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Five cosmetic touched vape units (in 5 separate posts) #1: Snowwolf

wizardofozone

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phptNKfxc_c2PM.jpg Have to be truthful and admit some 'beauty mods' are really scratch,dent, smear, or missing finish hiders (lol!)

The Snow Wolf has no mars, but with the factory gold side panels and black glass the 200 watt Wolf is just too much of a fingerprint machine ...

Of all available adhesive vinyl skins, I find the 'flame backdraft' shown and the orangish 'digital camo' were the only two wraps for the Snowwolf that really seemed to make the box pop. The really inexpensive $10 wolf profile lapel pin from Etsy makes the Snow Wolf look a lot more important than it really is !!

Something to know if you are new to the various company vinyl wraps out there ..... I started testing various wraps 2 years ago and many vinyls are being produced in a thinner vinyl product than they originally started out to be. This causes a problem lately. I'm a serious perfectionist and was going crazy working so slow and with meticulous care only to find 2 or 3 sides were perfect while one or two sides suddenly had the most microscopic of tiny grit marks you can feel under the vinyl even though the prepping was tediously and carefully done.

My son and I are in agreement as to what was occurring ... as the wraps began to be produced thinner, the actual weight of the adhesive was microscopically overpowering the bottom of the skin and adhesive 'balling up' occurs as you digitally manipulate the installation, especially on boxes that really need pressure or light pulling in some tricky looking areas of some vape units.

I ended that problem. When the skin arrives the first thing to do is leave it on the backing and spray a dry matte finish layer of acrylic clear gloss over the entire wrap. Repeat in 15 minutes leaving the spray can up to 14 inches away so the clear matte is hitting the vinyl 'dry'.

This produces a few nice results. Firstly the matte finish skin looks a lot more 'adult' and 'important' than the toy looking Mattel - like glossy vinyl decals we all had to put on our child's new riding or 'whatever' toy to complete the look.

Secondly and more important, if you've dry sprayed heavily on those two matte layers the vinyl skin is noticably heavier like the old skins used to be.

(By the way, some UK sites get as much as $18 for a skin but for the price they are truly thick ... the 'golden croc' pattern feels like a wallett ! (lol) and this matte spraying trick isn't necessary.)

With the matte spray dried you'll find the heavy vinyl never 'grits' as it is now sturdier than the glue behind. When installed hit the box mod with a hair dryer but do not go crazy !!

The finished Snowwolf and it's Etsy medallion are shown. If you prefer the glossy vinyl as it comes, just complete the whole installation WITH the matte , then the next day take an exacto knife and carefully lift a corner ... NOT the vinyl, lift the MATTE. It will come off in one piece exposing the original gloss.
 
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