My hydro dipped DJI Inspire

Soooooooo!

You may recall, I spent a ridiculous amount of time last month wrapping my DJI Inspire in vinyl because I wasn’t happy with any of the wraps available online, mainly because they had bloody gaps on every line due to the complex shape of the Inspire body shell and nose cone.

My wrap attempt came out “ok”… I was kinda pleased with it because there were no white gaps all over the place, but my OCD was playing havoc with me still as it wasn’t 100% perfect :blush: The batteries were the hardest part to do because they have ‘fins’ on the sides which you press in to release the battery, these were literally impossible to wrap so I left them white :slightly_frowning_face:

Enough was enough, it was time to get it done properly and hydro dipping was the only way.

First port of call, strip the Inspire naked :scream:

Here you can see the complex nose cone, three sides on the front, plus a left and right. NIGHTMARE to wrap in vinyl.

Those battery fins!! IMPOSSIBLE to wrap.

Naked batteries! I had to be really careful taking these apart because they were all ‘live’. One false move with a screwdriver or one dropped screw could be game over. And at £180 quid a pop it doesn’t bear thinking about.

Under the hood of an Inspire :+1:

Lower gimbal plate needed to be removed in order to get to the screws under the nosecone.

Right then!

I did a load of research in to the DIY hydro printing options. I looked at all sorts of kits on eBay and I watched all sorts of tutorial videos on YouTube.

After weighing up the cost of buying everything you need it worked out about the same as getting the professionals to do it. Plus, my costs were based on me getting it 100% right FIRST TIME. Probably wasn’t going to happen.

So with the drone and batteries stripped, I shipped the whole lot the short distance up the M6 to the boys at Hydro Style UK:

These guys dip stuff all day, every day. Check out their web site, the amount of patterns they have is unreal. They can even print custom patterns for you. Your imagination is the only limit here.

Hydro Style UK were great, they kept me posted with updates and sent me various photos along the way too.

They first sanded all the parts by hand then sprayed the whole lot with a satin black base coat.

Here’s the carbon fibre pattern printed and floating in their tank, ready to be sprayed with the activator.

The attention to detail here is amazing.

They took the time to assemble a few pieces, stuck together from the underside, and dipped them in one go.

So when re-assembled, the carbon pattern lines up :clap:

This is the top cover AND nose cone :+1:

Once dipped and left to dry, then they spray several coats of clear lacquer over the top to protect it all.

A week later a box arrived :man_dancing:

Very well packed too, each piece was individually wrapped.

Drool time… :drooling_face:

Some close ups for you.

Nose cone.

Nose cone when positioned against the top cover.

THE CARBON PATTERN LINES UP :scream:

These guys are good, eh?

Battery tops.

Those IMPOSSIBLE fins on the sides of the batteries.

I’m seriously impressed.

Rear end of the top cover.

Sneak peak underneath, satin black overspray, nothing much to see here.

Side braces and tail light:

Rear of the top cover, not a spec of white is left visible!

Lower air frame sides.

And now some re-assembly photos.

Tail light cover mounted to the rear of the top cover.

I used bits of foam in some places during the reassembly. I’d be gutted if I scratched this!

Lower sides reattached.

Top cover going on.

Hubba.

Battery reassembly, again minor satin overspray visible on the inside of the battery covers.

Even the FRONTS of the batteries are covered :+1:

Lookin’ goooood :+1:

Not a spec of white visible here either!

That’s it, all done!

Letting her back out in to the wild…

The end.

Sorry, that was a seriously pic-heavy post…

My OCD is now satisfied, I can sleep at night once more.

Shout if you have any questions :smiley:

Again, top marks to the guys at Hydro Style UK, they did an amazing job :clap:t2:

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That looks so good I (almost) want an Inspire! :+1:

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I’m slightly biased perhaps, but yes, it looks eff’ing amazing :grimacing:

But I think it took me longer to type all that up and insert all the photos than it did to strip and resemble the entire drone :rofl:

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It looks incredible. The fine detail around the vents etc is really impressive.

It’s got me thinking of all the stuff I could hydro dip.

That looks seriously gorgeous. I’m more than a little jealous.

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I wonder what my Shogun would look like … :rofl:

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Yeah, me too!!!

It’s bloody addictive… :smiley:

I could do matching remote controllers… I even debated my iPhone and laptop :rofl:

Alas, I can’t see a way to do the Mavic Pro. It would take forever to strip it down :confused:

Thanks Russell :+1:

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Hydro Style do a lot of car bonnets too, their tank and printing gear is huge, you could perhaps send each panel in separately :smiley:

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How long to strip/rebuild the Inspire?

Awesome, now tidy that desk, it sent havoc with my own OCD ;o)

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What’s the coating like once set? Quite durable?

Did you buy a starter kit or something?

Edit - Read again and you sent them out, I thought you did this at home :rofl:

Perhaps it would all match between panels much better if I just drove it into their tank in one piece. :wink:

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That’s fabulous Rich
Well done the dippers

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Gotta say Rich, that looks the dogs bollicks !.
No must desist !!, “Now , you have enough drones” (searching Ebay as he types)
So , how the hell am I gonna hide one of them from “Her Indoors”.
Ah!, The shed !! (she doesn’t go in there!)
I’m drooling all over this keyboard !!!ivhkhfghh;hfcxm
nothing works now !!

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Perhaps Rich, you should try and negotiate a discount deal with them Guys.
Bet they would get some business from guys on here !.
Looking at your results,
I am astounded at the quality !

I stripped a lot of it down before (when I did the vinyl mod) so was familiar with how it was assembled and the location of the various hidden screws, clips etc. Air frame stripped down in about 10 minutes or so. Then maybe another 20 to 30 minutes to do four batteries (being more careful here).

Reassembly time was perhaps 2 hours? Mainly because I was being sooooo careful!

No, it’s fragile as hell… however, the clear coat lacquer over the top makes it rock solid :+1:

Well, not rock solid, it’s still technically ‘just paint’, but you know what I mean :slight_smile:

Funny you should say that :wink:

Again, all of this is technically do-able in DIY form and I’m still very tempted to buy a DIY kit just to do random stuff really.

The key though, as per painting a car really, is in the preparation. You need a beautifully prepared surface and either primed or undercoated correctly to match the intended hydro printed pattern. Water temperature is quite key too. Plus the right amount of activator. Well, check out YouTube, you’ll see what’s involved guys.

But yes, I’ll probably still give this a go on some less-ambitious items that are an easier shape to start with :smiley:

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What can I say ? Exquisite !:+1:t2:

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That’s come out a bit yummy, great post, the pictures say so much more. I’ll have a word with my Inspire and see if she’d like a new dress…:face_with_hand_over_mouth:
:+1:

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I preferred the pre-edit version. LOL

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Bloody predictive iPhone…lol

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