Doing two builds / upgrades using new decks.
One is the HAYA HB83, the other is the Rocket Hollow Core.
The haya is essentially bare wood, the rocket has a clear coat.
I was originally planning to coat it in line-x but decided against it.
So…need to paint and seal the decks but know nothing about it.
Can I get some inspiration - like what products, techniques, etc?
The first one is just timber so you can put anything on it, I would recommend water based polyurethane. It is easy to use, fast drying and relatively odor free.
The second one probably already has a urethane coat on it, now that could be water base or solvent base. Luckily you can apply water base polyurethane over solvent urethane once it has fully cured you should be ok to seal them both with water based products.
Or you could get fancy and do some screen printing or take it to a place that has a flatbed UV printer and get custom graphics etc put on it.
I actually build snowboards and have applied and tested all the above methods
for the bare timber, do i need to primer first? or just finish it with polyurethane?
i plan on painting it first, can i use a waterbased paint? if so, does that need primer?
the prospect of having to buy a bunch of different paints and sealers isn’t exactly getting me excited. what kind of shop would i call to maybe do this for me?
You should get some stains and play with the Haya. Then clear coat it. Will be majestic. Clear coat with spraymax 2k or spray on polyurethane
it has several matte bicomponent polyurethane coats 
But feel free to customize it as much as you want, its always cool to see a non “stock” deck 
This was a great example of customizing imo. Looks great.
nice, did not even notice. could one apply additional paint or clear coat on top of it without sanding it down?
How do you keep the poly from yellowing on light colors?
Yes, should be no problem. I will ask my father if there are any incompatible components
Some come with added UV protection
Different polys yellow more than others. Oil based tend to yellow more.
I prefer spraymax 2k clear coat. More robust and looks better. But it is also 2x the price.
Shhhhhhh! He’ll open up a shop if you give anymore details!
@thisguyhere, according to him any paint will be compatible. Just sand it down a little with a 240 or finer grit sandpaper
@thisguyhere The top I sanded off the clear coat and applied an orange wood stain, then two coats of minwax water based spar varnish, added the vinyl decal, and then three more coats of the spar. I’ve got some clear glass frit I’m going to apply with spar for grip.
The bottom was skinned with blue/black kevlar/carbon fiber cloth. I had the giant gator decal on the bottom but had some issues with fit so I pulled it off. I’m going to finish it by wet sanding down to 2000 grit and then polishing with liquid polishing compound. The skinning isn’t on par with @Sender 's masterpieces but it’s serviceable.
Thanks, I’ll check that out.