My project
Andrew Bourne adds an exterior half-wrap and removes the original decals to enhance the look of his ‘dumpy’ motorhome
Having had our motorhome stolen last summer, I ended up with a 10-year-old Rapido 9066dF A-class as a replacement.
The interior was a big improvement for our family. Not only were the bunks in the previous model too small, but mum ‘n’ dad were not as enthusiastic about reversing down the ladder from the overcab anymore.
But the exterior of the Rapido did not appeal as it looked dumpy and not something I was especially proud about. I felt the proportions made it look like a large loaf of bread on skates.
Then there was the strange Gallic scribbles, too. So I set about thinking how to make the ’van look longer and slimmer rather than tall and dumpy.
I was inspired by Helen Shaw’s article I saw earlier on in the year, regarding the matt black wrap of her Hymer 4x4 and looked into how to wrap a big ’van.
In addition, friends of ours had a modern VW conversion done for them. It was a typical Germanic dark grey and, to enhance it, they had the lower half wrapped in dark maroon with a thin gold line. If the Queen and Phil ever had a camper, then that’s what it would look like – dead classy.
In addition to these, having worked many years ago for United Airlines, I recall the transition from mainly white fuselages to a dark grey and blue livery, causing the air-conditioning cost to multiply by a huge extent.
I, therefore, liked the idea of keeping the main body of the ’van white and thus cooler and, being a bit ‘Yorkshire’, I liked the idea of only paying for half to be wrapped.
Having read up about other wraps, I was happy with its longevity and limitations compared with a respray, which would have been out of the question anyway.
The internet had an image of a huge orange and dark blue promotional RV, the lower dark blue was almost forgotten by your eye, making it a lot slimmer than it was. The little black cocktail dress effect, or so I am told.
Having previously owned a Panther Lima, I recalled the beautiful Panther 6 (it only made two of these cars), which also had this effect, making it appear more sleek.
My version of the Panther 6’s livery transplanted on the Rapido looked good, but didn’t have enough of a slimming effect.
I spotted a 4x4 van conversion that often comes up when Googling motorhome wrapping, which has a multiple grey and green forested hillside that climbs up towards the back of the ’van. It looks fantastic, but my amateurish cut and pasting bizarrely made it look like the front wheels were on fire with smoke
billowing along the side of the ’van.
Liberty makes a Mercedes Sprinterbased RV in the US and, almost uniquely for an American ’van, it has no curves or swirls, a class act.
My version was an improvement, but made it look like the Rapido had an enormous backside. So, back to the drawing board.
Having a misspent youth, much of it inhaling polystyrene cement fumes in the vain hope of building my Airfix kits into something resembling the plans, I recalled the livery of the RAF’s Transport Command, especially on one of the most handsome aircraft ever made, the VC10.
It was predominantly white, with a silver or polished-alloy bottom half and then a blue stripe running along the middle with a lightning bolt zig-zag toward the cockpit. Not only did it work on the sleek VC10s, but also on the fuller figures of the Blackburn Beverley, Short Belfast and other transports. I also think it’s quite a subtle and classy look.
I knocked up a version and, showing it to my rather arty daughter, she suggested lowering the blue stripe from the midpoint so the darker grey was only a third of the lower half. It was amazing how this tricked the eye, the ’van suddenly looked dramatically more slim.
Having created this, I then knocked up a version with a lower dark blue section with a red stripe, but that was a bit too close to BA’s 1980s colours.
I then changed the stripe to a much slimmer gold one with the dark blue and that looked good, but I felt the RAF version was still the smarter version. I had noticed that most modern motorhomes had a dark block surrounding the side windows so they looked like one unit. I, therefore, continued the line from the windscreen seals to the side windows to encase them. This look made the ’van look much more modern and, to my eyes, was a great improvement.
To carry out the work, I had the recommendation from my friends for a large firm in Worthing, but also set about sending my proposal to others in southeast England. This was the same week that a coronavirus lockdown was about to be eased.
