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At LexJet, we are starting to advise more and more people who want to combine inkjet-printed materials with other types of materials to fabricate whole new types of products. For example, Kem McNair of New Smyrna Beach, FL recently combined his knowledge of surfboard manufacturing with an inkjet-printed reproduction of his “Rainbow Tube” painting to create a 2/3-scale replica of a classic 9 ft. longboard. This custom-built Surf Artboard hangs on the wall of a surfing enthusiast in Colorado.

The first Surf Artboards McNair made were hand-painted, 42-in. miniature surfboards that were time-consuming and expensive to produce. But after he tried using 3P Universal Light polyester fabric on his Epson Stylus Pro 7600, McNair learned that he could scale up the size of each Surf Artboard while keeping the selling price affordable enough for surfing enthusiasts. Now, he offers the Artboards in whatever size a client might want.

“What made the whole thing work was the fabric I bought from LexJet,” says McNair. Initially, he tried printing onto art papers and rice paper, because he remembered when surfboard decals were typically screen-printed on rice paper. Not only was the 3P Universal Light fabric more durable than inkjet art and rice papers, but he says “The colors were insanely great!”

The polyester fabric held together when the resins were squeegeed on top of the print and the inkjet inks didn’t run as they had on some of the art papers.

ABOVE: After the board was shaped on a shaping machine, McNair printed out his image file on 3P Universal Light fabric from LexJet.  He signed and numbered the print before it was laminated to the deck of the surfboard with polyester resin. RIGHT: The edges of the trimmed fabric were concealed with a line of tape before the board was glassed top and bottom with fiberglass cloth and the polyester resin.

Over the past 40 years, McNair has airbrushed and hand-painted over 10,000 surfboards and has created thousands of surfing-related T-shirt designs, illustrations, and paintings. Surf Artboards can be ordered through his website (www.kemmcnair.com) along with limited-edition canvas prints and posters of some of his most popular art.

A second coat of resin was applied, then sanded and polished. “The finished board looks like a fine piece of furniture,” says McNair. He notes that the 3P Universal Light fabric still displays a subtle bit of tooth that makes the finished art look more like a painting than a print.

NOTE: If you visit Kem McNair's website, check out his famous “shark jumping the waves” photograph went that went viral and was featured on CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, Inside Edition, and many other media outlets. Some skeptical bloggers speculated that the shark-jumping image was Photoshopped. But McNair insists he just happened to be taking action shots of some surfers when he captured a natural phenomenon that he and his fellow surfers at New Smyrna Beach see more often than they might like.