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Paint Question

Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 12:27 pm
by jbyers
I am in the process of finally painting my 58 CC Cavalier (plywood). I put on about 7 coats of primer and I am using Pettit Ezy Poxy (one part) topcoat. It is laying down so well and any small bubbles are popping and leveling themselves out so that I don't have to tip it off. After the first coat dried, there were a handful of pin head size bumps caused by knats or dust that settled on the surface before the paint dried. They easily came out with just fine scotch brite pads or a piece of 220 sand paper.

My question is what do I do to remove these if there are some remaining in the final coat?

Buff? If so, do you use a high speed car buffer?

Or,

Just scotch brite that small spot and paint over it, feathering into the surrounding paint?

Thanks in advance,

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 4:43 pm
by Captain Nemo
The bugs or the bubbles? :lol: It's hard to get a perfect finish without a paint booth. I learn to live with a few imperfections.

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 5:06 pm
by jbyers
:P It's the engineer in me. I see things most people would walk past and never notice...... drives me crazy. It's not like there aren't a number of imperfections in the surface of the wood. I had to pick a point to stop at and start priming. A few little dots shouldn't bother me so much.

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 6:03 pm
by Captain Nemo
We try to do the best we can with what we have to work with. I'm sure your finished product will look great!

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 7:45 pm
by Doug P
Captain Nemo wrote:We try to do the best we can with what we have to work with. I'm sure your finished product will look great!
Boat owner's lament...just one more coat

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 8:10 pm
by jbyers
Don't encourage me. I bought way too much paint, so I could just keep going and going............

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 7:50 pm
by island time
I have been down the road you are going. I don't mean to be negative but your choice of paint will come back to haunt you.
The first time I painted the SeaSkiff I used a monourethane which gave excellent results in terms of gloss and abrasion resistance but I quickly learned that this product like most urethanes and epoxies are too hard once cured and will crack rather than flex with the wood movement. After fighting with this problem for 3 years I stripped the boat to bare wood and started over using good old fashioned oil base primer and oil based porch and deck enamel as a top coat. I now get 4-5 years before repainting is necessary

Craig

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 8:41 pm
by jbyers
It was my understanding Craig that the one part polyurethanes were formulated primarily for wood boats to avoid those problems. I understood it was the two part polyurethanes to avoid.......

I'm a beginner here, but I'd like to hear some more feedback from some of the members on this topic.

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 9:44 pm
by Doug P
I have used Ezy poxy for about 15 years and found it a very good finish paint on wood, fiberglass and steel. Have a wherry done about 12 years ago...only problem was fading in intense sun.

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 5:18 am
by joanroy
I use Imterlux Brightside on my cruiser. She's exposed to the elements all summer and stored inside in freezing cold, damp storage in the winter. Owned her for ten years. First paint job hull sides were stripped then two coats of pre-coat primer and two coats of finish. I touch up every year and sand with 120 and do a refresher coat every three years. Too much paint is as bad as not enough. You don't want a lot of build up. Just enough to protect the wood and look good. Always apply paint with the next repaint in mind. Paint requires maintenance and always fails eventually. That's one of the reasons a lot of folks prefer fiberglass. I like to paint and there's nothing prettier than a fresh coat on an old wooden boat. Polyurethanes are somewhat harder and more brittle than standard oil base. Cracking depends on the wood type being coated. Some plywood veneers are very grainy and the movement of the grain will transfer through the paint causing crazing.

Don't drive yourself crazy. Put a couple of nice coats of finish on her and as John in VA says "GO BOATING". If the finish starts to crack or dull out give her a sand and freshen it up with a nice top coat. Don't worry about having bought too much paint. It won't go bad and you'll need it for your next repaint. Happy Boating!

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 7:43 am
by jbyers
Thanks for the explanation.......... glad to know the unopened paint will still be useable since it sounds like I would need it. There was considerable cracking in the old paint, but not knowing the boat's history there is no telling what type of paint had been used on it. I guess as you say, just move on and get it in the water.

Thanks again to everyone for their advice.

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 8:35 am
by Jim Bell
jbyers wrote:It was my understanding Craig that the one part polyurethanes were formulated primarily for wood boats to avoid those problems. I understood it was the two part polyurethanes to avoid.......

I'm a beginner here, but I'd like to hear some more feedback from some of the members on this topic.

+1 on this. 8)

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 9:22 am
by island time
Yes Jim,
After much research I was under the impression that I had purchased the correct product for the application. That's why I was so disappointed when I had to start over and use a different product. I'm not a professional painter by any stretch, I followed the rules to the letter and still learned the hard way that just because the manufacturer says it's so doesn't make it so. I just want to help others avoid the pitfalls I encountered and consequently overcame at great expense.

Craig

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 10:57 am
by Doug P
If painting a wood boat.- the problems usually are painting a "damp" surface.

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 2:18 pm
by robertpaul
I posted this before but I will add my comment to this thread too. Much like Joanroy, I wooded my cruiser and applied two coats of Interlux Brightside primer, sanded translucent, then two topcoats of Brightside with light sanding in between. I applied it with a brush and it went on very nicely. It is a good but certainly not a perfect finish. I was very fussy about making sure the surface was clean and, as was said already by Doug P, dry as dust. I have done some touch up where the surface was marred or dinged, but never a complete repaint. So far there is no chalking, peeling or blistering. Dry wood is the key, in my opinion. Similarly, if you paint over punky wood, it will show up pretty quickly. Here is a picture taken this year of my 1992 paint job. Do not expect paint to smooth out imperfections by building it up. That is accomplished by filling and fairing. Otherwise, don't sweat it too much.... your boat will look great.

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 2:56 pm
by island time
As I read the input from others I may have just found a potential source of my troubles with Brightside, :idea: it's entirely possible that I applied too many coats to build mil thickness to hide imperfections. Also, my experience with brightside showed me that the white did not cover well so I may have applied too much thickness to improve hide. As was stated earlier in the thread, too many coats are not necessarily a good thing. :roll:
So if that was the case for me, it goes back to the old rule of thumb stating that preparation is everything. Don't count on the topcoat to cover imperfections.

Craig

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 12:01 pm
by jbyers
IMG_1964.JPG
Progress report...

Final coat (I hope) of seafoam green. Going to use fighting lady yellow just above the green. Platinum for the decks and top rub rail (whatever they call it). Stay tuned.

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 3:58 pm
by Captain Nemo
Bold paint scheme. That should get some attention. 8)

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 4:31 pm
by jbyers
Ha ha........ definitely bold........... I was going for the old style colors, but somewhat surprised it was that bright. At least if it breaks down and I call for help, I won't be hard to find. 8)

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 7:12 pm
by robertpaul
Cool

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 7:31 pm
by jbyers
Thanks RP :D

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 12:18 pm
by jbyers
Struggling to find colors that "pop"............... NOT

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 3:13 pm
by robertpaul
I think you will be surprised at how bright your boat will appear in natural light, especially on the water. Personally, I like the colour scheme you have.

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 6:05 pm
by jbyers
Thanks Robert........ I think it's growing on me............

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 8:36 pm
by Doug P
NOW YOU DON'T NEED NAVIGATION LIGHTS

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 9:14 pm
by jbyers
Good point Doug..........

Re: Paint Question

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2016 5:47 pm
by jbyers
OK, here is the first coat of Platinum paint on the top surfaces. It looks pretty good against the fighting lady yellow, but I am not sure about how it will look with the seafoam green. I'll see when I take the masking off...........