Ever since I was little, I’ve always been pretty artistic.  So when my Automotive Painting professor told us we could pick our own final project to make, I took advantage of the situation.  The project:  Turn my old and slightly beat up skateboard deck into something I can make use of, rather than it just sitting in the garage collecting dust.

First off, let me apologize in advance for all of the pictures being taken with my iPhone. Also, I forgot to take pictures of the beginning stages.

The board was originally a Flip deck (Mark Appleyard model) and it was slightly beat up. The first steps were do use a DA sander to remove the paint and gouges in the wood. Once it was all smooth and ready, it was time for the paint booth. I laid adhesion promoter on first to ensure all of my hard work would not go to waste. Once that was dry, it was time for the clear coat. (Note: All paint used is PPG brand paint)

Next, I wet sanded the clear and masked the entire board. Now comes the fun part. I planned out how I wanted the board to look and proceeded to draw the logo onto the masking paper. (Note: All drawing was done 100% freehand and also scaled to size by hand)

(P.S. Yes, I realize the couch in the photo is extremely hideous, however I don’t care due to the fact it was in our house at school.)

Once I was pleased with how the logo looked, it was time to do work with the x-acto knife.

Now is when all the effort starts to become totally worth it. Hundreds of paint swatches later, I decided on my color of choice: Jazz Blau Mica (Jazz Blue Pearl). Time to lay some color.

Once the color was dry, I carefully removed the remaining masking paper and gave it another healthy dose of clear coat.

Now all that’s left is the hardest part of the whole project: Pinstriping. I must say, no matter how stressful an activity this is, I really do enjoy it. I’m hoping to try my hand at some more pinstriping in the future, so if anyone needs anything pinstriped for cheap, hit me up. I chose to use white paint, since I think it compliments the blue/woodgrain nicely.

Well I hope you guys enjoyed this little project of mine. If the feedback is positive, I have another cool project that I can post up in the future.

(**I am in no way affiliated with Fatlace or own any rights to their logo. I am just a fan of what they do.**)

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