hi been a long time since i posted and this aint no happy post neither…just came home a few hours ago…been to portugal for two weeks…had a great time with the misses and some nice waves too…upon getting my board on the belt at the airport i open to check it and damn…tail is mauled in the corner and towards the stringer…i am gonna need some help/tips from people on here who know about proper dingfixing…ill post pictures tomorrow…right now im just bummed…out
ps…i paid 50 euros each way which is way too much only to get treated this way…it pisses me off…
So am I, my friend, so am I. But I’ve been repaired once or twice and it’s come out okay.
So, here’s how to fix that one -
using a sharp knife, a utility knife or xacto is best, make a cut along the line ‘a’.
Peel back the colored cloth/foam but do not cut it away. Put thick filler - resin/a lot of aerosil mix - behind that, pretty much to the red lines ‘b’ and let the loose strips of cloth/resin come back to make a cofferdam/mold for the filler. Tape it all together with masking tape 'til it hardens. Sand carefully to final shape and sand away the flaked resin/cloth on the deck side and bottom side ( if it’s there - be careful not to sand into the colored lamination or foam) , glass with 4 oz cloth, hotcoat, gloss, call it a day.
You may see a little filler where the old cloth joins imperfectly, but you will preserve most of the original color, return to the original shape, and that’s as good as it’s gonna get.
De nada, man, it’s not that hard at all. Just try to preserve as much of the original glassing/color as possible. Even if it’s a bit concave, you can make it up in the new glass and hotcoat, etc. Then you may have a couple of white lines, but that’s cosmetically acceptible, y’know?
best of luck with it - the best way to fix something like that is to have a pro do it and send the bill to the airline. Done a few of those
Doc’s right about billing the airline. This is the only way to bring accounting/management attention to the problem. We do alot of airline handling repairs, 90% look like your tail damage. We give the customer two invoices: One for the normal price and the other marked up 100% for the airline. And that is a small price for them to repay considering the time you have to wait to show them the damage and do the paperwork (avg. 3 hours), and then renting or waiting for a crap repair if you’re arriving. Next time pack it overkill; don’t rely on just a padded board bag. Use split pipe insulation around the perimeter, styro blocks around glass-ons, and two layers of bubble wrap around the whole thing. Get a shipping box from your local shop. Baggage handlers are rougher on bags than boxes.
