Painting a brand new board

[BaNZ]

I bought a new board and had a look at http://www.ehow.com/how_2138380_paint-a-surfboard.html

I take it that I don't to sand it down as it is brand new and has no wax on it. My gf wants to put some drawings on it so I presume I'll need the paint pens rather than the spray ones. After that I just need to apply some acrylic clear coat?

Let me know if I'm going at the right directions and if so I'll popdown to the local hardware shop this weekend.

[oldmansurfer]

No clue to your question .......just wanted to say my first impression was that is sacrilegious LOL

[BaNZ]

I know... I'm expecting to be the first surfer here with a hello kitty surfboard soon... but actually I'm kinda liking the idea. My first day surfing at the local beach yesterday. I had a lot of locals coming up to me and praise me for how well I surfed. I just want to see their face when I turn up a with a hello kitty surf board and catch all their waves.

[drowningbitbybit]

I take it that I don't to sand it down as it is brand new and has no wax on it. My gf wants to put some drawings on it so I presume I'll need the paint pens rather than the spray ones. After that I just need to apply some acrylic clear coat?

I've never painted a board properly, but I've done some fairly extensive repairs of paint jobs, so I can give you a few pointers...

1. You'll still need to sand it. It's got nothing to do with the wax - its to get the paint to stick to a rough surface rather than a shiny one. If you don't sand it (just enough to roughen the surface) the paint will come off really quickly.

2. The paint pens (use Posca pens or similar) are pretty good, but they don't go far, so you'll probably still need some spray paint if you want to fill in any areas.

3. Applying acrylic lacquer is an absolute bugger to get right. Practise on something else first. And patience is key - you'll think its dry after a couple of hours and then be tempted to give it another coat... well, don't! Leave it a few days somewhere warm and dry between coats unless you want a surfboard with lacquer bumps and runs all along it

[BaNZ]

Oh wow I'm now having second thoughts of painting it. Don't really want to ruin a brand new board. I thought it was really simple of just drawing it and applying the lacquer! Plus I don't think she has any experience with spray painting so it might end up destroying my board.

The board has absolutely no design on it. Better to just stick some stickers on then I guess.

[dtc]

You can just draw stuff on it with the pens; but as DBB says the pens are small and the area of a surfboard is large. But if you just want some small pics or are happy to spend a lot of time filling it in, then go for it. I've seen some great art around just using pens.

If you want a fantastic decal, or at least based on how they look on the web, and are prepared to pay a little bit, check out www.ctrlv.com.au

Never used them but they look great; and you just apply them over the glassing so pretty easy (in theory). And they will even do up your own design; although make sure its not something you would be embarrassed to lie on in public (like a picture of someones face...)

[oldmansurfer]

Just to let you know I sand the bottom of my brand new boards with 600 grade wet sandpaper with the idea of making it faster. It's a simple concept water beads up on a polished board so when it slides through the water there is friction of the board against the water. If you lightly sand it water no longer beads and it spreads out instead. Then when the board is moving through the water it holds a layer of water and the friction is less because it is water on water.

[BaNZ]

So I need to get myself.

http://www.greatart.co.uk/Paints/Acryli ... XXypPw_wcB

http://www.greatart.co.uk/Graphics-Call ... rkers.html

and some sand paper?

[dtc]

Mate, why dont you shoot this guy a message or email and ask him nicely

https://www.facebook.com/JarrynDowerArt

[BaNZ]

I'm not particularly fond of defacing my board. It's just one of those thing where my missus wants to have a go at it!

[oldmansurfer]

Well the time to do it is when it's brand new BEFORE you fall in love with it.

[drowningbitbybit]

http://www.greatart.co.uk/Paints/Acryli ... XXypPw_wcB

Don't try and use the non-spray stuff - it's fine for wood etc, but you'll be able to see the brush strokes on a surfboard. Also it'll take forever to dry (no matter what it says on the tin).

http://www.greatart.co.uk/Graphics-Call ... rkers.html

Yup - those are pretty good. But note that they're water-based, so the acrylic coating is a must.

and some sand paper?

Light-grade wet n' dry.

...Or get a cheap secondhand board from gumtree, and hand it over to the missus and leave it up to her to do her best/worst