE, and decided to contact them about printing the vinyl wrap for the trailer. Jeff Volino and I, the shop’s co-owners, loved the project idea, and agreed to produce the wrap. Hambrick measured the trailer in Georgia; some people involved with the project were skeptical about having the design and production handled in different states.

There was very little margin for error. Both sides were symmetric, so they had to be perfect. Creative Color printed an extra panel for each side in case issues arose during installation.

 

The perfect match

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We discussed the wrap’s details and customer expectations prior to printing the vinyl trailer wrap graphics. Volino, Vassar and I made color adjustments onsite to match the original as closely as possible.

Once we’d approved the color test, Creative Color output the wrap on its Mimaki JV-3 solvent-ink printer using 3M’s Controltac 180 with Comply v3 air-release vinyl. 3M’s glossy-finish 8518 overlaminate, which Creative Color applied with a 61-in. Seal 600S dual-function laminator, protects the graphics.

To create the desired effect, the shop bled the colors on the Mimaki and installed the panels with a 1-in. overlap. The wrap comprises 10 panels per side; each panel measures 50 in. wide x 8 ft. tall. Hambrick’s brother-In-law, Dave Purdy, paid for the graphics.

Once the graphics were printed, Greg delivered them to Newnan via his vehicle because shipping was too expensive. Kevin Morgan and his father, Walter, flew into Atlanta to meet Hambrick and Vassar to complete the installation. Morgan had experience with vinyl installations, but the other two didn’t.

 

Doing the family proud

The installation took place at Caswell’s Wrecker Service, which graciously donated the space. Because a scissor lift wasn’t in the budget, the installation team stood on scaffolding. The first day, the team cleaned the trailer by hand with XIM’s GON-2O waterbased cleaner.

The installers completed the process using the hinge method. Vassar peeled back the uppermost 6 in. of the Controltac’s backing from each panel. Morgan squeegeed the film into place with felt-tipped 3M Gold nylon squeegees, and he used a hot blow-dryer to make the graphics more pliable. Another person used a blow-dryer to squeegee around all the rivets and expel all the air. Poking a hole in the middle of the rivet with an X-Acto® knife, as well as the hot-air/squeegee combination, eliminated the air around the rivets.

The trailer surface features approximately 3,000 rivets. The installation team needed four, 16-hour days to complete the process. After Vassar and the Morgans left, Hambrick still had hundreds of rivets to finish.

They completed the trailer in time for the 2009 Bandit Run 2009 and unveiled the trailer at Cooter’s in Nashville. Shannon Crenshaw volunteered to haul the trailer with his 1979 Kenworth (KW) tractor that’s painted just like the one in the movie. The Reed family and friends were there to witness the unveiling and autograph the trailer. Jerry’s widow, Prissy, put her hands on her knees and wept, and the rest of the Reed family also reacted with strong emotions.

An anonymous Bandit Runner generously purchased the 1979 KW tractor, and, thanks to these funds, the tractor-trailer may continue charitable work for our veterans through the Wounded Warrior Project.
Hambrick managed the entire Snowman rig. It attended the Bandit Run 2010 and arrived at the Burt Reynolds Museum in Jupiter, FL, for the Bandit Bash. Unfortunately, Reynolds couldn’t attend because he was filming a movie on location in Miami.

Snowman’s rig has attended all the Bandit Run events and other charitable events, and continues to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. God Bless America and our veterans.
 

 

Equipment and Materials

Laminator: Seal 600S 60-in., dual-function laminator, from Neschen Americas (Elkridge, MD), (800) 257-7325 or www.neschenamericas.com

Media: Controltac 180-10C repositionable media with Comply v3 air-release technology, from 3M Commercial Graphics (St. Paul, MN), (800) 374-6722; www.3m.com; 8518 glossy overlaminate, from 3M Commercial Graphics

Printer: JV-3 solvent-ink printer, from Mimaki USA (Suwanee, GA), (888) 530-4021 or www.mimakiusa.com
Software: Adobe Creative Suite, from Adobe Corp. (San Jose, CA), (408) 536-6000 or www.adobe.com
Tools: Felt-tipped, nylon squeegees, from 3M Commercial Graphics; hot-air dryer; X-Acto knives; and scaffolding.
 

 

More About Creative Color Studio

Burnsville, MN-based Creative Color Studio, which Jeff Volino founded in 2001, produces banners, vehicle wraps and other, large-format, vinyl applications. Formerly known as Nu-Form Graphics, the company changed its name earlier this year when Brent Luther assumed co-ownership with Volino.

Luther said, “We consider ourselves signage and graphics advisors first, and production specialists second. Color is our inspiration, and anything and everything we see in our community influences us. Whether large or small, any customer seeks to gain a competitive edge through a stronger graphic identity, and that’s our shop’s goal.”

With its name change, the company recently unveiled a new website, www.creativecolorstudio.com