When I started building, I set myself the goal of being painted by Christmas. Yesterday (Christmas eve) I put the last coat of bottom paint on so, amazingly, I made it!
Painting was a long and slow experience fraught with a few issues.
I decided that I was going to use an epoxy primer/undercoat followed by a 2-part polyurethane on the topsides and then an epoxy paint for the bottom (more on this below).
Andrew Denman of Denman marine has been a great source of information regarding paints and paint systems that hey use on the Bayraiders that they build. He told me that they use Wattyl UC230 primer/undercoat which I used. This is an excellent, high build product that is easily sanded to provide great substrate for single or two-part paints. I applied 3 coats with a short nap mohair roller and then sanded. I wasn't completely happy with the surface so I filled a few of the slightly bigger dents with epoxy fairing compound then applied another 2 coats and sanded again (with 120 grit - random orbital sander). Now I had a beautiful smooth surface - not perfect but good enough that a visitor asked if it was my finished paint job.
When I went to Wattyl I think there was a slight miscommunication. Andrew had told me that they used Poly U400 on their boats' topsides and although they sprayed it on, I would be able to roller it on, followed by tipping off with a brush much like I had been doing for years with enamels on our previous boat. I talked to the agent there and he said that could be used and also told me about Colourthane their special polyurethane formulation for marine use. He said there was no effective difference between the two but that I could get any colour made up in Colourthane and I could buy as little as one litre ( I would have to buy 5 litres in Poly U400).
I had noted that Colourthane is a 2:1 mix whilst Poly U400 is a 4:1 mix so there must be some difference in the formulation. Anyhow, I applied a coat of it using a foam roller and it pretty much instantly hardened once rollered making it impossible to tip off. I sanded off the roller stipple and tried coat number 2, this time adding more thinner (reducer) to try and retard the reaction. Again, the paint hardened almost straight away. I went to talk to the guys at Wattyl who then told me that Colourthane can't be rollered and MUST be sprayed. Only Poly U400 can be rollered!
Luckily, I have a friend who has been spray painting boats for 20 years. He offered to spray my boat but I initially declined because I wanted a more hand-done job. I called him and begged for forgiveness and he came around to give the boat a spray. I sanded off the roller stipple with 320 grit (by hand as he said that the tiny spirals from the random orbital sander would show through the paint). I was delighted with the finish that I got and should have just got him to spray it in the first place!
 |
| "Marlin Green" |
For the bottom paint I used Wattyl DTM985 as recommended by Andrew Denman. This is a high-build fully immersible and incredibly tough paint that can be rollered. I got it tinted to a cream colour and will use the remainder inside the bilges and in lockers. This is applied with a short nap mohair roller and leaves a fine stipple. I did two coats past the water line then sanded it to a feather edge before taping the line and applying the topcoat. I then did one more coat of bottom paint.
I am really pleased with the results and, after fastening the brass strips will be flipping the boat over - hopefully next week sometime. It was nice to be able to just walk past and admire the boat several times today before, during and after Christmas lunch.
Here's what I cooked for lunch using all our own produce (except the salmon which was bought and the pork which was raised by my friend)
 |
| gravlax with dill sauce |
 |
| roast porchetta with pink eye potatoes, beets, carrots and spinach |
