West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
As many car collectors know, anytime is always a good time to expand the fleet. Since we brought the Smart Courtesy Car on board back in 2009 as a free service to our customers, the business has grown and thus so has the necessity to accommodate with a new vehicle that offers a bit more space than our tiny two door!
Enter, Cube. The third generation Nissan Cube was revealed for the first time at the Los Angeles International Auto Show – the first two generations of which were never offered for export markets, including European and North America. Constructed on the Renault Nissan Alliance’s front-wheel-drive B platform and powered by a 1.5 L, 16-valve engine boasting a monstrous 108hp, the Cube can barely keep the tires glued to the pavement with all that power being delivered by the Xtronic CVT transmission. The interior blends modern styling cues with the soft, zen like qualities of a Japanese rock garden, featuring a rippled headliner and accompanying accoutrements that evoke the “enveloping curves of a jacuzzi” promoting a comfortable and social atmosphere as intended by its designers.
To get things rolling on the Cube’s new aesthetics, we started off by creating a digital render of what the graphics would resemble on completion. Aiming to incorporate more interactivity to the design & add emphasis to our love of social media sharing, we incorporated a set of our most frequented networks on facebook, twitter, and youtube as well as a scannable QR code that points to our informative vehicle wrap page!
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
With the new Cube at home in the shop, we set Jeff to work on the matte grey base. Ensuring maximum coverage he began smoothing out the door fronts, stretching the film around the pillars and carefully adhering it to the jams, making sure to fit it into every little crack and crevasse.
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
Getting the edges tight and flush up against the fender, Jeff worked his way over the flattest surfaces quickly covering the rear quarter, hood and driver’s side doors before moving on to the front panels, bumper, and grill.
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
Easier points taken care of, it was time to set to work on the trickier shapes of the Cube’s rather bulbous surface – the curving fenders and grill inserts. Removing the grill, badges and lights, the matte silver film was stretched over the lower inlets & fog lamp cups before the excess could be cut, trimmed, and tailored to a snug fit. Meanwhile, the badges & hubcaps received a fresh coat of matte black so they’d match up beautifully with the additional matte black accent vinyl.
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
Time to start adding on the accent pieces – starting with the side window frames, Jeff ran his tape lines and trimmed the excess. The headlight housing received a similar treatment as well as the lower grill and inlet walls.
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
Now that the Cube’s new two tone matte finish had been wrapped up, it was time to lay out the letter cuts, QR & shield graphics and prep the surface for installation. We opted for a variation of finishes on the textual additions – a bright blue and white to match our online motif combined with a reflective black layer underneath the matte social media icons similar to the SVT Raptor graphics.
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
Keeping with the interactivity kick, the front NWAUTOSALON.COM was printed backwards so that it would read easily in the rear view of whomever the cube might be trailing. Exercising his eyeballs, Blake delicately separated, tracked & kerned the letter cuts over the curvature of the hood. By taping off a leveling line on each section of the cut outs, each piece could be re-aligned & squeegeed on with ease.
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
Here you can see the double ply & metallic/reflective quality of the film through the backing while it is separated and prepped to be applied to the moistened surface.
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
Setting to work on the sides of the Cube, Blake secured the wrap info QR code to the gas door before cleaning and wetting the door panels so they would be accommodating to adhesion.
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
Since the door lettering was considerably longer than the front or rear pieces, it became a bit of a two man job to get it set up & in place. Myron held the appliqué taunt while Blake straightened & aligned it with the door edge, sticking tapelines for tracking along the edges of the film before spraying it down and squeegeeing out the letters for maximum adhesion.
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
Side lettering in place, Blake started with the finish work of applying the NWAS badges with a bit of skew as well as trimming the letter edges so they would land cleanly in the door gaps & seams without obscuring the text or risk peeling back due to wear caused from opening and closing.
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
Once all the graphics had been applied, we wiped the vehicle down once more, stuck on the freshly blacked out hubs and applied a coat of matte wax to preserve the exterior sheen before rolling the Cube into the cyclorama for some after shots!
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
West Coast Vehicle Wraps NorthWest Auto Salon Nissan Cube matte silver
Remember, we offer our courtesy car services free of charge to any customer receiving a detail here at NorthWest Auto Salon, so be sure to ask about the availability of either the Smart Fortwo or our brand new Cube the next time you’re in need. Thanks for reading!