Tried lots of new stuff on my latest creation, a 6’0″ “Blue Diamond” shaped for myself for everyday NJ waves. Here’s a list: 1. First time using a Marko EPS blank. 2. First time using FCS Fusion fin plugs 3. First time using “under the glass” leash plug 4. First opaque pigment lamination 5. First [...]
Glassed, sanded, glossed, polished, and delivered the Creamsicle the other day. After sanding the hotcoat, I probably could have gotten away with a little touch-up on the burn-throughs, but I decided that the orange spray deserved a gloss/polish job to make it pop.
With the color taken care of on the blank, the Creamsicle got a clear glass job with a 4 oz bottom (+4 oz fin patch) and double-4 oz top. Used Kwick Kick epoxy again and laminated/hot coated this one in the living room to keep conditions clean and consistent.
Even though I used the same template for this 6’8.5″ Diamond Tail as the last board, I tried a few new things on #11. First off, I got to use my brand new Hitachi Clark Foam modified planer.
So, I sanded and re-taped the area where the pinlines were accidentally sanded away. I re-drew the pinlines with my Garden Craft marker, let it dry, pulled the tape, and then sprayed 3 layers of water-based acrylic over the area. This is the result: It looks to me like I may have sprayed the acrylic [...]
So, the Garden Craft markers were stable under the curing gloss coat. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I sanded through the gloss coat in 3 spots, knocking off the pinline in those areas. Next time, pure hand sanding over the pinlines. It’s just not worth the time savings to power sand [...]
I’ve taken a shot at laying down pinlines on the deck of #007. There are many ways to do it (acrylic paint, pigmented resin, water-based marker) and I chose the water-based marker route. Supposedly Posca and Sharpie water-based markers are the best, but I couldn’t find them, so I tried Garden Craft markers, which appear [...]
OK. The deck hot-coat on the Gefilte Fish is currently curing and I thought I’d give an update on the dark blue resin tint result. Overall, not bad. No streaks, pretty consistent tone, not too shabby. I am convinced that the key to a good tint, especially with EPS, is a solid fill-coat of spackle [...]
After 4 boards I figured it was time to come up with a logo. Although I kinda like the solid resin tint boards, something seemed missing. I don’t even have any sort of art/design software so I did it with Microsoft Word. I was inspired by the side of a Pontiac car I saw recently. [...]
Board #005 is another RMRP designed to address the shortcomings of #004. Basically, I made #004 a touch too thin, and felt like I could use a similar shape with more buoyancy/paddle speed, especially in winter when I’m wearing a 5MM suit, boots, gloves, and hood. I figured an extra inch of length wouldn’t hurt [...]