Paint

General Discussion
1

I just finished shaping my first board, now to paint it…Its a 9’-4" if I wanted to paint the whole bottom a solid color, about how much paint should I buy. It seems like acrylic waterbased paint from Michaels or somewhere similar is the most common used by everybody.

This may be a dumb question, but if you don’t have an airbrush, do you just paint it on with a regular paint brush? How many coats? Should it be watered down?

I have tried looking in the archives, but I can’t seem to find the answers I need.

Thanks guys.

2

if you want the whole bottom colored, and you don’t have an airbrush, just do a resin tint…besides, it looks 9516974651 times better.

3

I was actually wondering the same thing, i heard krylon makes an acrylic spray paint that is safe for craft foam, would this work for a surfboard? What would i have to look for in a blank safe spray paint

4

Is a resin tint a good idea for a first timer?

5

I’m making my 3rd board right now, and did my first resin tint on the bottom. I thought it was very easy, just look up info in the archives on doing cutlaps. However, if you want to paint, I painted my first two boards with regular inside/outside spray paint and they turned out fine.

6

the darker the color, the more it will show your mistakes (unless it’s completely opaque). yellow is the most popular color for a first timer (and personally, i really happen to like yellow). another color that looks really good is a very light blue…almost the same hue of green from volan cloth, but blue from a tint…it’s pretty slick.

7

go for the tint. I did my 1st one yellow like soulstice said and I couldn’t be happier!

8

yeah tinting isnt very hard at all but if you want to paint it go with the stuff from michaels. i usually buy like an 8oz can of the stuff and put about a shot of water in it. maybe a little more i just eyeball it. but you should probably go to the offcial hardware store of swaylocks ( harbor freight) and pick up an air gun there like 15 bucks. but then you need a big air tank.

 i have never just painted a board with a brush, you need to make sure that you dont put to much paint on the board. and dont forget to tape off the stringer.

i personaly would resin tint, if i didnt have acess to an air gun or air tank.

9

I would recommend even trying doing yourself a resin swirl using white, blue, and light blue pigments, that way it won’t look bad if they mudd up together badly.

10

I’ve painted several boards with acrylic paint and a brush. No problem. Don’t put it on too thick. You can even tape off the rail line, paint with brush along the tape,then take a wet brush and spread the paint towards the center for a tye-die air brush looking fade. Yellow pigment is pretty easy and I agree, it looks good. I had a disaster with regular spray paint. Why risk it? Water based acrylic paints are the call. I’ve never tried Krylon colors in spray. I like their clear acrylic paint, though. mike

11

Hey Rooster,

When you painted with a brush, did you just do one coat? Did you water it down at all?

Thanks

12

Chris Brown of Santa Barbara?

If you just want to paint the rails or designs you can buy set up that is basically a glass jar for whatever paint you buy and a little cansiter of compressed air to spray it, the spray nozzle is the same as any spray paint can. They are cheap. Water based spray paint is kind of tuff to find but if you can that is the way to go. If you are in SB go to Fiber Glass Hawaii, they have jars of paint, spray paint cans and the cheapo airbrush set up I just described.

                         Brant Richardson
13

chrsbrwn,

Yes, I just thinned it with water. The paints I have come out of a tube and jars. They are kind of goopy.Many here thin with Future acrylic floor polish. I have not used that to thin. Tons of stuff in the archives about thinning agents and acrylic paints. But, to brush it on. Thin it with water and paint it on a chunk of foam to get the tint or shade you want. I’m not good with colors(red-green color blind) so I just experiment and see what happens and have fun. Its tough to get it uniform with a brush, but you can do it and make it look pretty good. If you want a more professional look you will need to get an air brush and learn to use it. I have one that is still in the box. I like playing with pigments right now and will get to the airbrush some day.Mike

14

My first few boards I painted with a brush. they came out looking ok. I have also painted boards using paint straight from the bottle unthinned and squeegeed onto the blank… that looks pretty cool when using multiple colors but I would not recommend doing it on your first board…what ever you decide first test it on a scrap piece foam to see how it will look… good luck.