That is one awesome paint job!!!!! who did it, was it custom. how was it done-- Great set up . Bet he is one happy 9 year old.
Thanks! I actually did it myself, and yes very custom. I have done it several times in the past, except this time I did it a bit in reverse. Using 4 colors, but instead of laying light colors with dark on top to give it a true camouflage, I reversed it so the lightest color would be on top to make the yak brighter and more noticeable on the water. As I know the boy is brave beyond his years, and its only a matter of time till Surfbrewer is like, "Hey, where did Tristan go?" And that little guy will have already launched all by himself and be out there doing his own thing, lol. The process is fairly simple, lay down a base color, then by using your preferred template or what is available; for me, as I am always trying to multitask as you can see in my videos. I made a day of it by pruning my oleander bushes in the back yard and using the branch and leaves as my template. Simply lay the branch with the leaves spread over the surface and spray directly over the template thus creating a shadow effect on the surface of the yak. Then rotate the angle of the branch as you continue to randomize the pattern. Once you complete this over the entire surface, then grab the next color and repeat the process. And when done with that, on to the next color and so on... The key to wrapping it all up is to lay a few coats of matte clear coat over the entire project when you are done with the graphics. This will meld all the colors together and really class the whole project up. I know it may appear to be extremely elaborate and complicated, and may have been a real pain in the a** to accomplish. But fact is, it is a very simple process, and if you can get into a rhythm like dancing, it all kind of takes care of itself. It truly is one of those instant gratification projects. A couple hints I have are: Painting is always only going to be as good as your prep, so at least give the yak a bath with a degreaser like a mix of dish soap and water (Magic Erasers are recommended), and if you want to do it right, go over the surface with a scotch brite pad to dull it up and wash and rinse again; and One template will not last forever, go ahead and toss that one that is already covered in paint just before it gets to the point that it starts dripping all over the place. I have several big plants that I have grown to act as a privacy for my yard, and although Im pretty good about regular maintenance, I ended up trimming all of them, and just as I came down to my last desired cut, I was also laying down the final section of the graphics. And I even thought to myself, "I Love it When a Plan Comes Together!" And one more thing, remember, its camo - its beauty is in the imperfections. And yes it is a plastic kayak, and if you are anything like me who purposely goes out to slay fish and bloody the deck, fish in places that no kayak should go, and ride it hard and put it away wet...... It will surely get banged, scuffed, and scratched along the way. And its not the end of the world, because Krylon spray paint is cheap, works great, and you can always have another crack at improving your very own design. Personally, I am looking forward to when the boy hammers this paint job so that I can pass this knowledge on to him and we can do it together.
I hope this helps, and let me know if you have any more questions. If you attempt it, please share on here, I wish there was more shares in the rigging section. To me its all about making the most of your time on the water. If a custom paint job will make you feel like a cool dude out there, then go for it, enjoy yourself! I can honestly say I spend way more time studying, prepping, building lures, or tying rigs at home then I ever do actually on the water. So that when it is my time to launch, I go into what I call Cruise Control, a simple method of going through the motions and executing as efficiently as possible. My mind is stress free, and more often than not, all I am concerned about is whats for lunch and when should I eat it, lol. Its a very pleasant way to spend time on the water. And if you have done your homework, you will likely out fish all your buddies while making it look easy.
