Re: Painting questions. glassmaster update, started priming now link to pics of
Re: Painting questions. glassmaster update, started priming now link to pics of
No question about it, it was the paint, not the painter. The first time I ever tried to tip paint was with Interlux Brightsides. I was so impressed with how well it worked that it got rid of my phobia about painting to tell you the truth. <br /><br />We did not end up tipping the Awl Grip simply because we found another way that worked as well (though no better) as was easier and more foolproof, also because it was faster.<br /><br />I guess I should be quite specific about how we did it, and now is as good a time as any. Here are all the things I learned, can remember, and think about the process. Please remember, I am a non-painter.<br /><br />I was using plain Awl Grip, not one of the EZ versions. The base was Awl Grip's 454 primer over the entire surface in one unbroken, but wet sanded (240 grit final) coat. We used 3002 Brushing Converter in the recommended 50% to paint ratio and then T0031 Reducer beginning at 25% for the initial mix (prior to the incubation period) and then more as we went along. <br /><br />Typically we loaded up the paint tray (use those cheap clear plastic throw-away liners) with just enough paint to load the roller two or three times, this was very little paint. The best results you can obtain from Awl Grip come when the paint is applied thin - thinner is better. You can not apply the paint too thin, but you get get the paint too thin with the reducer, so be careful. The two are not the same thing.<br /><br />As we used paint I added about one cap-full of additional reducer to the paint, in the tray, when we refreshed the tray, which was, once again, every two or three roller loads.<br /><br />If you have areas that have too tight curves to use a roller and require abrush be used just use the same paint right out of the tray. Brush out onto the flatter surounding surface and then use the roller to blend in, not the other way around.<br /><br />Pay the money for Badger Hair brushes if you need one at all or intend to tip any part. Shop around, prices vary wildly.<br /><br />My wife applied the paint. She's a painter at heart. She did so with a standard cheap roller handel using a GlassKoter quarter inch nap roller cover. These covers are made for applicaton of 2-part paints and will not fall apart with exposure to the paint as may covers will.<br /><br />Following directly behind my wife I used a smaller roller very much as one would tipping with a brush. The roller I used was 7" wide but I can not tell you the name of the covers used because I don't have one here. I got them at Lowe's and they are red. They are only about 1" in diameter and the cover appears to be velvet of some sort, with a nap of maybe 1/8" or less. I loaded this roller with paint and then went ahead of my wife and rolled it almost dry, then I backed up and used this paint-dampened roller to follow my wife. She applied and leveled paint, I covered any missed spots (she was trying to get it on as thinnly as possible) and caught any runs that might be beginning by redistributing that paint (rolling over it) so it would not run. Remember my almost dry roller could soak up any excess but still cover the missed spots. I also was lucky enough to catch the few bugs that got in there and fix those spots before they got bad as well as remove lint and fuzz.<br /><br />I liked this method better than tipping because you can apply paint faster with a roller than you can tip with a brush so the tipper can keep up with the primary roller. With conventional tipping of large areas its always a race against the clock because the paint is setting up every minute you are out there and the guy with the roller will always outpace the fellow with the brush. If you do it by yourself its hard to keep ahead of the paint kicking in the can.<br /><br />As to the cost of Awl Grip, yes it is expensive. I figured it was a full winter project and I knew we would have many hours of prep time in, and by many I mean well into the 100's between my wife and myself. So considering what we were putting into it there just didn't seem to be any sense in skimping on materials. After all, the difference in price between a cheap paint and the best paint was only a couple of hundred bucks. I'm almost 60 years old and if I'm going to be out there hand sanding every available hour for months on end I'm not going to skimp at the end. <br /><br />As I recall the primer cost me $150 a gallon for both the paint and an appropriate amount of converter (hardner) plus a quart or two of reducer. I should have bought more reducer - buy three times as much as you think you will need. The color coat is different stuff and uses a different converter. It does, however, use the same reducer. The color coat ran right at $300 per gallon if I remember correctly.<br /><br />We used more paint than we should have. That was the result of inexperience. We could have easily primed our 23' hull with a gallon of primer and painted it with two quarts of finish coat. As it is I have enough of the finish coat to paint the topsides, including everything above the rub rail, and one more coat down to the waterline, next spring. Because you thin this paint down to about the consistancy of milk and apply it as thin as a mist it goes a very long way.