What are the secrets for painting resin panels like this Tyler on the sanded hotcoat? Any pitfalls to watch out for? And how should you sand them so I can add a gloss coat later? Thanks!
In case you missed the take away point here.
- Lots of pigment. if you think you got enough...put a bit more in
- Kick it hot
- Brush it on......and just walk away...walk away.
And always use quality 3M Scotch Brite scrub pads......In your favorite colors
At 3M we don't make the surfboard...we make it better!
Bahahhhh!!
Back in the day when foam blanks were a new thing, and there weren't surfboard-specific lam resins, and double 10z was a standard glass job, the boards weren't that pretty ''clear''; and gloss color was the best way to fix that. Contrary to what many might think, doing the color in the lam was not a standard technique in the early 60s. It came a little later, things moved fast back then. Hell, by the mid-70s color in the lam (or gloss)was obseleted by airbrush/spray color. All this retro craze the last 10-15 years has brought back all these old techniques.
I tried to do gloss color (light blue) on a board when I was 16. It was hilarious. I didn't use enough pigment, I didn't know when to stop brushing. I was doing it in a glorified chicken coop shed that had all kinds of air moving through it. The result was a board that looked like a blue sky with wispy white clouds lol. Years later, I did some panels in a very tight, controlled room, mixed pigments and strained properly, brushed and walked away, and got much better results. I was working with someone (cleanlines knows who) that had this stuff down and was doing it before retro was cool.
Be sure you mix some extra resin, make it very opaque, and kick it pretty hot if you're going to rail apex. Might be best to do some flat panel inlays or something first. Any brush mark or seperation is a disaster.
Scotchbrite is an abrasive pad. It is used to scuff up the shiny surface of the gloss resin. Actually Scotchbrite calls the pads Maroon. You should be able to buy individual pads at paint stores. I buy mine from an automotive paint supplier.
http://www.amazon.com/3M-Scotch-Brite-Maroon-General-Purpose/dp/B0002SQYF0
Just realized that Skotch B Red is not a spray! 
So I’m guessing you just rub the tinted panels by hand to add a little more teeth to so the gloss coat will stick?
Thanks Clean Lines! What is Skotch Bright Red and is it something I can pickup at the hardware store? Do I just apply a couple light sprays to the sanded, pigmented gloss? Lastly, does the Skotch Bright then require sanding? Sorry for the questions but better safe than sanding out a big mistake.
Mr. Clean...............................period!
Tape the board off. Tape the rails like you are going to gloss it. Mix the pigment in to Reichold Gloss resin and strain it… apply just like you were glossing. When the resin jels semi hard pull the tape. The Tyler board has a pinline so you can add that. I sometimes do the pinline first. Turn the board over and do the color on the bottom. You will have a tape line ridge when you pull it.
Sand out the rail ridge left by the tape and then sand all of the colored panels by hand using 150 grit paper. Follow up with red scotchbrite. All you are trying to do is get the surface flat so the gloss will stick.
After this is done you can gloss the board. Common mistakes are not adding enough pigment and putting the colored gloss resin on to thin and getting brushstrokes.Its exactly like glossing.
There are other subtle tricks but thats it basically. I have been cheating lately by doing the panels with Zisner Shellac primer tinted with color. Drys super fast and glosses over like a dream. You need spray equipment to do this.
When you polish the board be careful as it’s easy to rub through the color on the rails.
have fun
Before I went for the full monty - Tyler glass job, I painted some blue panels on this board. I added plenty of pigment and about 3cc more MEKP than usual to set it off fast. It went on well but then tended to fade in certain spots which added a bit of a ripple effect to the finish. I then painted more on to fill in the light spots which was tricky. I’d give them a “B” overall but feel more confident having done it once now. It certainly makes me appreciate the glass masters who can do this with no problems!
I would like to add.
“Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet”
To all the Panel masters, Is it possible to use regular sanding resin instead of gloss resin to do the colored resin panels? Would adding some extra styrene to the mix help it flow out better kinda like if it was gloss resin? Gloss resin gets a little expensive on a tight budget so thinking about trying to do some panels without buying the gloss specific resin. Any tips?
will there be any issue with the bump/edge from pulling tape when laying the clear gloss on top? Do you have to dress/ sand the edge down somewhat like a colored cut lap or is the resin panel coat thin enough the gloss coat will cover over the lip and sanding will be fine?