Amazing work 
Are sides on these decks rubber/plastic or wood?
Oh wait. Those are lacroix decks not flux?
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Thanks, mate! Yes, I’m painting the rails again. It’s a bit tricky to colour-match with the skin but I’m enjoying messing around with it.
Going back to our earlier discussion about the thickness of the fabric, one downside I’m seeing from a thicker fabric is getting a smooth transition from the skin to the rail. I mean, it’s not much but it’s more noticeable and it needs more careful sanding. I still think the benefits outweigh the downsides though.
I took some inspiration from your lining-up technique btw. I marked out (lots of) reference lines on my worktop and used them to help make sure that everything was going in the right place. Worked like a charm, particularly on the Pink Pig! That one was definitely going to be the most difficult cos if anything was skewed, warped or asymmetrical, the lines would make it immediately obvious plus the position of the dashes against the rails would highlight if it wasn’t the same on either side.
Yes, they’re Lacroix, so wood. I think it’s easier to get a smoother finish on the Flux just by sanding back the PU rails. The various plys on the LC always seem to leave small cavities and irregularities, so to get the same sort of finish, the LCs need filling.
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These are so well executed!
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Thats dedication! Looks great man
After skinning an enclosure I’m sort of tempted to try and and wrap the edges with my thin fabric. I know I could get the side rails nice, but tip and tail would be quite the challenge to execute without creasing.
Also, I don’t have the dedication you and @EreTroN have 
I go as far as a couple good globs of hot glue to hold the board down to the reference so it has no chance to slip from layout to layment.
Keep it up bro, top notch shit. The man hrs pay off, Cleanest boards I’ve seen!
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It is tempting, isn’t it? I reckon you’re right though. The way it’s done on surfboards is to just sand off the creases but that won’t work if there’s a print on the fabric.
There’s probably two approaches that might work:
- Find a good draping fabric which will conform nicely to the contours and edges.
…but those fabrics tend not to be as sheer so it’ll probably be at the expense of a clean, solid print finish. - Use something with a bit of stretch, choose a print/design that won’t expose that stretch and apply to a very tacky resin with great care and dexterity.
I reckon the first probably has the greatest chance of success. I’ll talk to my fabric people and see what they reckon.
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Been a while since I gave an update here. Project’s moving forwards, just much more slowly now that lockdown’s easing and work’s picking back up.
^^ This is where I am with the Lotus. Tried something a little bit more adventurous with the studs. They’re arranged in a radial pattern orbiting around the Lotus emblems at either end. I made a proper mess of the epoxy again though so this one’s going to need a lot more attention to get it up to standard. The whole experience put me off making further progress on the Pig and the McLaren. They’re already sold so I really can’t afford to fuck them up.
Went even more outlandish on the studs for those two though. Like with the Lotus, I wanted to try and integrate the grip pattern into the design of the liveries…
I got some transparent plastic foil, overlaid it onto the laminated decks, marked out the key features of the livery and then used it as a basis to design the stud layout around. Once I had the lines laid out, I marked out the location for each stud, put a transparent reinforcing ring around it and then melted out the centres with a soldering iron. Yes, it took a long time.
Despite having a template all mapped out, I still needed to freestyle a lot of the stud placements. The livery lamination looks perfect on all of the boards but as soon as you overlay something that is actually geometrically perfect, you realise how far out you are in places and how being even 1mm out of place ruins the whole effect.
[Edit] One other thing to mention about the stud patterns is that they’re designed to have a greater density of studs towards the rails of the pockets. This was the main practical takeaway I had from doing the Gulf. When I was in a long, hard carve, I felt that offering some more purchase around the rails would be more reassuring.
I’ve been farting around with the Ferrari for quite a while, trying to get the rails looking tidy. Who knew that you could buy 1 mm wide masking tape? 
Epoxy is curing on The Pig as we speak. Thankfully it played much more nicely than on the Lotus. I’m using a higher viscosity resin this time around and it looks like applying that with a foam roller first for even coverage and then giving it a series of very light brush strokes along the length lets it settle better. The less pronounced the orange-peel, the easier the sanding stage is going to be.
Not looking forward to that stage tbh but nothing good ever came easy.
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Absolutely stunning… The commitment, the design… Ah. You my friend are a living legend.
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Having stood on your Gulf board, was already a pleasure, this i imagine must be better in every way. Great Job!
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Thanks very much for the kind words, guys 
Let’s see if I can get them finished this side of Xmas before we get too generous with the compliments 
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who are these decks for?
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Hey mad man! Are you still hand painting the rails?
Those decks look pristine 
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wait?!?
so will people actually ride these or are they just for wall art?
also this is insane and amazing!!!
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Extravagant, extrovert esk8ing motorsport enthusiasts who desire ultimate bragging rights at the group ride.
Thanks bro Still painted, yeah, but I’ve moved up to airbrushing them now. My masking skills (and tape inventory) are what’s developed the most in this series.
Thanks very much, buddy!
I would love to see them getting ridden. I’ll certainly be riding one. That’s what they’re designed for.
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What are you using as a base coat for the rails? Are those polyurethane black rails?
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This is about the only esk8 porn that matches or exceeds what Radium posts. Stellar job! Again - I’d prolly like one, but would be scared to ride it.
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No, the Lacroix decks have varnished wooden rails. I sand them back, prime them and then airbrush the acrylics onto that. The finish isn’t ideal though because the wood laminates have small cavities and irregularities that sanding never completely smooths out. I’ll use a filler next time.
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Ah. I thought those are flux decks. But thanks for the info anyways.
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Good Christ! That’s high praise indeed. I’m flattered that you think so but I’m really just a perfumed tart by comparison.
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you got any for sale?
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That they have, looks seamless!
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