using wax to make a temporary picture on vehicle

[Xguy4life*]

hey guys, I am not new to the detailing of cars, but i did have a rather strange question for all the experts out there.
Can i use car wax to temporarily change my vehicles appearance and to add pictures to my car?
I know that this question sounds vague so i will describe my plan and hopeful outcome.
I want to mask off with painters tape a snowflake pattern all over my vehicle. then i want to apply wax to the rest of the vehicle so that it will appear to be a different color. preferably white, but considering that it is a dark red xterra, i dont think i will get it to be completely white. then i want to remove the painters tape, revealing my original red paint. I WILL NOT BE REMOVING THE WAX RIGHT AWAY. i then want to decorate my vehicle with Christmas lights and other stuff. this is my grand idea for how to win a decorating contest that will be taking place on one of my other forums.

my big question is;
1. is this even possible to do?
2. if it is possible, what wax would you all recommend that i use to accomplish this task.

i also want to add that this will all be taking place in under 1 day. dont want to ruin my paint, but the wax will probably have to be on the vehicle for a little over an hour or so.
I will then promptly remove the wax and rewax the entire vehicle.
so any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Murr1525]

Re: using wax to make a temporary picture on vehicle

Yeah.... just apply the wax real thick and let it dry.

Might be a tad hard to remove perfectly without some smearing, but wont do any damage.

Not sure which wax dries whitest.... Deep Crystal Wax is cheap to use a lot of, and easy to find.

[Xguy4life*]

Re: using wax to make a temporary picture on vehicle

murr1525 you just made my day... i was really worried about ruining my paint by attempting to do this, but now im definitely more confident. I am the reigning decorating contest champ from last year so i needed to think of some new and exciting ways to decorate my vehicle.
here are some samples of my entry from last year.


i love my dogs!

[Mister B]

Re: using wax to make a temporary picture on vehicle

There is also Temporary Car Art Paint from Dupli-Color. That supposedly washes off with soap and water.

Don't know if I would be brave enough to try it on my truck though

CAR ART

[ColonelCash]

Re: using wax to make a temporary picture on vehicle

Does that Xterra run off a 110v elecrical source?!?!?

[Xguy4life*]

Re: using wax to make a temporary picture on vehicle

the lights did lol...

[noobhax0r]

Re: using wax to make a temporary picture on vehicle

hey guys, I am not new to the detailing of cars, but i did have a rather strange question for all the experts out there.
Can i use car wax to temporarily change my vehicles appearance and to add pictures to my car?
I know that this question sounds vague so i will describe my plan and hopeful outcome.
I want to mask off with painters tape a snowflake pattern all over my vehicle. then i want to apply wax to the rest of the vehicle so that it will appear to be a different color. preferably white, but considering that it is a dark red xterra, i dont think i will get it to be completely white. then i want to remove the painters tape, revealing my original red paint. I WILL NOT BE REMOVING THE WAX RIGHT AWAY. i then want to decorate my vehicle with Christmas lights and other stuff. this is my grand idea for how to win a decorating contest that will be taking place on one of my other forums.

my big question is;
1. is this even possible to do?
2. if it is possible, what wax would you all recommend that i use to accomplish this task.

i also want to add that this will all be taking place in under 1 day. dont want to ruin my paint, but the wax will probably have to be on the vehicle for a little over an hour or so.
I will then promptly remove the wax and rewax the entire vehicle.
so any help would be greatly appreciated.

That sounds possible to do - like you mention just mask off the area you want (making the tape your stencil), and just apply wax/sealant to the inside area. NXT2.0 sounds like it will do the job for you here, just dont wipe it off and apply it slightly thicker. Once it dries, it should give you the effect you are seeking.

Although check out this video of how Meg's affect with UQW after it was wiped off for a slightly different effect under water:
part1:
http://www.meguiars.com/video/index....ign%20Part%201

part2:

http://www.meguiars.com/video/index.cfm?playURL=rtmp://meguiars.flashsvc.vitalstreamcdn.com/meguiars_vitalstream_com/_definst_/UQWH2-p2.flv&VideoName=Meguiars%20Ultimate%20Quick%20Wax%20Design%20Part%202

[Michael Stoops]

Re: using wax to make a temporary picture on vehicle

Oh, the thought of removing a very heavily applied layer of wax a couple hours after application is painful in itself. How about instead of using the masking tape to create red snowflakes against the red background of the truck, you do the reverse? If you just mask off the edges of your snowflake and wax inside the masked area, you end up with white snowflakes against a red background instead of your original plan. Not only will it look like giant snowflakes have landed on your truck, you'll use a lot less wax and should, therefore, find removal to be easier and faster.

Pick up some NXT Spray Wax and apply it fairly heavy. It will dry pretty white but should come off fairly easily (in the context of "gee, you put that wax really, really heavy, didn't you?!" ) - or you could remove the bulk with a pressure wash first. If you don't have any NXT Spray then Cleaner Wax in the red bottle would probably be the whitest drying wax currently in our lineup. But you will have to apply it pretty heavy.




OK, now some sort of therapy is needed - making recommendations that run counter to everything we normally do is just not sitting well right now!!!

[RGP]

Re: using wax to make a temporary picture on vehicle

Google says to spring for twelve bucks and buy static snowflakes. Should hold up at parade float speeds I would think...

http://www.superclings.com/whitegold.htm

[Murr1525]

Re: using wax to make a temporary picture on vehicle

Oh, the thought of removing a very heavily applied layer of wax a couple hours after application is painful in itself. How about instead of using the masking tape to create red snowflakes against the red background of the truck, you do the reverse? If you just mask off the edges of your snowflake and wax inside the masked area, you end up with white snowflakes against a red background instead of your original plan. Not only will it look like giant snowflakes have landed on your truck, you'll use a lot less wax and should, therefore, find removal to be easier and faster.

Oh.... I kind of mis-read.... I thought that was the original plan....

Yeah, dont thickly wax the whole thing. Wont hurt, but you may still be getting it off next week.

[Xguy4life*]

Re: using wax to make a temporary picture on vehicle

well i was able to get the results i was looking for... alot of it has to do with all of your help... and suggestions...
well with out further ado here are the results...




hopefully it will be this years winner on my other forum, thenewx.org but only time will tell...

i used the meguiars cleaner wax and applied it with a round applicator pad. i ended up putting on about 2 layers, and letting it dry for about an hour... it was easy to get off, just required a little bit of elbow grease but nothing extremely extreme...

i think it came out pretty well...
and this year colonelcash, the lights were run off of a DC to AC inverter on the inside of my truck...
thanks again guys for your awesome forum and wealth of knowledge... keep up the awesome work.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: using wax to make a temporary picture on vehicle

Very cool idea and pictures...good job!