Bionic Skins?

[Lakilaulea]

I wanted to know if anyone knew about how long it takes for skin manufacturers to come out with skins for a particular phone? I know the Bionic is still pretty new, so how much longer can I expect to wait? I don't want any kind of case, but I would like a skin, probably from either Gelaskins or Decalgirl.

 

[GBH2]

you would really need to contact the individual manufacturer and just ask them. It could be anywhere from tomorrow to never,

 

[themuttt]

when I whined to Gela Skins when the thunderbolt came out they said a couple of weeks after the phone was released, so I'm guessing the same with this. I did email them about an ETA for the Bionic but got no answer back

edit: one good thing about emailing the manufacturer is that it shows interest and may push them to put it on the front burner

 

[Lakilaulea]

when I whined to Gela Skins when the thunderbolt came out they said a couple of weeks after the phone was released, so I'm guessing the same with this. I did email them about an ETA for the Bionic but got no answer back

edit: one good thing about emailing the manufacturer is that it shows interest and may push them to put it on the front burner

I emailed them (Gelaskins) yesterday and just got this response:

Hi There!

We do not have any current plans to skin the Droid Bionic but I will certainly pass along the suggestion to our designers! Check back with the site or join the newsletter to keep up to date with new releases! Have a great day


Barbara Barlow | GelaSkins Inc.
[email protected]
(416) 519 1360

www.GelaSkins.com
Check us out on Facebook and Twitter!

I emailed Decalgirl as well and got this response:

This device is currently being worked on!

We hope to release it within the next month. We use our facebook page to notify about our releases - if your on facebook please facebook us!! We will launch with a limited amount of designs, but with DecalGirl you can order any design on any device through our More ways to shop: Shop by design!!! So if we do not launch with the design you want we can still do it for you!!
I hope you have a great day!!
Amie Marie

DecalGirl
302-360-8072
1-888-653-1430
Monday-Friday 8:00am-6:00pm EST
Find us on Twitter!
http://twitter.com/#!/decalgirl

So I guess I'm gonna wait for Decalgirl to come out with something, hopefully sooner than later.

 

[themuttt]

I emailed them (Gelaskins) yesterday and just got this response:







I emailed Decalgirl as well and got this response:





So I guess I'm gonna wait for Decalgirl to come out with something, hopefully sooner than later.

may have to check out decalgirl then

 

[themuttt]

looks like not everyone is on the same page at Gelaskins

Hi Greg,

Thank you for your email! We will certainly have Skins for the Bionic available. I'm afraid though that we do not have a release date. Stay tuned!

Elizabeth Czetyrbok | GelaSkins Inc.











[email protected]

 

[Lakilaulea]

That's funny. Not haha funny. I guess I'll just order from whoever comes out with theres first. Both make good skins, although Gelaskins' designs tend to be a little better.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[trabical]

Skinomi Skins

I'm about to go with Skinomi skins. They have a dark and a light wood skin, clear, and carbon fiber skins for the Bionic. Plus you get 25% back with the code get25. I'd like to see it on someone elses first but I think I might go for it. I don't like the added bulk of the cases and the Bionic is already a little big compared to my old D1. I kinda like the classic look of the wood in contrast to the modern look of the Bionic. Other than that all I have seen on the market so far is the clear one from Invisishield.

 

[Lakilaulea]

I'm about to go with Skinomi skins. They have a dark and a light wood skin, clear, and carbon fiber skins for the Bionic. Plus you get 25% back with the code get25. I'd like to see it on someone elses first but I think I might go for it. I don't like the added bulk of the cases and the Bionic is already a little big compared to my old D1. I kinda like the classic look of the wood in contrast to the modern look of the Bionic. Other than that all I have seen on the market so far is the clear one from Invisishield.

I saw Skinomi offered that as well, and while the woodgrain does look interesting to me, I kinda wanted something a bit more colorful. I'm also unfamiliar with them and would like to see what it looks like one someone else's phone before I buy it. Not all skins are created equal. I know Skinit has a lot of variety, but their skins tend to not fit as well on the devices and kinda look like crap. And I'm with you on the skin vs. case thing. I'm pretty careful with my things and I don't think I'll be dropping my Bionic (knock on wood), so I'd like something thinner, like a skin, just to protect against normal wear and tear. I found another site, Invisibiledefenders, that doesn't have it yet, but I sent them an email as well. I'd just like to get mine covered already.

 

[drdlvr]

optishieldz has the carbon fiber skins for the bionic

 

[Lakilaulea]

optishieldz has the carbon fiber skins for the bionic

Cool. I went to their site, but they don't have any pics of it up. Any idea if it'd be worth it?

 

[GBH2]

Cool. I went to their site, but they don't have any pics of it up. Any idea if it'd be worth it?

Pictures on this page:

optiSHIELDZ | Carbon Fiber Motorola Droid Bionic

View attachment 40322

 

[Diocat]

I am not the best at installing these but my Skinomi carbon fiber skin came in earlier today and I had to install it as I prefer skins over cases (even though in the Otterbox Commuter thread you see that I have the Otterbox Commuter as well as the Incipio Silicrylic case). My install is not perfect, and if I had a little more patience and wasn't as tired I'm sure it would have come out a little bit better but under the circumstances I think it came out pretty good (good enough for me to stop playing with it). Side note: I had a carbon fiber Skinomi skin for my X2 so I already knew it was going to fit with fairly close tolerances when you work the skin a little with a hair dryer.

