I've painted the whole boat! The bottom, the topsides, and the deck. The biggest thing to painting no matter what you are painting is the prep work. Most hardest part too! Whichever part of the boat you are prepping use a drop cloth to collect any debris (mandatory at most marinas) I also recommend a shop vac attached to your sander. I just pulled off the bag and taped the shop vac hose to the end of the sander. Then sand, fill, fair, and sand until you get the finish you'll be happy with. I went to a 200 grit paper with the topsides and deck. For the bottom a 120 should be fine.
I rolled all the paint on with a foam roller. For the deck I took all of the hardware off. The jib rails were a b...@?*# with a capital B! They were leaking pretty bad, but the dry cabin has been more than worth it! Removing all the deck hardware made it easier to prep and easier to paint. I used west marine one part enamel topside paint for both the topside and deck. For the deck I painted two coats just thinned paint, then two coats with the antiskid added to it. For that I just put the paint in a plastic drinking cup, stirred it up with a plastic fork and painted it on with a brush. A lot more mixing paint but gave a more consistent mixture of additive and paint. No tipping required. And I painted the entire deck in antiskid except for the vertical parts. For the topsides I rolled on a patch about 7 foot wide (how far I could stretch from the step ladder. I painted one area then moved to the next. Then went back to the previous area and rolled the non paint loaded roller over very lightly to get rid off any bubbles. I continued that process around the boat three times. By the time I got around the boat the paint was dry enough for the next coat. I followed the manufactures instructions as far as what thinner to use and the operating temperatures. I sort of came up with my own process for the additive and the tipping. I either couldn't tip right, or I thought my roller tipping method was just faster and gave better results. I wore a respirator mask for every process, because there is a lot of toxic stuff in any of the paint that you use. For bottom painting you need a strong back to sand the mid section, or you an affinity for being cover in bottom paint dust if you decide to lay down. If you have any questions about my experience with the paint jobs. Just ask. None of it is really to difficult to let it intimate you. Although I was pretty nervous putting on paint that was so pricey! But all the jobs came out great! Topside was down 3 years ago and still has a mirror reflection. Oh yeah, be sure to clean and then put a few coats of wax on when you are done painting! I couldn't really do it with the antiskid, but definitely do it to the topsides! -----Original Message----- From: "Mark Robertson" <[email protected]> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:22:03 To: <[email protected]> Subject: [IC27A] Re: Painting the hull Hi Guys, The West Marine 2010 Catalogue has some excellent articles on blister repair and bottom painting and some paints that are less than $100.00 a gallon. I am looking at one that will allow for drying out while on the hard during the winter or for trailer boats. I think that is $135.00 a gallon. >>> "baileyedwards123" <[email protected]> 3/17/2010 2:02 PM >>> James, I'm with you, doing it myself for the first time. I'll share some of the tips I've picked up while researching this project. First, make sure you've treated all blisters or dings before getting started. Once you're all set that way, I've been advised to go on and start sanding. Using 80-grit on a random orbital sander, take off the old paint, but try to stay as even as you can. Careful not to strip away too much of the barrier coat while sanding. On equipment, most boat yards tend to require a sander that can capture the dust, given the toxicity. Also, just is being a good neighbor considering other boats may be further along in the process and dust drying into another bottom paint would be a real bummer. Also, on the sanding, I've been advised to wear goggles, repsirator mask, earplugs, and clothes to cover ALL of my skin. It's apparently just that nasty, and who wants cancer anyway, right? After I finish sanding, I'm planning to do the above-the-waterline hull maintenance. I'm using PoliGlow, and I've been advised that the PoliPrep can streak the new bottom paint if it drips. So I figure I'll let it streak without worry by waiting 'til after the above the waterline hull is clean before I paint. After I've poliprepped and 'glowed, I'll put the new registration sticker and numbers on, and blue tape up the top of where I need to paint. Next, you're about ready to paint. But first, wipe down the newly sanded bottom with an acetone. It'll clean the last little bit of imperfections off the bottom and make sure your paint adheres well. Next, I'll get the rollers out and paint. I've been told again to cover up here, since the copper is just as bad at this point. Also, I was told a gallon should get 2 coats on a C27. The paint's supposed to dry pretty quickly, so you might be able to get the painting done in an afternoon. I've heard the trick to moving the stands is to put some wax paper on the stand pad when you move it so as not to screw up the paint you've just applied. Not sure if you need the lift to move the stands or not--I imagine it depends on the boat yard policy. Either way, it's important to remember to save a little paint when rolling at first to get the spots under the stands and underneath the keel where it's been sitting all winter. Some say you don't have to bother with moving the stands, instead opting to just slap some paint on in the carry-time from the stands to the water, but I just can't think it'd dry sufficiently in time. I would welcome thoughts based on experience here. Anyway, that's kinda my plan. I'm spreading it out over a couple of weekends, but looking forward to the end product. She's so much faster with a clean hull! Hope it helps your planning. I also welcome any remarks that might save me some headaches!! Bailey s/v Carioca #6157 --- In [email protected], James Henderson <lamar_...@...> wrote: > > > Do you do it yourself? I think the job would be easy enough, but the sanding > part scares me with all the toxic dust and what not.... I've considered wet > sanding, but don't know anything about that. Any advice? > > > > Thanks, > > James > > > __________________________________________________________ > The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. > http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID27925::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:032010_3 >
