Lower Drop Board & Tabernacle | Preparing For Gloss

Only the new lower drop board and the tabernacle remained to be sanded in readiness for gloss.

That feels really good to know - we must be near the end!

The usual method was used, with a P180 grit to remove brush marks followed by a P220 to polish to a smooth finish.

This is the lower drop board being worked on.

After sanding I wash the surface with water to remove the dust and dry it with a small hair dryer. This technique instantly reveals any residual brush marks.

The tabernacle followed. Here it is.

The inside faces had to be done by hand, but they turned out OK.

Next step is touching up all the bare patches and painting inside the seatback lockers.

We certainly are getting there!

Upper Hull | Preparing For Gloss

When the white primer had hardened I sanded the entire upper hull with a P180 grit to remove brush marks, followed by a P220 to polish it smooth.

This is the starboard cockpit deck and seatback being sanded.

As stated in previous posts good lighting is essential for this. The work light in the pic is 30W and excellent for this purpose.

As usual despite great care I sanded through the paint in many places, especially on the edges. So I marked every bare patch with tape for touching them up. They would be difficult to spot when paint had been applied, so markers were essential.

This is the companionway hood.

It looks a bit sad right now but all will be well when the touching up has been done!

Seatback Lockers | Priming Interiors

I had been putting off priming inside the seatback lockers because I knew it would be difficult and messy due to very limited access.

And so it proved at my first attempt. I used a small brush and over-thinned paint.

It wasn't pretty. Here is the outcome.

I decided to sand this back to a smooth surface and try again with a roller. I did a dry run with a roller and it seemed to be much easier and more effective than a brush.

Here is the same locker sanded smooth by hand with a P120 grit.

I will paint the interiors when I next break out the white primer for touching up the upper hull.

Companionway Slide | Preparing For Gloss

The companionway slide had received seven coats of white primer, and now needed to be sanded smooth in anticipation of gloss paint.

I started sanding outside in bright light, as here.

But I instantly remembered that an overhead light source does not reveal brush marks. We need a bright light source, level with and perpendicular to the brush strokes to highlight them by their shadows.

So I went back inside and sanded to a smooth finish with a P220 grit, like this.

It took me ages to perfect this technique - but now I know how to do it, it's easy and quick. Hooray!

Companionway Hood | Priming The Interior

One particularly challenging task was priming the interior of the companionway hood.

I could only use a brush to paint the front and the sides of the hood, and used a long handled roller to paint the top and bottom surfaces.

This is the tool set in action.

These activities had to be done on consecutive days to allow the paint to dry, so it took a long time to apply five coats. I thought five would be plenty, since the interior is not visible and does not require a super-smooth finish.

There is not much to look at, but for the record here is the inside of the hood after five coats of primer.

The next step is to abrade it with a fine grit, ready for gloss.

Rudder | Applying More Primer

As mentioned in a recent post the rudder had received five coats each of grey and white primer and was ready to be sanded smooth to prepare for the final two coats and to remove the 'step' between the two colours on the boot top stripe.

Here the whole rudder has been sanded flat with a P220 grit and taped for the next coat of white primer.

I pulled the tape while the paint was still wet to allow the edges to soften. When dry I taped up for grey primer and applied the sixth coat, again pulling the tape after painting.

Somehow when applying the masking tape I had allowed the top of the boot top stripe on the starboard side to bulge upwards very slightly. It was a tiny amount but very obvious to the eye.

I laid a straight edge along the stripe and pencilled in the straight line again, like this.

You can easily see the bulge as it widens toward the middle of the stripe.

So I taped for the seventh coat of white primer, straightening the stripe at the same time. Like this.

This is the seventh and final coat of white primer applied to the rudder sides, and the fourth coat on the underside of the bottom plate, with the tape pulled.

Then came the seventh and final coat of grey primer on the cheeks and stripe, and the fifth coat of white on the bottom plate. Here it is.

In this pic I have sanded the whole rudder smooth with P180 and P220 grits, flattening the stripe at the same time.

Despite lots of care I inevitably sanded through the paint in some places, leaving bare patches. Here are a couple.

Previous experience tells me that the gloss will not hide these patches, so they will have to be touched up and removed.

So I marked the rudder with tape for all the grey and white touch-up areas. Like this.

You certainly need a lot of patience to paint a boat! At least, to do it nicely...