Having had my previous ’van stolen, we had a devil of a job reinsuring and I was adamant that I didn’t want it left outside in an industrial estate overnight to be stolen, so I had to have a firm that could accommodate that need. Some quotes were outrageous; I am sure many quoted for the whole ’van to be wrapped and hadn’t read my spec, or deliberately overpriced to drive me away. Others couldn’t fit the
’van inside even to work on it, so wouldn’t quote as they couldn’t work on it in inclement weather.
Signwrite Studios in Sandhurst replied almost immediately. It confirmed it could store the ’van and gave a very reasonable quote. It also answered my questions well and generally inspired confidence. Others were quoting two days, but Signwrite wanted three to four days; this was not a big issue and perhaps positive, as it was clearly realistic. I took the ’van out of storage and thankfully Sandhurst is only 30 minutes away. The first trip was for Signwrite to look it over, as it admitted it would be the first motorhome and, for me, to see the cut of their jib. I am very glad I did this.
I met one of the staff, who felt they had done more complicated jobs in the past; I think after the wrap his view may have changed. He was a great help in deciding many points. Some aspects were too small to appear on the photos and needed to be discussed looking at the ’van closely.
The stripe had to be raised at the front, as the front bumper was 10mm higher than at the side, but looked the same unless very close up.
We both agreed that the door trims would get scratched so decided not to wrap those, leaving a white surround and I am still happy with the decision.
I was also advised that a matt finish to the grey would be more tough and forgiving in showing marks, especially useful having in the past squeezed down many lanes in Devon and Cornwall. Another suggestion was for the stripe to be gloss and not to go too dark blue or it would appear black. Plus, we decided on a gloss black for around the front windows.
One of the technicians also turned up and discussed the only problems for his team, the headlamp tunnels at the front and the scoops at the bottom of the back bumper. The wrap could not be stretched into these. He could add separate inserts at the front, but the seam would show and, being head onto wind/rain, would not necessarily last. I was not convinced on these white tunnels, but it was agreed that it could add these if I was not pleased.
The company very kindly let me take its only sample books home so we could all discuss colours in depth. We plumped for Nardo Grey, which is a very on-trend colour; Porsche started it, now all the German brands and others have followed, usually in high gloss, but we went for matt. This is darker than the RAF colours.
The company’s vans parked outside had full wraps and looked very good, so, all in all, I left feeling inspired and confident, and sent a 50% deposit.
I returned a week or two later and only just squeezed the ’van into its unit, with only inches each side and a titchy scrape of the dish on the roof. I was quite unsure how it proposed to manipulate the huge sheets of grey in such a confined area.
I had, since my first visit, been able to buy a grey fridge grille and we therefore discussed raising the blue line by a smidge, to sit along the grille’s top edge, which was more logical and an improvement. The visual also had the stripe running across the bonnet, which mine hadn’t and everyone agreed this was a better idea, so I accepted that gracefully.
The only issue for me was how thick the blue stripe should be. We experimented with gaffer tape and the steering committee plumped for 70mm. I think on retrospect it should be a tad slimmer, more like 50mm, but it’s not a big deal. Having seen the something on the Rapido Facebook group, I asked the team to fill the alloy wheel centres in a matching blue if it could. It promised to have a go.
In the end it took five days. I get the impression the intricate panels and especially the window surround took much longer than anticipated. Had I known this last aspect was a problem, I’d have suggested the black gloss come straight back parallel with the windows and not in an elongated triangle.
Despite having spent some time removing sealant from the big joint at the point where the front and sides meet, the company’s big concern was the amount of silicone residue left generally all around the vehicle that they had to remove and how that may affect the wrap sticking in the future.
There was also a small crack to the air dam at the front, which I hadn’t spotted; this has made the wrap pull away a bit and is something I need to keep an eye on.
I am quite pleased with the white headlamp tunnels, so have left them. The team also managed to stretch the wrap into the rear bumper indents. The wheel centres look good when you notice.