First “swirls” try. All I can say is next one will be better. (Worse seems difficult to attain…)
Hey Balsa, Don’t short change yourself. It looks great. That’s one thing about resin swirls: you do what you can, and they do what they want. When it’s all over and done you just have to stand back and say, “Well, that’s what it is.”
From what I can see of the tailblock, it looks really good. Can you post a close-up picture of it? Doug
Balsa,
That looks GREAT!!! I can’t find a single thing wrong with it. Nice choice of colors and you didn’t end up with any weird brown or mud tones. Good Job.
Hey Balsa, if the next one will look better I cant wait to see it. This board rocks in my book, great job!
You guys are very indulgent (is that the right word in English? Not sure.) So is the new owner who says he’s stoked, even though it turned out quite different from what was planned…
It was supposed to be yellow and blue swirls (bottom) and lighter blue (rails). Since it was my first try at it, I had warned the customer about the possibility that it might look somewhat different from what he envisionned. Good thing. Next, I PMed the swirl master himself, Mr Austin SAUNDERS, explaining what I was aiming at and asking for a private swirl lesson, which he very kindly and precisely answered, explaining the whole process with photos and all, thanks again Austin!
And then, I did everything wrong…
First of all, I did it alone whereas Austin had pointed out how much one or two other pairs of hands could be helpful. Then I started the yellow/blue swirls and it worked fine BUT when I should have poured the lighter blue along and over the rails BEFORE squeegeeing the bottom, I did just the opposite.
What’s more, seeing how much resin I had been dragging along towards the nose, I just had a stupid “no-waste” reflex and did what I usually do with clear resin, i.e. dragging it back to unwetted areas. When I realized what I had done (yellowish/greenish track along the left rail) I was left with two possible things to do: 1)Do what had been planned and pour the light blue (but then, what about that weird track?) or 2)Forget the light blue (it had not been fired up yet, so I could always use it later for another board) and try to finish with what resin was left on the board, which I chose to do. Hence the result… Mitigated, to say the least… Oh well, “From these mistakes we must surely be learning… Still my squeegee gently weeps…”
I have to say that Austin is in no way responsible for the very bad use of his advice, of course.
I was still lucky that I could finish wetting and lapping the rails (not much resin left, and it had been fired up very hot, so I had to run…) Turned out all right, but for the color…
As for the tail-block, I will post a close view later in the day. Here is one I already posted when I did it:
Hope this experience will help others doing better!
I like it!
Great job.
Next one will be different…not better or worse.
I got hooked after the first swirl and can’t stop thinking of ways do get different results.
SHOW US YOUR SWIRLS !!!
Have a great day
Ray
Hi Balsa - As a colorblind fool, I can see past all the graphics and see one fine shape in there. The overall color patterns look very well done. I’d ride it in a heartbeat and wouldn’t be afraid to paddle into some overhead waves right off the bat. That’s how confident I am in that shape and fin choice. The glassing is artisitic and functional no doubt so no worries!
Nice board amigo!!!
I see nothing wrong with it.
What I wonder is how is that girl’s right foot after holding such a big pintail board over her foot!!!
Balsa, that’s the best looking screwup I’ve seen in a while. It looks great!
regards,
Håvard
Haavard, that’s a nice way to sum it up. Thanks to all of you although it’s not deserved. Here’s the tailblock:
Deck-side and rocker views, with the new owner. (I asked him to look as though he were stoked…)
Hi Balsa,
could you post some dims and specs too? Be sure to add it to the resource section as well.
Bdw. he should be stoked.
regards,
Håvard
It’s 9’4" x 22" x 2 7/8". Nose rocker is 4.72, tail is 3.93. (or 284.48 x 56.0 x 7.2, Nose: 12.0, tail 10.0 cm)
Bottom is slight concave fading into flat around middle-point then into slight V in tail. Rails are almost 50/50 from nose to 15" from tail where they turn into hard down.
Hey Balsa,
I’m another color blind fool and it looks great. Beautiful tail block. The kid SHOULD be stoked. Cute girl, too. Mike
Thanks, Mike. She’s my daughter, Gabrielle. Just turned 18.
Heh, just like me. All the marbles (swirls) I think I’ve ruined are the ones everyone seems to like, and I do quite a few of them. The ones I think are nice, are generally judged to be unremarkable.
I just did one, and I was seriously bummed after I finished it. Kind of ruined my day. By the time the logos and the pinline went on, it was a little better. Once I got it out into the sun, well, didn’t seem so bad. The customer saw it and just freaked out-- Loved it and couldn’t stop staring at it. He’s giving me more blanks to pick up today…
The marbles have a mind of their own will kind of do whatever they will do. Can’t have too-specific expectations. Just let em do their thing.
Clement (the new owner) posted his first feelings -after riding the board yesterday for the first time- on Shaperoom.net. He’s basically very happy: great paddling (well, it’s a 9’4"…), great wave-catching but also it seems to turn quite well and to hold in vertical parts of the wave well too. And, in his own words, (translated) “…when you take a trip to the nose -quick trip, as far as I’m concerned- the concave plays its part very well, keeping your feet dry…” The board was ridden in 3-4 foot hollow beach-break conditions. I’m glad he likes it!
I thought it was not necessary to create a new thread just to show you the two swirled boards that followed this one. As one of you said: not better nor worse, just different.
The first is an 8’00" mini-mal with three stringers that was glassed yesterday:
The second is a 6’8" mini-gun that I just glassed this afternoon:
Just starting to get the feel of it… Try it, it’s so much fun!
Very nice! The red-and-yellow one looks really fiery, and I really like the modern-art look on the semi-gun. Most of my resin swirls turn out completely different than what I envisioned, but I usually come to like them in the end.
Last one (I promise), glassed today. Once you start, you just can’t stop…
