Air brush/decal questions

i want to put a sweet air brush job on the board im making. so i want to know the best paint to use and when to apply it. i also want to know when to put on a decal (printed on rice paper).

Archives has stuff, I use tempra on foam and the laminate goes under the glass, use some resin to stick it down. Harbor surfboards has a glassing video where they show it, I think the site is www.harborsurfboards.com .

waterbased acryllic paint. Nova out in california is supposedly the best. thin it with Future acryllic floor sealer. spray it on the shaped blank. rice paper graphic goes in the clear lam in between two layers of fiberglass.

Howzit BreakwaterLocal, Nova Paint is the best and they are in the City of Commerce,next choice would be Liquitex pait. Nova has a website where you can request a price list and they send a paper with paint colors on it. As far as laminates go on the bottom the lam goes on the foam under the glass and on the deck you put the laminate between the 2 layers of glass. Aloha,Kokua

Hey Kokua,

I always wondered why the top graffic goes between the layers - Why is that?

My first guess is that so the bottom layer of glass can adhere directly to the foam, lessening the chance of a delam on the deck. Second guess is that it looks better, floating in the glass job?

Thanks,

Herb

hee Soulstice,

I use to spray my boards with cheap acrylic paint + I thin it with water. Are u getting better results with ur technique?? And what’s this floor sealant??? Thanks! Ruubs from Holland

my first and only spray job was done with a decent acryllic thinned with water, and it ran like crazy even though i sealed it clear. Nova paint is the best (from what i’ve heard from countless trustworthy sources), but the key thing is thinning it with this Future Acryllic Floor Sealer. personally, i decided it was too much work, and now i just do resin tints for my color…i like the tint look better, anyway.

Howzit soulstice, The air brusher that turned me on to Nova paint does not use acrylic to thin his paint. He has been using it for a long time and gets great results with no problems. Here’s how he does it, He uses water but only thins the paint by 10 %, adds a little same color tempra to aid in drying and since the paint is fairly thick he shoots it at about 80 PSI and only shoots 1 coat. Since the paint is thicker it covers with 1 coat. His name is Rick Massey and Surfers Jounal did an article on him a few years back.Aloha,Kokua

alrighty, so…

cheap acryllic + future

or

Nova + 10% water + tempera @ 80psi —> 1 coat

i wish all this stuff was just laid out nice and easy somewhere in the archives

Kokua, I have read the archieves about air brush paint also suggesting Delta Cream Coat. Any tricks to using this brand? It is very cheap and available at our freindly Wal Mart store.

Howzit daved, I’ve used those paints with mixed results, some good,some bad. You definelt would want to thin with acrylic thinner to keep the acrylic content stable. Red is their 1 color I stay away from. If you can’t find Nova paint then look for Liquatex paint. Aloha,Kokua

I’ve been trying to find the least toxic way to make a surfboard, so I thought tempera would be a good way to go. Based on advice found here, thanks Kokua and Deathfrog, I cooked up a batch of tempera, elmer’s glue, and water. Once I got the consistency right for the airbrush, it worked great. No problems laminating, and no evidence of delamination. I’m going to upgrade to a better airbrush, but otherwise it’s a keeper method.

how much future is needed to thin the nova colors out? If you are not sure, then what should the consistancy be of the paint?..milk?..peanut butter?..thanks

I use autoair colors. It is a water based system that is used for airbrushing flames on cars and such. You need to reduce them to put them through small nozzles (2 or 3 to 1), or you can just spray through a larger gun unthinned. Here is a photo of a board I did with them. It was on EPS and came out really nice. No delam problems or other problems. It was done directly on the foam after shaping and filling with lightweight spackle. Best of luck,

this is going to be sprayed on the glass, under the hotcoat.

Hey dudeman,

If you are going to spray after laminating, do it after sanding the hotcoat. It would be hard to mask off before hotcoat due to the weave of the fabric. But if you are just going to freehand without masking, go for it right after lam…

JSS

what i should said, its not going to be on the weave it will be between two hotcoats.

Howzit dudeman, I don’t think you need future to thin Nova paint. Rick Massey has been using it for years and he just cuts it with about 10% water and then adds some tempra so it dries faster ( cutting only 10% means you dont dilute the acrylic too much). He also sprays at a high PSI of about 80 PSI since the paint is thicker and only does 1 coat. He really has it down and does great artwork. Nova has an extra ingrediant that leaves it a little flexable when dry, and very rarely do you get crystallization.Aloha,Kokua

Thanks. My main concern is diluting the paint too much and losing the adhesion quality. I am planning on taping off a design above the base color so I do not want to pull the paint off.

Howzit dudeman, There's an easy way to tape off over painted surfaces that is in the archives but I will tell you. After laying down you base color spay some acrylic on it where you will be using tape. do your tape off and paint. When it comes time to pull the tape use a hair dryer or heat gun on the tape as you pull it. This melts the adhesive so the tape will come off and not take the paint with. I've done this hundreds of times and it alwways works fine.Aloha,Kokua