<br /><br />Lesson learned: Use measuring cups for everything. Strain all paint. Follow the instructions exactly (except use more reducer than called for). <br /><br />Keep something in mind as you do the prep sanding. You are going to cover this with a paint that is so thin and being applied so thinnly that it could not possibly fill any imperfection what so ever. All this paint does, and I mean all it does, is leave an incredibly thin and hard film of extremely reflective plastic all across the hull. So the sanding that is being done now is as good as the hull will ever get - this is where you control the result, not when you are applying the paint. I finally got it into my head that my paint job could be just as close to perfect as a wanted it to be and it was all in the sanding. Think of it like this. All the paint does is make the sanding shiney. The smoother you can sand that surface the better the shine will look. Nothing looks worse than a shiney rough surface (poorly preped paint job).<br /><br />Its the paint's reflectivity that you pay all the money for. Well, its durability too of course. The paint will last about 10 years, but during that time you will never wax it. At the end of the 10 year period it will look about like the same boat in Gel Coat would. The difference is you can rejuvinate the gel coat with a good wet sanding and compounding. You can't do that with Awl Grip. Its back to the paint booth. That is anouther down side of Awl Grip. You can't blend it. So if you suffer damage to the hull that requires repainting as part of the repair then the whole section will have to be repainted, not just a patch. In may cases on small boats that means that the whole hull will have to be repainted because there is no defined break point.<br /><br />Next tip: Start at the bow, about 6" from the pointy end, come around the point and then continue right on around the boat arriving back at the point. At the point what you will be doing is blending in the paint you first applied with that 6"-wide streak when you started. You can do it. The result will be an unbroken blend completely around the boat. The other options are to start at one of the corners of the transom or even right in the middle - if an ourboard is involved it will mask the blend.<br /><br />Next Tip: If it doesn't say 3M on the back of the sandpaper don't waste your money.<br /><br />Next Tip: Look around for a long hard rubber sanding block. Worth their weight in gold if you ask me.<br /><br />We were lucky in that we painted in the early spring. Our biggest problem was finding days when it wasn't raining and got warm enough. We also had another problem. We weren't the only ones looking for heat - so was every bug waiting to hatch in the eastern US. We beat the arrival of the spring bugs by just a very little bit. I am sure if we had been finishing up even a week later that bugs would have been a major problem. However if we were to have done it 2 months later it wouldn't have been so bad. After the first hard frost wouldn't have been bad either. My point is think about the seasons when you begin your painting project. It takes some time to prep that hull - probably more than you immagine - and then there are climatic concerns. I used to live in south Florida, I understand rainy seasons.<br /><br />Next thing: Where are you going to do all this? Water and electricity are really going to be almost essential. You are going to wash that boat 50 times before you're done. 3 of them will be before you even start just to make sure there is absolutly no wax on the hull. In prep I'd have to immagine that you will also be doing any small repairs that every hull needs. There is also that first sanding that is really to roughen the surface and commit you to the job - might as well do it with a small electric sander. This is going to take some time and you don't want to have to be moving the boat. Out of the way but accessable, with utilities, but probably best out of sight. I did ours parked right on a county road. I wish it had been otherwise.<br /><br />Oh, if you have a belt sander go ahead and sell it before you even begin this job - just so you won't be tempted to try to use it. The only electric sander you want on this job is one of those couple-of-inches random-orbit, no-power hand sanders that you can't do any real damage with. Put 240 grip paper on its little round face and skuff up the entire hull just for starters. The wet sanding will come later.<br /><br />And that's all I learned, in a rambeling sort of way. What have your experiences been? I know a lot of you must be recent first time painters too. How did it go, what did you figure out? What kind of paint did you use, how was it to work with?<br /><br />Thom
) You then use a brace to hold up the front of the boat and move the trailer a little forward. You then move another brace behind the axle etc and continue forward with the trailer.<br />You can and should brace the sides as the trailer is moved out of the way.<br /><br />Hope this helps.