the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

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dUg
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the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by dUg » Tue Jan 29, 2013 9:06 am

Epoxy / EPS / carbon taped rails / "H" stringer. Blue pearl luster resin tint not as great a success as I'd hoped.

In terms of performance, I've surfed it twice. I rate it in the top 5 boards I have ever owned. Did a lot of this by feel... didn't measure, just stared a lot and stroked my chin before picking up a machine or a tool. Had some major breakthroughs with this one, and of course, a few visits from the ever present fcuk up fairy.

A guy that saw it said he thought it looked like a 69' AC Cobra he'd seen cruising the coast over the weekend, hence the name.

Details to come...
cobra1.jpg
cobra2.jpg
cobra3.jpg

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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by Grooter » Tue Jan 29, 2013 9:22 am

Nice looking board

That blue and silver stripe is a common combo for the AC Cobra so I can see why he related it to that

Muscle car paint jobs and surfboards go well together I reckon, my thruster has a paint job that's inspired by a 1969 Camaro :)
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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by dUg » Tue Jan 29, 2013 7:56 pm

Thanks Mr Groots.

I must admit I drew a fair bit of that muscle car / surfboard crossover from JD, and also from my former shaper mate who did some crazy stuff with tints and pigments. He did a 9'6 that we called the Camaro... not after the car, but after the ski boat - it was deep candy apple red with flecks of sparkling metal flake.

There's this look I have been going for for some time - it's a metallic looking blue. I want the whole board to look like it's blue annodized aluminium. There's just something about making a board look like it belongs on a racetrack that somehow really appeals to me. To that end, here's an earlier effort:
quad_blue.jpg
That's blue silk... just like on your dad's best shirts from the swingin' 60's. Looks nice, eh? I thought so... but as soon as I poured epoxy resin onto it and started squeezing I watched that beautiful silky blue degrade to a blotchy, flat dull navy. Fail.

There's a great shop here that I buy my epoxy from ( the FGI stuff ), they sell all sorts of pigments, resins and tools related to moulding and casting that artists and set makers use. I'd noticed this pearlescent pigment in the shop on a previous visit, and as soon as I picked up a jar of the blue I was in lust. This HAD to go on a surfboard. Or the eyelids of an ash blonde with green flecked eyes. In any case, I wanted it.

Here's how it came out after 3 coats. The single layer of 4oz also used pigmented resin.
bottom_finish1 - Copy.jpg

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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by spork » Wed Jan 30, 2013 8:30 am

Loving that stuff dUg, all those candy apple colours are a big part of my past and I remember painting my brothers Honda SL100 with candy apple stripes and a blue glitter star.
When it gets to this level of self important stupidity I lose interest.
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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by dUg » Wed Jan 30, 2013 6:35 pm

spork wrote:Loving that stuff dUg, all those candy apple colours are a big part of my past and I remember painting my brothers Honda SL100 with candy apple stripes and a blue glitter star.
^^ spork my dad used to go on about it all the time, and as a kid I just loved the red and green you used to see on rods and choppers in the mid 70's. Now I wish I put a blue glitter star on that board. I had the glitter too...

Matticus Finch wrote:Looks good. I like it.

When you say 3 coats, did you apply pigmented resin straight onto the foam before actually glassing?
I probably should have, but no. I painted the blank with water base acrylic, then laminated with tinted resin. You can see on a lot of longboards with tints where they've done this - the laps end up darker because of two layers of tinted resin. If you cut the laps perfectly it looks OK. I didn't... :(

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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by ric_vidal » Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:11 am

dUg, you might have to invest in some coloured texalium
http://www.diyfibres.com.au/store/image ... ll+31.jpg/

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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by dUg » Thu Jan 31, 2013 11:35 am

ric_vidal wrote:dUg, you might have to invest in some coloured texalium
http://www.diyfibres.com.au/store/image ... ll+31.jpg/
waaay ahead of ya Ric. ;)

been trying to get my hands on it for over TWO YEARS, and I am staggered how impossible it's been.

last time I checked those guys would only supply 300 x 300mm, I emailed them and asked if I could get two cut lengths of blue texalium 2m long... no reply.

same with three US based sites- Soller composites, Composite Envisions, and some other random one.

