Sunday, February 5, 2012

Paint issue resolved



The biggest issue my last post dealt with was the paint catastrophe I had going on. I'm glad to report that I've figured out the problem, and I can move forward with getting items checked off of the list.

The paint problem I was having is resolved, and I'm happy to report that it was all operator error. The problem I was having with my white paint was that the paint was not atomizing correctly. In a nut shell, the paint particles were too large when they were sprayed on to the metal giving the finish a texture. The problems I was having were a direct result of the following: I was using the wrong reducer. I should have been using MEK, and I was using lacquer thinner. The MEK evaporates more quickly than the lacquer thinner so I can build the film more evenly. My air hose to my paint pot had too small of an ID, so I increased the hose form 1/4" to 1/2" . The friction loss of air in the smaller ID hose caused me to loose volume and pressure in the pot and effected atomization. The hose ID had never been an issue with all the other paints I've applied, but this particular species of white was just a little different animal. The shop temperature was just a little too cold, and required more attention to how I was reducing the paint, and what I was reducing with.

So, I'm going with a dark green on the hull, and an off white on the super structure and decks. The green looks darker in these pictures, and the white looks whiter in these pictures.

Like I said in my last post, this paint is shiny, very tough, and is able to be polished and buffed if I ever have to make repairs on it.

Now that the paint issue is no longer an issue I can move forward. I want to finish the fore deck and get that final painted. To finish the fore deck I need to mount the deck winch and fabricate the dorade box's for the guest/kids cabin. Mounting the deck winch is more of a project than I had figured since I might have to re configure the anchor rollers. I'll have more on that job later as I get some things figured out.

In case no one has noticed, I added a music player to my hipster blog gadgets. A fellow builder I'm friends with has a blog where you can check out his fine work @

http://www.odysseyyachts.com/Odyssey_Yachts/Odyssey.html

The song, "Home At Last" on this playlist, is a more modern interpretation of Brian's boats name, but you'll have to visit his blog to know what I mean. I"m now looking for a song geared towards Hawaiian ducks that are prone to wandering for another builder I follow.

Of course a song for Shannon is on board for all to guess, and one she is sure of.

Turn up the volume on your computer to follow along.

1 comment:

  1. In case no one has noticed, I added a music player to my hipster blog gadgets.

    ReplyDelete