Lord of the Rings plane wins medal

20.08.2004 1.40 pm

Hamilton-based design and printing company Admark has picked up a silver medal at a prestigious New York festival for the Lord of the Rings graphics on an Air New Zealand Boeing 747.

The annual awards are now in their 47th year. More than 3800 entries were received from 62 countries.

From those, 947 achieved finalist status with only 313 medals awarded.

Admark managing director Laurie Pilling said the award showed his company was a world leader in printing and applying aircraft graphics.

The graphics for the aircraft were designed to commemorate the release of the third and final instalment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Admark had previously printed and applied graphics to two aircraft for the first and second movies in the trilogy.

The project for the third was on a grander scale and was the largest aircraft graphic ever produced.

It was made up of 360 individual pieces, had 800sq m graphic curves around the fuselage and engines of the Boeing, it stretched more than 48m along each side of the aircraft and up to 8m deep from the centre of the roof around to the cargo belly.

The aviation marking film was specifically designed by 3M to withstand huge changes in aircraft pressurisation.



Images: Admark’s Middle-Earth Challenge!
Tuesday, 18 November 2003, 3:58 pm
Press Release: Admark  

PRESS RELEASE
AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
18 November 2003

Admark’s Middle-Earth Challenge!


Admark’s partnership with Air New Zealand continues with the newly-themed Lord of the Rings Boeing 747-400, designed to commemorate the release of the third and final instalment of the trilogy – The Return of the King.

Admark previously printed and applied the aircraft graphics commemorating the release of the second movie, “The Two Towers”, however this time round the graphics are 20 per cent larger and represent the biggest single aircraft project Admark has ever undertaken.

Made up of 360 individual pieces, the 800 square metre graphic curves around the fuselage and engines of the 185 tonne Boeing, stretching more than 48 metres along each side of the aircraft and up to eight metres deep from the centre of the roof round to the cargo belly.

Given the sheer scale of the image, the task of printing and applying it to the aircraft fuselage was planned by Admark with military precision – particularly as the entire application had to be completed during the limited timeframe of a routine 54-hour engineering check.

Admark’s 28-strong team worked on the mural – from computer designers who broke up the image into manageable panels, digital printers who produced the vast images onto self-adhesive film, a finishing team who cut out the individual pieces, and finally, the application team who worked around the clock at Air New Zealand’s engineering base in Auckland to apply the image to the aircraft. The application alone took a total of 585 man hours, making the project a logistical as well as an artistic triumph.

The aviation marking film used on the aircraft was specifically designed by 3M and was tested by the US Air Force and approved by the US Federal Aviation Authority. It was designed to withstand huge changes in the pressurization of the aircraft and speeds of 1,000 kilometres. Enormous temperature fluctuation is also an issue, from –60oC while cruising at 35,000 feet to 60oC during prolonged spells on the tarmac mid-summer in destinations such as Los Angeles. Interestingly, although the actual film is barely thicker than cling film, the sheer size of the image means that the decal actually weighs 106 kilos.

Admark’s Managing Director, Laurie Pilling, says “it’s interesting when we decorate aircraft – people think the pictures are painted on – they’re not, they’re actually just huge sticky labels. It takes a lot of preparation … the entire aircraft has to be painstakingly cleaned with alcohol first to ensure the self-adhesive film attaches firmly”.

Pilling also says “Admark is a world-leader in the application of aircraft graphics and we believe this to be the largest flying billboard ever created. I’m so proud of the team at Admark, they’ve done a tremendous job on what is an extremely challenging project”.

Quoted: .....

?????

@#$%

HAHA, you guys jumped the gun!

Here we go






IBTL
+1
I like PIE
Get both
Something about the pooper and pictures
Bushy vs. Colt ?
etc.






Oh, and by the way,






+1

What's the point?

To show off a cool graphic on the side of a cool AMERICAN MADE aircraft.

If anyone responds with a response that warrents a response from me I'll respond.

Quoted: What's the point of having this post?  If anyone responds, you won't.

I bet neither of those two guys ever thought their face would be painted on the side of a 747 one day.

Blasphemy!!!  Looks like the airlines are desperate.  Grubbing those advertisement dollars!

I rememeber hearing once upon a time the actual weight that paint is on a plane costs so much money in fuel extra to burn. And it wasnt chump change either.

WTF, who the fuck are you to bitch about my posts.
Plenty of people enjoy reading my cut and paste posts.
Sometimes I don't have an opinion, sometimes I want to learn.
I guess I could just post "+1" and "PIE" in every post, would that make you happy?

Quoted: You haven't responded to any of your cut-and-paste posts! Quoted: What's the point? To show off a cool graphic on the side of a cool AMERICAN MADE aircraft. If anyone responds with a response that warrents a response from me I'll respond. Quoted: What's the point of having this post?  If anyone responds, you won't.