I have been asked to do some repairs on a Nineplus Trim King 9’2" board but dont know much about them and their construction. I am trying to work out the best way to do the repair.
The board is in very good condition apart from one medium ding on the rail and small cracks on both corners of the square tail.The board looks like an older model. The owner bought it at a car boot sale for £20 including a board bag. Not a bad bargain considering a new one retails here for about £700.
When the board first came out of the bag I thought it was a Tuflite / Surftech due to its lightness but then saw the stringer and logo. Did a bit of research to try and find out how these boards are put together but no luck so far. I am assuming they are mass produced in the far east. Machine shaped polystyrene stringered blank, laminated with epoxy resin, polyurethane colour and then clear spray finish. Is that correct?
The ding on the rail has broken through the cloth so will suck water. The owner bought it last summer and has not used it so I am assuming the board is dry.
My thinking was to sand back the area which will no doubt remove the colour as happens when one repairs a Surftech. Some glass cloth and epoxy resin, sand, gloss, sand. Then what about using a dark blue touch up paint from Tuflite. Have some good and bad stories that it does not stick well. Is it compataible with Nine Plus boards. Phoned local Nine Plus shop to ask if they have a touch paint but did not know. Rather colour match myself? Auto paint followed by Upol Clear? Its only a small ding but seems worth doing a good job on a good condition board.
I agree with sdrepairman... that board is not constructed like a painted Surftech. It appears to be a clear lamination over a painted blank. From what I can tell, the damage is restricted to the rail area and does not extend past the cutline on the deck. That makes a cosmetic repair much easier. Like sd says, add some pigment to the resin when building up the repair. It is tough to get a perfect color match.
FWIW - I can't tell if it's a urethane or a styrene blank. I also can't tell if it's a polyester or epoxy glass job. If you can open up the corners of the tail a little bit you might be able to see if the foam is comprised of beads which would indicate EPS. If not, polyester resin would be the call on the repairs.
If polyester, scuff down to the weave and try dabbing with a little styrene. With a quick application of resin over the styrene you can sometimes make those shatters and damaged glass disappear.
On the rail ding, mask off along the cutline and keep your repair work clear of the pinline. Again, after sanding to the weave and applying styrene just before glassing, you might be able to make the repair nearly invisible.
Don't go past the glass when prepping/sanding - the paint on the foam should be intact.
PS - Nineplus has a website. No mention of EPS or epoxy. The photo on surfboard section under 'products' looks like a polyester deal?
Dan from Nineplus here - I saw this online so thought I’d jump in and see if I can give you a hand.
Can you upload a picture of the stringer and the writing on it, in particular something like a serial number, 5-6 digits long, and the shapers name. With this number we can usualy track back to the exact board. (It ifs quite an old board we might not be able to though)
You can also give us a call on 01872 573 120 opt 1, or mail me direct on dan.streeter@nineplus.com and I’ll do my best to help
All the best
Dan
P.S. While I’m here - grab a free shipping voucher for the Archive website - use SWAYSHIP when checking out! Enjoy all!
I had a look but cant see any numbers or shapers name anywhere. The board only has Nine Plus and Trim King logos on it. I can take more photos if it helps. Are all boards in the UK imports or are / were some made here?
Its very light so its surely epoxy rather than a very lightly glassed PE.
You should be able to sand and clean it up without breaking thru the exsisting glass. If so you would only need to lay up a couple of layers of 4 oz. Hotcoat and spray bomb the area with a clear. Lowel
