Where have I been?

Lets see when last I made a post we were finishing up on the primer coats to the interior of the hull. Next up was of course the paint. System Three Topcoat in Orcas White was the choice. This is a water born polyurethane know as a WR-LPU and is supposed to be the thing when it comes to top paints. We sprayed the first coat and following the directions provided by System Three the product was thinned by less that 20%. It seemed to be going on OK but I was constantly fidgeting with the gun to get a setting that made me comfortable. This is not my first project to paint and I like to say I know what I’m doing in this area. About half way down the hull I looked back at what had been sprayed and I just about fell to my knees. RUNS. And a lot of them. I knew immediately that the paint was to thin because I was applying the thinnest coat I my have ever applied to anything. There wasn’t a lot to do but keep going and empty the gun. Then I quickly went over the entire thing with a foam roller and evened it out. All I could do now was walk away shaking my head and wait to see how it looked the next day. The time between coats is supposed to be when dry to the touch or about an hour. I new there was no chance of being satisfied with it the way it looked when I walked away so I decide to not even try for a second coat and would just give it the required light sanding in 24 hours and give it another coat after that. When I went to have a look the next day it wasn’t to bad but it sure wasn’t what I wanted in a finish so time to start sanding. A light once over and then wiped down it was time to try again. This time I thinned the paint a little less than 10%. Again getting the gun set was evidence that the same thing was going to happen and sure enough it starts to run. I quickly rolled it over and dumped the mixed paint thinking I’ll try one more thing. I mixed up a batch with out thinning and it went on beautifully. It went on smooth enough that if I didn’t tell you where I rolled and sprayed in the same coat you wouldn’t find it. My faith in the System Three products was restored and my self-confidence shot back up to normal. I am a painter.

Much more to tell you on the progress and some photos but we’ll get to that tomorrow.

Time this segment:
Prepping, cleaning the inner hull for paint 1 hour
One coat of paint, roll out runs 1 ½ hour
Sand first coat 1 ½ hours
Clean up, prep for paint 1 hour
Second coat of paint 1 ½ hours
Third Coat of paint 1 ½ hours
( no time counted on drying between coats)
Also note: Primer was allowed 1 full week to cure before paint was applied.
Total this segment 8 hours
Total Project: 133 hours