I even hit up three OEM cloth suppliers off Alibaba, all said they could supply samples ( I offered to pay ) but when it came down to the actual transaction and teh actual sending they suddenly had "run out" and tried to offer me some cheaper crap, or a completely different fabric they COULD supply ( typical Asian supplier bait / switch ).

so for now i have given up. :roll:

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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by ric_vidal » Thu Jan 31, 2013 11:52 am

dUg wrote:
ric_vidal wrote:dUg, you might have to invest in some coloured texalium
http://www.diyfibres.com.au/store/image ... ll+31.jpg/
waaay ahead of ya Ric. ;)
NEVER! :mrgreen:

There's a company in England that apparently will ship anywhere, can't remember who they are though…

I thought FGI had an aluminium coated glass? Considered using it often but not sure I want to look like an oversized fishing lure.

Trouble is, dUg, most of the texalium type cloth appear to be quite heavy (8+ oz) and usually a twill weave.

Try Hexcel direct: Ph/fax +61 3 9457 3736

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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by ric_vidal » Thu Jan 31, 2013 4:58 pm

Matticus Finch wrote: Is there any reason you cant just use metallic car paints on top of the glass?
Expense and keeping it there.

You can always chuck some glitter in your resin, purdy.

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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by dUg » Fri Feb 01, 2013 1:36 pm

I actually did end up using metallic paint on the bottom, because with one layer of 4oz there just wasn't enough tinted resin to not look blotchy. Having done it before, I know it ends up looking pretty sad after a fairly short space of time- as ric mentioned, it chips and scratches off epoxy very easily.

LOL ric I did sprinkle a bit of glitter onto the first wet lam of the deck, but I deliberately put it where I knew there would be plenty of wax in case it looked crap. I thought it would really pick up the light but it looks more like dirt in anything less than full sun.

I took a look at FGI's and Nuplex's websites, they had some cloth but nothing anything like Texalium and no metallized cloth. I also did a search for the UK one, found a few online stores but only carrying silver Texalium.

So getting some blue or red sufficient to do a whole board still remains near impossible. :(

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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by spork » Sat Feb 02, 2013 12:50 pm

Hey guys, just realised that I have glitter by the truckload in a rainbow if different colours, including gold and silver. If anyone want's some to try, PM me.
When it gets to this level of self important stupidity I lose interest.
Roy Stewart

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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by ric_vidal » Sat Feb 02, 2013 4:20 pm

spork wrote:Hey guys, just realised that I have glitter by the truckload in a rainbow if different colours, including gold and silver. If anyone want's some to try, PM me.
That mean we can call you, 'sporkle'?

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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by spork » Sun Feb 03, 2013 9:39 am

:D
When it gets to this level of self important stupidity I lose interest.
Roy Stewart

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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by ric_vidal » Sun Feb 03, 2013 1:42 pm

wingnut2443 wrote::-?

I've been off here for a few weeks, come back and find you're getting all 'glittery' >><<

Did I miss something, like the memo about gearing up for the Real Surf float in the mardi gras ???
That's it, w-nut, getting in touch with a feminninin side

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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by dUg » Mon Feb 04, 2013 7:57 pm

ric_vidal wrote:
spork wrote:Hey guys, just realised that I have glitter by the truckload in a rainbow if different colours, including gold and silver. If anyone want's some to try, PM me.
That mean we can call you, 'sporkle'?
wingnut2443 wrote::-?

I've been off here for a few weeks, come back and find you're getting all 'glittery' >><<

Did I miss something, like the memo about gearing up for the Real Surf float in the mardi gras ???
yep... it's all about the sparkle now... or the sporkle... in any case things are moving pretty fast now. ;)

Matticus... I had a look at the datasheet for that stuff from fgi, sounds pretty cool. As far as I can tell though it's a pigmented polyester resin ( they talk about MEKP ratios ). It should still stick to Epoxy though with a bit of scorer pad action. Would love to see a sample on something. I have a horrible feeling the MOQ is probably 20 litres though. :(

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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by dUg » Mon Feb 04, 2013 9:10 pm

bit of field testing in small stuff at home ( which it was made for ). I like the way the board looks from the cliffs, less happy with how I was looking on Sunday morning. :shock:
cobra1.jpg

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Re: the '69 Cobra: a surfboard deconstructed

Post by speedneedle » Fri Feb 22, 2013 7:55 pm

Hi Dug - you might try my guy for the coloured texalium. He's a great ol' timer here in Torquay -

http://ironbarkcomposites.com.au/index. ... isplay=193

JD

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