I saw Skinomi offered that as well, and while the woodgrain does look interesting to me, I kinda wanted something a bit more colorful. I'm also unfamiliar with them and would like to see what it looks like one someone else's phone before I buy it. Not all skins are created equal. I know Skinit has a lot of variety, but their skins tend to not fit as well on the devices and kinda look like crap. And I'm with you on the skin vs. case thing. I'm pretty careful with my things and I don't think I'll be dropping my Bionic (knock on wood), so I'd like something thinner, like a skin, just to protect against normal wear and tear. I found another site, Invisibiledefenders, that doesn't have it yet, but I sent them an email as well. I'd just like to get mine covered already.

I'm sorry about the bad quality pics, I do not have the best environment for pictures, but at least you can get the idea of what it looks like on the Bionic. Also, the screen protector is a Zagg Invisible Shield because I prefer the feel of those over all the others (personal preference). While the Zagg comes with a big cutout on the top that spans from the camera to the light sensor (I think), the one that comes with the Skinomi only has two cutouts. One is cut specificly for the earpiece, and the other is a circular cutout for the camera. All the other sensors and LEDs are covered by the Skinomi "Techskin" screen protector.

Back

Volume Rocker Side

Top

USB/HDMI Port Side

Front Microphone Area

Front of phone

 

[Lakilaulea]

I am not the best at installing these but my Skinomi carbon fiber skin came in earlier today and I had to install it as I prefer skins over cases (even though in the Otterbox Commuter thread you see that I have the Otterbox Commuter as well as the Incipio Silicrylic case). My install is not perfect, and if I had a little more patience and wasn't as tired I'm sure it would have come out a little bit better but under the circumstances I think it came out pretty good (good enough for me to stop playing with it). Side note: I had a carbon fiber Skinomi skin for my X2 so I already knew it was going to fit with fairly close tolerances when you work the skin a little with a hair dryer.

That actually looks really good. I think I might go for it. Your pics came out good; I think I want mine to look like that. I'm debating over the black or gray now. Also, explain the hairdryer thing to me. I read that tip somewhere and I've never done that with other skins I've applied. Is it just for the carbon fiber type, or is it a generally good tip? Any tips on how to get the skin on as close to perfect as I can would be much obliged.

 

[Diocat]

That actually looks really good. I think I might go for it. Your pics came out good; I think I want mine to look like that. I'm debating over the black or gray now. Also, explain the hairdryer thing to me. I read that tip somewhere and I've never done that with other skins I've applied. Is it just for the carbon fiber type, or is it a generally good tip? Any tips on how to get the skin on as close to perfect as I can would be much obliged.

There is a Skinomi "How-to" which will give you the basics on how to install it here:
[video=youtube;nv7jzxN0peM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv7jzxN0peM[/video]

My install for the Bionic follows.

The Skinomi carbon fiber skins are the first ones I have ever used a hair dryer on. Unlike PhantomSkinz, Ghost Armor, Zagg, etc that are a very flexible wet install, the Skinomi is a dry install. The material is actually 3M Scotchprint carbon fiber film (the same stuff people use to do carbon fiber effects on their cars). To start off, this is how the skin comes from Skinomi:

As this is a dual cast vinyl film designed for cars typically, it is much more rigid than a typical skin. However, it is not so rigid that you cannot bend it to make sure you have it properly placed before heating. Once you have the skin placed in the correct place, on areas with big bends you heat it with a hair dryer to make it more flexible so you can stretch it and work it around the bends a bit easier. Once the film cools down it will "harden" to the shape of the device (the hair dryer step is needed on the bottom piece that covers the front mic and the bottom edge of the phone and the back the most, but it helps to put the top edge on as well).

The Bionic is the third Skinomi carbon fiber skin I have done. What I typically do is install the big back piece first. It's really big and "less delicate" in my opinion and therefore a little more forgiving as you're getting used to the feel of trying to shape it. the fit for the back to the flat edges are almost perfect. It's the corners that I "stretch" a little bit to make the edges touch to get the most coverage (you can see on the corners of the picture of the back in the post above that there are very minor spots that it doesn't cover).

Next, I did those two strips for the sides. This is the part that I didn't do "perfect" for the OCD person, you can see a couple spots where it's not "perfectly straight" and a little bit of the edge shows but it fits perfectly along the side if you are meticulous and patient. I DID NOT heat this part to install it, just do it cold as it is a flat section of the phone and the rigidity of the film actually helps in keeping it straight.

Here comes the tricky parts for my install (it's not that bad, really). The top and bottom will wrap around to near the side pieces. I installed the top edge of the phone cold (the rigidity helps here again). Once the top edge is straight, bend the edges down to see approximately how much you will have to stretch it (typically only a millimeter or two) but try to not let it stick (it's okay if it does a little, it's a very forgiving film especially when it's cold and never heated yet). Now that you know how much you will need to stretch it, heat the edges up, pull a little to stretch it the amount you need, then finish the installation of the top strip. If there is a very miniscule gap left between the top piece and the side piece, you can heat the area, slide the film the last micron you need, and hold it until it cools back down and it will solidify there.

The bottom piece I started on the front microphone area first (use the microphone hole to help align it and get it as close to the top edge of that area as possible. Again do not heat it yet. Fold it over the bottom edge and eyeball it to make sure that once you heat it to curve it around the edge, it will fit right. Now do the sides again like the top piece. The bottom piece has longer "edge pieces" and heat will definitely help you shape it and as the ears are so long, it will be easier to stretch to match up with the side pieces. However, when I did this piece, I used heat to make sure that that ear bends with the phone correct first, then I used heat to stretch the last part to match up with the side pieces.

This is something I do last. it's not required I don't think but I wait 5 minutes for everything to cool before I do a final heat with the hair dryer. This I believe is to activate the adhesive in any spots that you did "cold" and to make sure that it's warm enough to mold to any curves you did cold. Skinomi just says to run over it with a hair dryer right after you finish but I like to let it cool 5 minutes so I can see that everything is aligned before the final cure.

Hope this helps.