Hi all in the know
surftech sells paints to do their repairs.
I dont use them, hard to get, and takes for ages to dry, and comes off too easily.
So i use regular RAL colors to match the Surftech colors,
but i have a problem…
the new paint on old pain makes the old paint CRACK in a massive way
Anybody knows why? What shoudl i avoid next time?
Thanks
wouter
The Surftech touch up paints aren’t any good, don’t waste your money. Some enamels will react to the factory paint also. You have to prep like you’re doing painting on a car: 220 grit, sandable primer, surfacing putty, 320 sand, prime again, then color coats followed by clear. Use an airbrush not a spray gun. The best paint to use for these is polyurethanes, which automotive paint suppliers carry. Get white, blue, red, yellow, black to mix your own colors to match. This can be very difficult especially on the grays. I have used acrylics with a clear automotive polyurethane over it with success, but using all poly paints will last longer. Acrylics will darken with clearcoat over them, so you need to find the right shade of the color by testing with a clear coat. Often this be extremely light against the original color. Polyurethane paint forms a chemical bond with the epoxy, so it’s best to use the same to get proper bonding with the original paint.
What shoudl i avoid next time?
Maybe you should avoid doing repairs on STs. The surfboard repair guys I know hate working on them. It’s really an automotive paint job on the outside, so an auto bodyshop is more set up to do the repairs.
Mike is so right about this. My son who runs the repair business refuses to work on these, so I get suckered into doing them. Takes forever. I’ve spent hours color matching, takes overnight at least for the paint to dry, and then about 1/2 hour just to clean the airbrush. The paint ain’t cheap either, about $20 for 8 oz. of each color. Then there’s the other types of painted epoxy boards - mystery labels of some Asian or Eastern European origin that react with normal epoxy and paints. Melted foam, cracking/bubbling paint, the stories are endless. We are competitively priced on these repairs with most of the authorized Surftech repair places, and those prices would shock most people.
If this is a personal board and you’re not too picky, go to an automotive supply place like Kragen, Autozone, etc and get a rattle can of Duplicolor paint. These come in many colors and most are polyurethane based. You won’t get an exact color match, but you’ll still have your sanity.
I’m sorry,
but all I could think of while reading these posts on this thread…
repair surf tech… use a series of m-80’s…
…ambrose…
The boardlady can do them and without whining or complaining. Let a competent and smart woman show you lazy and not so smart wankers how to do it. Go to her web site and learn something.
The reason no one has experience repairing them is because they seldom need repair.
M-80’s my arse, try 4 sticks of dyno-myte ( J J walker emphasis) if the goal is destruction.
I think I ate some bad chili, excuse me whilst I make another coil.
show you lazy and not so smart wankers how to do it.
lazy wanking is actually pretty good man, your should try it
might help you relax
hey Otay
can i come and stay at your place for a week or 2?
white haole Wouter
Why, are you homeless and can’t find a plug for your air compressor? Use regulated scuba tanks and a #5 tip for your airbrush and you should have no problems. It’s hard working with surftech owners on repairs. They all are very successful surfers who demand perfection. That’s why they chose a st to start with. The very few that ever get damaged, well again it takes a skilled epoxy perfectionist to do it right on the repair. An aircraft quality finish makes the bar very high.
Otay
i dont know what to do
A. Defend myself
B. Attack you
ehm…
A. i dont have an air compressor. Therefore is use spray cans. I know i should buy one if i want to do a perfect job. But i only repair a few per year for friends, so it would be unprofitable to buy one. Therefore i try to figure out what is wrong with the content of the spray paints i use. Maybe now you can give better advice? i hope so.
B. pfff whatever. i like your style
PS - do you have a moustache?
OTAY,
Name your brand, the beer’s on me! Your bad chile/coil comment, in post #6 above, had me laughing for several minutes. Thanks for the humor.
Im to lazy to paint my surftechs after repairing them,plus I like my boars to have a little gnar on them somewhere.Cosmetic perfections are for new boards.Do the repair and the board should ride fine. 
Bill,
If we ever meet the Beer will be on me.
I am happy to make you laugh!!
Im to lazy to paint my surftechs after repairing them,plus I like my boars to have a little gnar on them somewhere.Cosmetic perfections are for new boards.Do the repair and the board should ride fine. :D
Amen to that!!!
Otayi dont know what to do
A. Defend myself
B. Attack you
ehm…
A. i dont have an air compressor. Therefore is use spray cans. I know i should buy one if i want to do a perfect job. But i only repair a few per year for friends, so it would be unprofitable to buy one. Therefore i try to figure out what is wrong with the content of the spray paints i use. Maybe now you can give better advice? i hope so.
B. pfff whatever. i like your style
PS - do you have a moustache?
W,
An excellent surfboard quality airbrush with for repair and artwork, to include large tips to work with automotive paints, costs around $60 US dollars. If you already have a compressor with a regulator and water trap you are set. If you don’t have a compressor, get one because if you are even slightly serious about making surfboards you need one.
Make um water tight and tell your buds to live with the ugly ding repair as a reminder to there mediocre surfing skills. Or airbrush the stencil skull over the repair, clear coat it and they are cool again. The BoardLady is an expert epoxy craftsman. If I was only half as talented as her!
Mustache??? Do I remind you of your wife possibly??
Hello Wouter ,
No body seems to care about the color when I do repairs on poly boards…Most people are happy with white filler…
Most people are very happy to get their board back in a week.
When I do repairs on Surtech boards I make sure the repair is solid and water tight. I tell the customer up front that the color won’t match and I will get as close as I can from a Rattle Can.
If they want to get picky they can take their board somewhere else.
back to your original question…It’s been a long time… but…back in the day I was taught to never paint enamel over laquer…you will get “checking”…cracks and spider webs that will cause lots of problems…
Ray
just slap an Obama/Biden bumper sticker over it and go surfin’
M-80's my arse, try 4 sticks of dyno-myte ( J J walker emphasis) if the goal is destruction.
this may be true enough but based on experience in destruction I have to say a large hammer is VERY satisfying
Quote:M-80’s my arse, try 4 sticks of dyno-myte ( J J walker emphasis) if the goal is destruction.
this may be true enough but based on experience in destruction I have to say a large hammer is VERY satisfying
wrong thread . Try the coil ride report, it needs a bump and your large DTR hammer will cause much damge there.
The obama biden sticker is an excellent idea. When they get in and raise your taxes the stickers will be perfect for the part time ding repair guy you have to let go.
I repair quite a few of these boards, yes they do ding and snap easier than some would have you believe.
In the last two weeks I have put two snaps back together, 1 surftech and 1 rusty flexlite and repaired another couple of surftech and another three flexlites.
I do it around about the same way as the board lady. Big holes and snaps vacuum bag and skins, small holes, fill, glass, sand, fill sand prime then paint then clear then polish.
I use auto acrylics and the only problem is trying to blend the clear into the factory clear.
I am not a good enough spray painter to get a perfect shine of the gun with acrylic so I have to feather and polish the clear.
They are a pain in the arse but its just another job and I charge accordingly. A lot of guys in the industry wont repair them because they feel they are not panel beaters, spray painters.
Daren
P.S. Does anyone know why ST doesn’t use pigmented lam instead of painting them like a car? surely there must be a reason.