Fitz 21 CC Transom Stringer Sole R&R

[wildbill]

Nice work Fitz. How do you finish off those scuppers?

[FitzFisher]

I wipe a good bit of putty in the hole after I coat it with some neat epoxy, and then coat the fiberglass tube and force putty in as I work the edges like forcing grease in a bearing. Once it is all hardened up, I just use the oscillator to cut them back and then the DA to finish of the contour. I probably put ping pong ball scuppers on the smaller ones and then leave these plugged unless I need them on wetter days. I thought of making some larger ping pong style valves for the larger, but I'll wait till I see how it all plays out in real world conditions.
TG

PS It is supposed be pretty windy here this weekend, but I ma going to try like hell to get some paint on the gunnels at least and hopefully the transom.

[wildbill]

I thought of making some larger ping pong style valves for the larger, but I'll wait till I see how it all plays out in real world conditions.

That's what I was wondering; if you planned on using the ping pong's. Does e-boat's carry anything?

[FitzFisher]

Does e-boat's carry anything?

Not sure about that. I'll dig around and see. Anybody know any other good designs to let water out and not in?


I know one thing, I am painting something this weekend if it kills me!

[FitzFisher]

I did get a coat of Sterling Transportation white on the console today and learned a few things.
(1) I don't have a very dust free environment
(2) on vertical surfaces, tip vertically to avoid curtains
(3) gnats suck!
(4) gnats really suck!
(5) this stuff really does lay down nice.
(6) my prep work was better than I thought.
(7) the fumes from this stuff are STRONG! use your carbon filter when rolling and especially when you go back in the closed area a few hours later.
(8) I worked with about 8 0z of mix and got around the whole console once (almost perfect amount) and should have thinned the mixture just a little more towards the end.

I can't wait to see how it looks tomorrow after two coats

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

Get lots of pictures. I am interested on that paint.

[FitzFisher]

So I spent several hours this week after work sanding out my runs and the dirt and gnats. That paint dries HARD!!! Should be really durable! I learned to go lighter on the coats for sure, both to prevent runs, and to decrease drying times as well and reduce the amount of crap that will stick in my paint. I'll be back at it this weekend for sure and will post some pix.

I also rigged up some better lighting to help with this blasted time change.

[FitzFisher]

Painting update....
The second coat on the console looks really nice and I kept a lot more crap out of the pain. Just a couple of small runs as a result of dragging the material over the top edge. I can't emphasize enough to go thin with that paint. It covers very well, but the thicker it goes on, the longer it takes to dry and the more time it has to collect trash and run/sag on vertical surfaces. I have played around with the thinner, and the directions are right on. It is little thin at first with the recommended mix, but it gases off quick, so it doesn't take long to hit the right consistency. I also switched from a cloth nap roller to a foam one and like that better as it is easier to put on a thin coat evenly to make things smooth out just right. Again, too thick and you end up with deeper brush lines that take longer to flow out. ONce you play with it awhile, you get the feel for a good working amount to lay down.

It does go a long way. I have put two coats on the console, one on the transom and one on the top gunnels and have used one pint of the paint. After sanding the first coat with 320 since I had let it cure for a couple of days in between coats, the second coat goes on even better and really covers nicely, bringing out the true color. I think it is really going to do a great job on my boat even if I am a very green paint and body man. I'll post some pix soon.

[FitzFisher]

So I have been working on her and it's time to show some photos of the process. The top side has been coated three times and the inner gunwales have one coat, with at least one more to come. So I have installed the pop up cleats and rod holders on the cap along with the front hatch, bow light chocks, etc.



I will be laying out the areas to get kiwi Grip soon. I also finished painting the console and the third coat really did it justice. I really like this paint. It really lays down nice when you get it figured out after a few runs. I fee pretty confident with it now. So it finally is time to start putting the console back together with all new controls and rigging...Feels really good to get to this point from where I started a couple of years (yes years) ago.



I am fired up and ready to get this thing done!

[Cracker Larry]

Well done