Tuesday, 3 December 2024

Gloss Paint | Progress

It's been a while since the last post. I have been trying to resolve my paint problems, with mixed results.

The initial prognosis was that I did not wait long enough for the paint to cure before masking up for the next coat, causing the tape to damage the underlying gloss when pulled.

The paint vendor sent me a sample of some hardener to help the paint cure faster and harder. This is it.


It's called Topcoat Brushing Converter, from AwlGrip. I was advised to add 5% to the gloss, which I did in a test which worked.

However, the same problem reoccurred when I pulled the tape on the fourth coat of white gloss on the hull. The tape tore off the blue paint, like this.


This was discouraging, to put it mildly.

I concluded that it must be the tape itself that was the problem. Throughout the build I have been using 3M 471 vinyl tape. This is it.


Another builder on the PocketShip Forum told me that he used 3M 244 Gold tape to successfully paint his boat.

I did some research and found that the vinyl tape has an adhesive strength of 25 units, whereas the gold tape only has 2 units.

Clearly I was using the wrong tape!

I bought some 244 Gold tape. Here it is.


A fourth coat of blue was applied to the bottom, sides and transom, using this tape.

This was the result.


No damage at all!

The Gold tape doesn't provide the precise edge that I get with the vinyl tape, and there is a very small amount of bleed.

But I can live with that. It is a small price to pay for getting the boat painted.





Tuesday, 29 October 2024

Gloss Paint | Hiatus

As mentioned in the previous post, I contacted the vendor (BoatPaint) and they confirmed immediately that I had not left the paint long enough to cure.

Apparently the mono-urethane needs a week to fully cure. It doesn't say that anywhere in the product information or instructional videos...

But at least I now know what the problem is.

The downside is that instead of taking ten days (say, two weeks) to apply five coats of both colours, it will now take ten weeks.

It's time for a gin and tonic and some jazz.


Nothing else is going to help at this point.

Gloss Paint | 2nd Coat of White & Disaster!

The time came for the second coat of white gloss, so I taped up again. Like this.


And here is the rear view.


I applied the second coat of white and then removed the masking tape.

That was when it all went wrong... the tape removed large amounts of the blue gloss it was adhering to, leaving patches of bare primer. Like this on the port quarter.


This happened all around the boat. Here is the bow.


Something was seriously amiss. I wet-sanded the damaged areas with a P400 grit to restore a smooth surface, like this at the bow.


And like this on the starboard quarter.


I thought I might have applied too much paint, thereby preventing the solvents from evaporating.

The unused paint remains liquid for days afterwards. Here is the roller tray several days later, showing how fluid it still is.


I also thought I may have not left enough time between coats, and that could be why the first layer was not cured.

I resolved to contact the vendor for advice.


Gloss Paint | 1st Coat of Blue

I had previously decided to apply the blue and white contiguously, a layer at a time rather many layers at once. This was designed to avoid having a significant physical 'step' between the two colour blocks.

So the next task was to tape and mask for blue gloss.

Here is the transom, ready for gloss.


The first coat of blue was applied.

Here is the view from the front of the boat.


And here she is with the tape removed.


The paint covers really well and flows out beautifully, leaving no brush marks and no dry edges. As with the white gloss, I found that adding 10% thinners helps a lot with application.

Lastly, here is the transom with tape removed.


Looking good!


Gloss Paint | 1st Coat of White

We left the previous post with the boat ready for the first coat of white gloss.

I thinned the paint with 10% Epifanes thinners, and rolled it on and tipped it out with my favourite brush.

Here she is.


And here is the transom.


This is the view from the front with tape removed.


And again here is the transom, without tape.


The finish is OK, but not amazing. I found it very difficult to keep the wet edge, and it shows. Although I think that might be due to a lack of experience on my part.

But it covers well and flows out very nicely, leaving no brush marks.

We're on our way!


Friday, 18 October 2024

Lots More Primer | Ready For Gloss!

It's been four weeks since the last post and during that time I have done nothing but apply and sand coat upon coat of primer.

I initially applied three coats of grey and five coats of white primer, sanding the final coats with a P220 grit, ready for gloss.

But as hard as I tried to convince myself that the finish was good enough, in my heart I knew it wasn't.

Both grey and white coverage was still slightly patchy, with some areas less opaque than the rest.

I thought that the gloss would probably cover this up, but I wasn't sure and remembered being caught out by this before, so more primer was applied.

In all seven coats of white and five coats of grey were applied before I achieved an even colouration across the hull.

I found that it was best to pull the masking tape before sanding with the P220 grit, feathering the edges flat at the same time. This eliminates any 'step' between the coloured areas, leaving a flat surface for the gloss.

After some experimentation I found the paint behaved best when thinned by 10% with the stipulated Epifanes thinners.

I took lots of photos, but there is no discernible difference between most of them, so all I need to post here is the outcome.

