Martin and Mary Neil, owners of Caliber Signs & Imaging in Irvine, CA, recently completed an unusual and large project- a rocket wrap promoting the Anaheim Ducks, at the Discovery Science Center, a local children’s science museum. This is not the first time the two had met though, Caliber has completed other projects for the Anaheim Ducks throughout Orange County promoting the team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but this was their first time doing a wrap of any sort. Martin believes it was their high quality work and responsiveness that helped them win this job. This was not going to be an easy project, though.
Before any printing was done, Martin met with the Marking and Operations Managers for the Discovery Science Center, where the rocket currently resides, and the Marketing Manager and Marketing Director from the Anaheim Ducks organization to do a preliminary test on the rocket to test if the material would stick. Once Martin and his installer were able to successfully test the material, the Anaheim Ducks sent in their artwork and production was ready to begin. Not without some challenges, though. In most cases, templates can assist installers and sign-makers when working on vehicles, boats, and other traditional wraps, but there are no rocket wrap templates out there. So, Martin and his team needed to use a bit of geometry and guessing to see how much material they needed and what sizes they would need. There were three components to this wrap: the cylinder, the dome, and the cone. Each part needed its own wrap, and there wasn’t much room for error.
Once the materials were printed, it was time to install. After a few hours of power washing and drying, the rocket was ready to be wrapped. The cylinder was the first part to be wrapped, which took an entire day to complete. This was due to the high temperatures that day, the material could stretch unevenly with the heat, so a lot of precision went into the first few panels in order to ensure it would look perfect. Once they had that down, the cone and dome were able to be completed on the second day. The entire install took place on a weekend, which is a very popular time for the Discovery Science Center, so the team at Caliber had to be mindful of the high volume of people and the limited amount of space they had in the parking lot.
All of the production and installation was done in-house by Caliber, they only needed to rent a 125 foot crane for the weekend to assist them. From the first day Martin met with the Anaheim Ducks and Discovery Science Center to the day of completion, this monstrous project took only two weeks to complete with two days dedicated to installation.
