Thursday, August 21, 2014

Paint Planning

Once I get through the fiberglass repairs, Anyela will need to be painted.  Each area of the boat has unique requirements for either prep, paint, or both.  The repairs will be completed to the underlying laminate first.  Next will come surface priming, and finally, top coating.  But before I can do any painting, I need a plan so I can figure out what to order.

After consulting with Interlux tech support, I'm currently tempted to go with their Perfection 2-part LPU paint for the topcoat.  It's significantly more durable than most of my alternatives.  While more expensive, having to repaint the boat will also be expensive in both money and time.  The 2-part LPU should last about twice as long as a 1-part paint.

As I'll be dealing with some pretty nasty and toxic paint, I will using a respirator with organic cartridges (3M 7178 set), and all painting will be done wearing gloves.

Interior (Bilge and Interior Topsides)

First step is to remove all that wood so I can get to the fiberglass.  Then, clearly, repair any flaws, which is a whole other project in itself.

Anyela's interior currently has a fairly rough texture to it; Not just the texture of open weave fiberglass, but also like 220 grit sandpaper.  While that's great for traction when wet, it's also proven to be an amazing retainer of dirt and muck.  What's more, all areas of the interior which require traction are covered in teak boards.  Additional texture on the fiberglass is just not necessary.

I want to use a filling primer that will tone down the texture a bit, while ending with a smoother finish that will be easy to clean.  Interlux Primekote 2-part primer appears to be the right product.   I don't need to fair the cloth texture out completely, but I don't want it cultivating algae any longer.

The final cockpit color will likely be white.  Not as easy to keep clean, but it's bright and shiny.


Deck

The deck currently has gelcoat texture in the form of lines running parallel to the center line of the boat.  While very functional, it is going to be difficult for me to uniformly retain that pattern after all of the repair areas I need to grind out and fill.  I already see many spots where previous glass work has filled the texture.  Considering that I really want her to look well finished, I think my best bet will be to use a coarse disc on the 6" random orbit sander, and just grind that texture right out to a smooth deck.

As with the interior, I plan to deploy two coats of primer over the newly sanded surface.  The topcoat will be white Perfection, flattened with an Interlux additive to reduce glare, and with Interdeck texture to provide a non-skid surface.


Topsides (External)

The topsides will be prepped with 2 coats of Primekote, then top coated with Navy Blue Interlux Perfection. There is only minor work needed to prep the topsides.  One or two small surface cracks, some crazing, and a lot of area to do basic sanding on.  This, in theory, should be the easiest part of the project.


Bootstripe

I would like to add a boot stripe between the topsides and the waterline.  I'm thinking of something like a rich gold color, but even white would work for me.  I'm still working out order of operations on this part.  Not sure if I should paint all the topsides blue, and then over-coat the blue with boot stripe, or paint the boot stripe directly on the primed hull.  Then again, do I use Perfection for the boot stripe?  More research is needed...


Bottom

Because this boat will be dry-sailed, I don't need anti-fowling.  The general consensus I'm finding on the Internet suggests that Interlux VC Performance Epoxy is the stuff to use on dry-sailed boats.  It is also both a primer and a top-coat, so it saves me some time.

The bottom currently has a paint with adhesion failure which I will need to remove.  An 80-grit disc will make short work of that, after which I'll fill any dings and fair.  80-grit is the recommended surface prep for this paint, so last step will be apply 3 coats of VC Performance Epoxy using a tip and roll method.

The final coat will be wet sanded down to a very fine grit and polished.  Should be extremely durable, and hopefully I'll not have to think about the bottom again for a long time.

All that sounds easy enough, but the bottom is, well...  The bottom.  It's upside down, and very little in life is as tedious as sanding over your head.  I would like to get the boat off its trailer, and flip upside down so I can work on the bottom without pain.  I suspect that will be an interesting operation.


Estimating

Interlux data sheets make estimating fairly simple.  I just need to come up with estimated square feet.  To do this, I divided the boat into triangles and rectangles, which were slightly than the actual area.  Better to be safe than to run short on paint.  For example, the bow is two triangles back-to back, and the sides decks and transom deck are rectangles. 

My rough (and intentionally generous) square footage estimates are as follows:
  • Deck: 57 ft2
    • Bow: 30 ft2. 
    • Side Decks (2):  14 ft2
    • Aft Deck: 13 ft2
  • Interior (bilge): 100 ft2
  • Interior (topsides): 64 ft2
    • 32 ft2 / side
  • Topsides (exterior): 64 ft2
    • 32 ft2 / side
  • Bottom:  100 ft2

According to the product data sheets, the following guidelines can be used for coverage:
  • Interlux Primekote: 450 ft2 / gallon (brushed)
  • Interlux Perfection:  488 ft2 / gallon (brushed)
  • Interlux VC Performance Epoxy:  200 ft2 / gallon
  • Interlux Intergrip 2398c:  4-6oz per quart / 16-24 oz per gallon.
  • Interlux Flattening Agent for 2-Part Finished:  mix 1:1 with finish coat for satin finish.

The resulting painting schedule should be as follows:

  • Deck (57 ft2)
    • 2 coats white primer (114 ft2)
    • 3 coats white Perfection (171 ft2, or  1.5 qts )
      • Cut required paint by 50% due to flattening agent:  .75 qts
    • Flattening Agent (1:1 mix with Perfection top coat.)
      • Assume need for 1:1, or .75 qts
    • Interdeck texture additive 4-6 oz / quart.
  • Interior Bilge (100 ft2)
    • 2 coats white primer (200 ft2)
    • 3 coats white Perfection  (300 ft2)
  • Interior Topsides (64 ft2)
    • 2 coats white primer  (128 ft2)
    • 3 coats white Perfection (192 ft2)
  • Exterior Topsides, includes Transom (64 ft2)
    • 2 coats primer (128 ft2)
    • 3 coats navy blue perfection (192 ft2)
  • Bottom (100 ft2)
    • 3 coats VC Performance Epoxy  (300 ft2)


Which leads to a Bill of Materials as follows:

  1. Interlux Primekote Primer (white):  570 ft2 = 1 gallon + 1 quart  (5 qts)
  2. Interlux Perfection (White): 663 ft2 = 1 gallon + 1 qts (5 qts)
  3. Interlux Perfection (Navy Blue):  192 ft2 = 2 qts.
  4. Interlux flattening agent: 1 qt.
  5. Interlux Intergrip 2398c Additive:  1 qt.  Not sure how much will be needed until I try.
  6. Interlux VC Performance Epoxy: 300 ft2 = 1 gal + 2 qts (6 qts)


I will revise this page after I complete the project to show how much I actually used.


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