Just an idle question. Looking at the Tom Hale post, I got curious about the finish, and thought of a board I briefly owned in New Zealand (pictured)- a 9 foot Atlas Woods.
I had never seen an external resin color (besides a pin line) used before- what the seller (who was the original owner) called a gel coat.
How common was that approach to giving color to a board? When did it stop being done?
Just curious. My board was fun, by the way. It must have weighed 30 pounds at least. Talk about point and shoot…
that really looks like someone just did a colored gloss coat/reglass, rather that it being the original board color. The balsa stringer and browned foam are more likely the original look. That would have also added some weight… and I don’t think it was gelcoat in any event.
I also have an old atlas woods board. I always thought the finish had been re done as well. I went down to Wayne Parkes shop one day and asked him about it. He said they put these huge thick layers of colour down. So i’d say your was the original way it was made.
Many 60s boards with opaque color were done that way. After the hotcoat was sanded out, the logo was masked off and color was applied via pigmented sanding resin. You can find thousands of 60s logs where there is a visible edge beneath the gloss coat. Panels, stripes, you name it. All done the same way.
I worked in a factory called Glass Research in the mid 60’s. I was sanding but hung out in the gloss room with a guy from OZ who glossed and did pigment panels. He would tape off around the logo and do the color with pigmented gloss resin. When the resin jelled he pulled the tape and shot the clear gloss. No sanding needed if you timed it right.
I still do pigment opaque resin panels but I let the color dry and then rough up with red scotchbite before glossing. It’s not that hard to do. Have fun RB
Yes, that Hale looks like it was given a coverup to disguise a lot of wear and tear. Look at all the dents in the tail! 60s boards didn’t dent like more modern ones are prone to do.
But, the color job on the blue board seen above doesn’t look right, either. Virtually no one covered the stringer with opaque colors back then. It may have a case of the ‘black rot’.
You’d have to have seen it in person, Sammy. It was in remarkably good shape, but you could tell that coat had been there for 40 plus years- color dulled, scratched up on the rails.
The blue color looks like paint to me. A lot od re-do’s are sprayed acrylic or car paint and clearcoated. Pigmented resin is layed on thick and generally wouldn’t chip like this one.(unless it had poor prep work) It is more like gel-coat. Would have to see in person.
The other brown board is a re-do for sure. RB
I also have to agree with Sam. Very seldom would they pigment over a stringer. The stringers looked good and extra work. Sometimes on popouts they were just veneer or shallow inlays routed out.
The Stringer looks to be about 3/4" and would have been a nice visual feature to be shown off. I have to say from the photo I would say it is a paint job over the original board to hide some ugly suntanning and old water spots in the foam and maybe wood rot in the Stringer. Paint might have been done 10 years ago and is now in need of some repair.
here you go warthawg, an even older atlas woods, from the late 60’s. like i said earlier - i talked to wayne parkes about these boards, he worked for atlas woods as a wee young fella. boards were layed up taped off and these thick goopy layers of colour poured on.
never surfed this one, i keep meaning to fix the couple of dings then surf it but it never seems to fit in with the projects. getting it out today i thought i may even take it down to wayne parkes and see if he wants to fix it. bit of nostalgia for him.
yes stringer is redwood and is 1/2" (12mm) thick
just put the beast on the scales, bathroom scales so i don’t know how accurate they are but she weighs a wopping 16.6kg’s must be about 36-37lb’s
