Voice of Customer
HP Latex 800 W Printer Flies High as an Airplane Vinyl Wrap Solution
When it comes to airplane vinyl wraps, few large format printers are up to the task. When Denver-based Ink Monstr™ needed a large format aircraft vinyl wrap solution1 as part of a historic restoration of a famous race plane, they turned to the HP Latex 800 W printer.
Living up to its namesake, the Bardahl Special is no ordinary plane. Initially stationed at Stewart Air Force Base in 1948, the Mustang 51 is best known for being piloted by Bob Love and later Chuck Lyford in the Reno Sky Ranch Race in 1964 and 1967 respectively. In 2022, the beloved plane was acquired by ACV Group LLC, McKinleyville, Calif. who had plans to race it once more at the Reno Air Races.
To bring it back to its former glory, the new owners selected Ink Monstr™ to recreate the same look as when it was flown by Chuck Lyford in the ‘60s. To do that, the print service provider needed a high-quality airplane vinyl wrap solution that would not only look great, but also not damage the current paint job.
“Over the course of two months, our team painstakingly reviewed old archived records and assets to recreate the legendary scheme via vinyl graphics,” Ink Monstr CEO Jon White says. “Because the scheme was from the ’60s, there are no readily available vector graphics, so everything was recreated and digitized from historical photographs, articles, and videos.”
While many products played a role in the historic recreation, the HP Latex 800 W large format printer was selected as the aircraft vinyl wrap solution. The team imaged 2800 square feet of 3M 2080 vinyl and 3M Controltac IJ180Cv3 film on HP’s large format printer and wrapped the entire plane in a gloss white base. With its ability to print the whitest white2 as well as leverage sustainable, water-based HP Latex inks and odorless prints without hazardous air pollutants3, the HP Latex 800 W printer was the perfect airplane vinyl wrap solution.
The famous Bardahl Special was unveiled and raced once again to the delight of aviation race fans. “Our team is proud to have restored a piece of aviation history to its fans to be enjoyed and relived,” says White.
Click the button below to learn more about HP’s large format solution and other print applications of the HP Latex 800 W printer.
Footnotes
1. Content and images used in this blog post have been repurposed with permission from Big Picture Magazine. Images courtesy of Big Picture Magazine, photographed by Kenn Smith. To view the original article and more content, please visit https://bigpicturemag.com/return-of-the-bardahl-special/?highlight=bardahl%20special
2. Produce the highest value jobs with the HP Latex 800 W Printer and white ink. Whitest white based on ISO/DIS 23498 compared to competitive alternatives using solvent and UV technologies under $50,000 USD as of May, 2020. Test performed on black opaque self-adhesive vinyl (L*:4.16 – a:0,48-b:2,34) with 160% UF printmode using HP 836 White Latex Ink Cartridge. Visual opacity = 91%.
3. HP Latex inks were tested for Hazardous Air Pollutants, as defined in the Clean Air Act, per U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Method 311 (testing conducted in 2013) and none were detected.
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HP Latex 800 W Printer
White ink and smart, productive printing
- 1.63-m / 64-in maximum media width
- 3-liter cartridge
- Maximum roll 55 kg (121 lb)
- White ink
- Speeds up to 36 m²/hr (388 ft2/hr) outdoor
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