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Wrappin’ your ride

SaigonDude

Well-Known Member
Join
May 3, 2019
Messages
49
Age
56
I originally posted in Mavic Pilots, but the advice applies to any drone.

I live in Southeast Asia, and I have access to very cheap and substandard quality drone accessories. I have normally 'wrapped my rides' using various vinyl 'carbon fiber look' plastic sheeting.. My objective is to reduce scratches, and everyday wear and tear on the AC's surface. I've only used black, none of the day glo items. If someone is interested in applying a wrap, here are a few tips:

1. A blow dryer, or a heat gun (best) is required. Heat the wrap and the AC surface 1st. Heat guns are not blow dryers, and can start fires...be careful. My heat gun can blow 400 deg C/750 deg F. Less is more. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ANY MORE SERIOUSLY!!
2. Apply the decals on the batteries FIRST. Why? Batts are small, uniform, and give a 'feel' how the wrap reacts. LiPo's are dangerous, and sensitive to heat. I heat a LiPo using a 150deg heat gun for 10 SECONDS.
3. If wrap came from China, read the manual carefully....you'll eventually understand WTF the manual is explaining
4. Bubbles and creases are easily removed. A razor knife (Xacto) will trim overages.
5. Patience is a virtue; I have wrapped ~20 drones, and this was 2 hours effort. It is tedious.
6. Oh yeah, clean EVERY surface before application ;-)IMG_0082.jpg

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MIMG_0081.jpg
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Hiya Saigon, It's a small world with this forum. I was wondering why you use a heat gun. I've put on several wraps and never needed one. As you said..Patience is a virtue! and also once I got the wrap a little close to a lower sensor on the spark. Yikes!.. you don't want to do that..it gets a little scary.
 

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Hi,

I use the heat gun (vs a hair dryer) mainly because I have the heat gun. The wrap doesn’t actually require heat to be used, but it helps get the sheet around some the tight corners, and thin edges.

I always end up with a crease or bubble somewhere, and applying a little heat makes it pretty easy to push them off with my fingernail.

Thanks for the reminder about double checking sensor clearance. The M2P has 6 sensors, and wouldn’t like it ;-)
 
I wouldn't have chosen lime green wrapping for flying over Vietnam's beautiful green rice fields.......but wifey did a great job!
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Hiya Saigon, It's a small world with this forum. I was wondering why you use a heat gun. I've put on several wraps and never needed one. As you said..Patience is a virtue! and also once I got the wrap a little close to a lower sensor on the spark. Yikes!.. you don't want to do that..it gets a little scary.

She used the heat gun for the 1st time today, and she thought it was a great tool to both stretch the wrap, and the Sprak's surface so the wrap was tighter. But she also agreed it was much more than necessary. Her 2 favorite tools are needle tipped tweezers, and a razor knife with the blade that snaps off, shorter and shorter.
 

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