This is the view from the side, taped up ready for the first coat of white gloss.


And here is the transom, also ready for gloss.


A lot of work and some frustration, but it's done now and as we all know a good finish is totally dependent on good preparation.

So bring on the next phase!


Tuesday, 17 September 2024

Grey Primer | First Coat

The first coat of grey primer went on really well. It's much more dense and opaque than the white primer, and flows out nicely to cure flat.

This is the first coat on the transom.


And here is the starboard side view.


She is starting to look like a boat again!


Painting | Tools of Choice

I have by now had plenty of practice at painting a boat, much of it unsuccessful! But I thought it might be worth recording what I have learned thus far regarding tools.

Brushes for tipping out are crucial for obtaining a good finish. Here are my two current favourites.


The wide brush from ANZA on the left is specifically designed for tipping out and was recommended to me by a paint vendor. It's OK, but I get better results from the smaller one on the right, from Crown.

Both are premium quality synthetic brushes, which seems to be the way to go.

A top quality roller sleeve is essential for rolling paint. This is what I am now using.


The concave black foam sleeves are from ROTA, and are very good.

I recently discovered that I should be using a broad stirrer to stir my paint, rather than a cane. This is what I am now using.


It certainly makes it easier!

Pouring paint from a large can has always been a challenge and I invariably make a mess, so I have devised a disposable scoop made from a card mixing cup to transfer paint from the can. This is it.


With practice it's mess free!

And lastly but not least, I have been using trial and error to find the optimum percentage for thinning Epifanes paint.

I started by just guessing - that didn't work. Then I tried plastic syringes - they don't like the thinners and fall apart.

Finally I purchased a glass measuring cylinder. This is it.


It measures up to 100 ml in 1 ml increments, and is perfect for getting precise doses of thinners. Love it!


Grey Primer | Taping Up & Masking Off

When the white primer was more or less finished I taped up and masked off for the grey primer.

Here is what it looked like.


I rather enjoy doing this but I find it really difficult to get a perfectly fair curve with the tape, particularly on the vertical sides.

This is a close up of the boot top.


You can just make out 'wobbles' in the tape edges. It doesn't matter for the primer but I have to improve this for the gloss.

And here is the transom, ready for grey paint.


Looking good!


White Primer | Pulling Tape & Feathered Edges

When the white primer had fully cured I sanded it with P220 and pulled the masking tape. 

This is what it looked like.


This is the transom.


It is so much easier to paint both sides and the transom at the same time.

However, I got a surprise when pulling the blue masking tape. The tape pulled off a piece of fibreglass cloth, like this.


Exploration with a knife revealed that an old patch had clearly failed to bond properly, and had failed.


Oh dear. I sanded off the loose material, leaving this.


I will have to apply another patch or simply seal the substrate properly with clear resin.

Then I carefully feathered the edges of the primer with a P220 grit to remove the 'step' and make it flush with the substrate.

This is what it looked like.




Next is grey primer. Hooray!

White Primer | Sanding & More Primer

When the third coat of white primer was cured I sanded it with P220 grit to see what it looked like.

Here I am sanding the starboard bottom panel.


And this is the same panel after sanding.


It wasn't too bad but clearly needed more primer, so I applied two more coats.

This is the final coat on the starboard side.


That should do the trick!

New Paint | Test Piece

Mindful of the horror of the original paint blistering when it got wet, I finished a test piece and put it outside on the trailer to see how the weather affected it.

This is the upper drop board.


Like the centreboard, it received three coats of primer which was sanded with a P220 grit. Then five coats of gloss, wet sanded P400 between coats.

It has been out in the sun and rain for a couple of weeks and it looks great. I think this is going to work.


White Primer | Application

Excitement was running high when I broke out the white primer!

Epifanes recommend that the primer be thinned from 5 to 10%, depending on the conditions and the experience of the painter.

I rather over did it. Here is the first coat on the starboard side.

You can see how patchy it is. And here is the result of adding too much thinners - curtains on the keel nose.


And again at the rear of the keel.


Yuk.

I then tried 5% thinners, and found that the paint dragged. So I tried 10% and that seemed to work well.

This is the third coat on the port side.


Looking good!

White Primer | Taping Up & Masking Off

After installing the centreboard I put the boat back onto the sawhorses at the stern because it was so much more stable than the dolly, and at a good working height for painting.

Then I used 19mm 3M vinyl lining tape to mask up for the white primer.

Here is the view from starboard.


That drill bench is always in the way!

And here is the view of the transom.


I have covered the varnished area with polythene sheeting to prevent staining.

Primer is next!


Fibreglass Patches

I had noticed at some point a couple of patches of bare wood which I had missed when repairing the damage caused by sanding through fibreglass cloth when stripping the bottom.

So I made patches and 'glassed them in place. Here is one on the keel.


And here is the other one on the bow.


They were sanded and feather edged, ready for paint. We're getting there!