The second coat of primer had just barely dried when I reached for the final bottom coat. I was moving along well and was excited to get the bottom done before moving to the topsides.
However, I couldn't shake something about the bottom paint so I went back to the PocketShip manual and the paint specs and realized I'd put topcoat primer, not bottom coat primer, below the waterline. Big deal? Wasn't sure.
A couple hours of research later definitely said yes, it's a big deal. Not only would the water and rough stuff eventually wear its way through, but the actual bottom coat would not stick well to the topcoat primer. The only thing to do was to sand it all off and reapply the proper bottom coat primer. The level of defeat I felt was not good so I let it sit this way for a couple days and didn't even open the garage.
When I finally did, I decided to ignore the bottom and move to the topsides. The grey primer went on quickly and looks good. Most importantly, it was the right paint for the right job. Once the topsides primer dried, it was time to get sanding. So I pulled up my big boy pants, fired up a podcast (or 12) and sanded away about $50 of paint and a million dollars of hubris. I only have bits of the keel to go before I wash this down and put the proper paint on.
Speaking of proper paint, here is the lineup I was planning to use. I took this photo just before heading to the Marine Store so I knew which paint to get.
When I got to the Marine Store, like many other stores out there, they were really, really down on inventory and didn't have Ocean Blue, the color I chose for my boat. This color, I was told, would need to be special-ordered and take 2-4 weeks to get to the store. In fact, this color was normally not in stock and I would need to special-order it every time. He then helpfully said that Dark Blue is
almost always in stock and they replenish that one regularly.
Faced with these choices, I decided to make a change to the color. So, welcome to Dark Blue -- which is incidentally the same color as PocketShip #1. I wanted a brighter blue but there wasn't really an option if I wanted to make progress. The other in-stock options were black and red. I had the red in my hand and decided with the tanbark sail I ordered, it wouldn't look great. Black would've been interesting but I thought too dark for such a small, perky boat. It would be like a goth cheerleader; too much of a disconnect.
While there, I also picked up West System epoxy and a set of epoxy pumps. The pumps alone were almost reason enough to switch from MAS to West (MAS still isn't shipping with pumps due to a "global pump shortage.") West was also about $75 cheaper for an equivalent volume including the price difference and saving on shipping. In the end, it paid for the wasted primer and contributed a bit towards the right one.
Hoping to get this painting done this weekend and get it on the trailer I just purchased. Yes, that happened.
You're back!!! It is great to see you back on the PocketShip project and making stellar progress again.
ReplyDeleteYou won't believe this, but I just got in trouble with primer and bottom paint a few days ago too. I haven't posted anything yet, but am taking advantage of the pandemic to do some heavy maintenance on my PocketShip. Fixing wear and tear, making more perfect some of the imperfections that have bothered me since launch, and repainting. I had prepped the bottom for repainting had two fresh coats on one side and one coat on the other (painting while on the trailer translated into painting one side at a time). Painting goes pretty fast and I was excited to get the bottom done so I could move on to the sides, so I took advantage of the work from hoe world and ran out to paint during lunch. I must have been in a rush, or thinking about work, or something, because I opened the can of Pre-Kote and happily slopped it on top of my coat of Trilux33. I as about 75% done when I figured out what I had done. A few panicked emails to Interlux ensued, and I was convinced that the only option was to sand it all off and start again. Let me tell you, on its own, Pre-Kote dries and sand wonderfully. On top of bottom paint, it was a nightmare. Let it dry for a few days and it still clogged up sand paper instantly. Finally back on track though and got the second coat of gray primer for the hull sides on tonight.
Oh, that's... f*zk! My mistake deflated me for a couple days. But I remember a blog somewhere that someone intentionally put down a primer coat and sanded it off, basically as a microfiller. Good idea but I wouldn't be able to stomach it.
DeleteThanks(?) to the pandemic, I, too, am working from home, and will be here for another month or so. I'm planning to flip the boat this week and then it's off to the races. I might have just enough time to get in a sail or two before I go, and that would be something else.