Finally painting my boat

For those of you that have followed this long drawn out build of four plus years and for those new to new WBP site I finally painted my boat the "Challange" today. At least the first coat. Here's the starboard side after hours of sanding, filling, priming, sanding, guide coating, filling and sanding.Here's the port side after the same series of events.I studied the possible paint systems for quite a while and found an industrial two-part water borne alphatic polyurethane paint made by Comex. Comex is owned by Carlos Slim  from Mexico, perhaps you've heard of him. Comex owns Parker Paints and if you visit a Parker Paints store you will see lots of Comex paints. Anyway a couple of years ago I had been looking for an alternative to varnish as I didn't want to have to repeat the process of painting, sanding, painting, etc every couple of years. I wanted to spray the finish I applied because I have not yet developed the talent of rolling and tipping as Phil mentioned to Guy. Most of my spraying started with a airless sprayer when I primed and sprayed my house several years ago. I liked getting the job done in just a few hours not days.

I also am concerned that Federal Regulations are seemingly tightening up on VOC's Volatile Organic Compounds those wonderful smells that many paints have from the solvent that carries the solids to the object being painted. I know that water-borne paints are getting better all the time and so looked in that direction.

For the interior parts of my boat that I finished last year I used a water-borne polyurethane from Woodcraft and had great luck.Again a lot of sanding but it is the finish I want. This is two coats if I remember right.

So by accident I stopped by Parker Paints and ran into the "Outside" sales rep that suggested that I might like U5000. The possible application by roller, brush or spray was handy. He opened a can and there was no odor. He brough over a sample of floor tile that had some applied and I hit it with a hammer and it didn't chip. The data sheet for the product listed high reisistance to impact and flexibility. I can provide those numbers if someone wants them. The price for a kit which ends up making up a gallon of finish was $90 or so. So far so good.

I bought some and stashed it in the garage. I was initially going to finish my boat with clear but over the course of four years a couple of incidents suggested to me that I might want to paint over the issues. Last fall I had a gallon of colored made up.

Today I applied it. I used about 1/3 of a gallon to cover the sides of the boat. Here's the boat porn for all you boat voyeurs! I will add another page of pictures as I have apparently reached a limit.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on April 9, 2013 at 7:06pm

More pictures:I really like how it applies. No runs, no drips, one bug and one hair so far. I gets glossy pretty fast as it hardens. Cleanup was pouring in some water and spraying it out, taking the gun inside and washing for a minute or two with soap and water. No smells, no messes, no odors so far so good.

How will it work out? Time will tell. All the boat furniture is already finished so perhaps another coat and a coat or two of gloss for more protection. Add the outer chine, flip it over install the gunwales and boat furniture.

My trailer needs to be sanded and painted, I have a gallon of the Comex U5000 I bought at Habitat for Humanity for $8 that I'll paint it with. Oars that I got with a previous drift boat need to be refinished. I am close to being ready and floating in the McKenzie River Wooden Boat Parade! Finally. One last picture.

I can't wait to get it wet. I hope my idea works.

Rick "Toolman" Newman

Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on April 10, 2013 at 4:29am

Looking great Rick!

Thanks for the info on the paint as well. Sounds like a nice product to work with. :-)

Permalink Reply by Andreas Bachelez on April 10, 2013 at 5:29am

Looks fantastic Rick!!!!

Permalink Reply by Stephen Markley on April 11, 2013 at 6:27am

Wow... Looks Great, Rick! Can't wait to see how it all comes out!

Permalink Reply by Terry E Walsh on April 9, 2013 at 8:22pm
Sweet! Looking nice, now it's almost time to go bounce it off of a rock! Enjoy
Permalink Reply by Guy Fredrickson on April 9, 2013 at 8:47pm

Rick, Your finish is looking great. Is there much interior work to do yet?  I'm staring at a weekend of sanding varnish.  Guy

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on April 9, 2013 at 10:46pm

Guy, I prefinished all the panels before I assembled the boat, I used the same polyurethane on the frames, boat furniture and panels. There is S-Glass laminated to the interior sides with a couple of coats of epoxy. The interior floor has 12 oz S-glass triaxial glass laminated to it also. The out side bottom has 20 oz triaxial glass covered by more epoxy and graphite. More epoxy with graphite will be added before I flip it.

So now I need to install the completed boat furniture, the gunwales, the outside trim and fly deck. The seat needs rope installed and the floor boards need to be assembled. I am going to spray the interior of the floor with Durabak or more of the U5000 I have.

Rick Newman

Permalink Reply by Josh Wieschowski on April 10, 2013 at 5:01am

Looks great Rick!

Permalink Reply by Jayson Hayes on April 10, 2013 at 5:12am

Good job Rick! Cant wait to see it! Dont worry so much about how everything will last, i think wooden driftboats just get better with age, every scratch, dent, ding, gough, ect, ect build character and they end up becoming more and more beautiful. I quit spraying my boats years ago just to start out with a little more character and easier to do touch up when i do get a scratch

Permalink Reply by Dan Hooper on April 10, 2013 at 7:17am

Looking good Rick.  You'll be on the water in no time.

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on April 10, 2013 at 7:46am

Jayson, I am hoping that if it gets damaged badly that I can do the repair in the same manner that I did to initially paint it. The paint is easy to mix and spray. Since it is also brushable that could be helpful. There was no odor from the paint which was nice. The normal shelf life of the opened paint cans is supposed to be two weeks. However I had found a product called Bloxogen that I have used to replace the oxygen in the paint can with the argon gas. When I purchased the paint last fall they had to open the can to mix and test the paint color. I sprayed the Bloxogen in and when I opened yesterday it was just fine.

Many paint oxidize and harden when exposed to oxygen, however since argon is an inert gas it doesn't allow the oxidization reaction to take place. So I can now open up a can, mix a small amount and save the rest. The Bloxogen costs $14.95 at Woodcraft and other places but is good for 50 to 75 applications or sprays depending on the size of the oxygen be displaced. A quick spray, close the lid and you're good.

You must roll and tip your boats, they always look good. What paint do you use?

Rick

Permalink Reply by Jayson Hayes on April 10, 2013 at 11:35am

Rick, i have been using Pettit Easypoxy with the 6149 ez-prime, it sprays nice, brushes nice, has great gloss retention, resists scratches great.........never had a problem with it. Over the last couple of years all i do is just brush it on and it levels out pretty nice, i would rather spray but i hate sanding and even more i hate wet sanding between coats so brushing it keeps me on the river more rather than in the shop........good enough for who its for i guess

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