Repainting Yoda's HMD19

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Cowbro
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Repainting Yoda's HMD19

Post by Cowbro »

I have been putting some miles in on the HMD19 and with the weather getting better i am looking toward repainting the hull. The boat was originally painted 13 ~ 15 (?) years ago. As far as i can tell, the hull is built per the plans with 1708 cloth on the bottom side only. The sides are just epoxy coated. There is some checking starting to happen on the sides where there is no cloth. I am curious what the general consensus is for the best way to prep/repaint in this situation.

My plan was to sand the entire hull with 80 grit to smooth out the checking. Then skim coat over the affected areas with some quikfair, then cover it all with the 2 part system 3 yacht primer. Still undecided on what the final paint will be.

I have the quick fair and the primer already. Note that the boat will not live in the water, it will be covered, outside in my side yard.

I am worried that the checking is something that once started is only going to get worse. Am i going to be repainting in a year if i don't strip all the existing paint/primer off and recoat with neat epoxy?

I don't have any close up pictures of the checking, but this shot gives you a pretty good idea of what I'm working with.
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Evan_Gatehouse
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Re: Repainting Yoda's HMD19

Post by Evan_Gatehouse »

What was the hull sides made from - what type of plywood? If it is fir it will continue to check I think.
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Re: Repainting Yoda's HMD19

Post by fallguy1000 »

Personally, I'd take the topcoat off with 40 grit and mask off the bottom and put 4-6 oz glass on the sides. A couple of neat coats, fair, prime. The checking will never come back. You get a light abrasion resistant layer.

Lots of work, but my recommendation against checking.

There is lighter cloth, but I have no experience working with it.

It is something of a two person job to lay that glass. One person usually holds the glass while the other rolls precut off a tube. It likes to move so easily and you will have to lay it on a prewetted hull since it is vertical. I doubt you could tape it up and the tape is a nightmare to pull anyhow.

You can prefair a bit this way as well as I expect during the sanding; you may see some things you don't want to glass over.
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cape man
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Re: Repainting Yoda's HMD19

Post by cape man »

Is it the ply wood or the paint that is checking?
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Re: Repainting Yoda's HMD19

Post by Cowbro »

Evan_Gatehouse wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:58 am What was the hull sides made from - what type of plywood? If it is fir it will continue to check I think.
Evan, I am 99% sure it is Okoume. I haven't found any fir plywood in the boat yet and old pics from Yoda confirm that.

fallguy1000 wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:34 am Personally, I'd take the topcoat off with 40 grit and mask off the bottom and put 4-6 oz glass on the sides. A couple of neat coats, fair, prime. The checking will never come back. You get a light abrasion resistant layer.

Lots of work, but my recommendation against checking.

There is lighter cloth, but I have no experience working with it.

It is something of a two person job to lay that glass. One person usually holds the glass while the other rolls precut off a tube. It likes to move so easily and you will have to lay it on a prewetted hull since it is vertical. I doubt you could tape it up and the tape is a nightmare to pull anyhow.

You can prefair a bit this way as well as I expect during the sanding; you may see some things you don't want to glass over.
Dan, That is exactly what I am hoping to avoid. Hanging glass by myself on the side of the boat would be a mess at this point. I know that certain/most of the boat designs here don't require glass all the way to the gunnels for strength, but it would certainly be a good idea to do it for longevity.

I am leaning toward just a sand/repaint. If the problem returns then i'll sand it all off and glass it, but at least this will buy me a season or two.

cape man wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:41 am Is it the ply wood or the paint that is checking?
That is an interesting question that i hadn't considered. I'll do some more investigative sanding and see what I can dig up. The more I think about it, the more i think that there was really no wood peeling off at the checks.

Thanks all!

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cape man
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Re: Repainting Yoda's HMD19

Post by cape man »

If it is just the paint, take it down to the primer (assuming it was primed before paint), add a new coat of primer and a quality two part top coat. If indeed it is all Okume you shouldn't see the plywood checking, especially on a displacement hull. Is the checking above the waterline? That hull did spend a long time out in the elements before you took it on, but I can't imagine the Okume would be "checking". If the ply is checking, you need to think about seriously sealing it in epoxy and perhaps adding some glass.
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Re: Repainting Yoda's HMD19

Post by Jeff »

Cowbro/Cape Man, Although I never say never, we have not experienced Okoume checking. I know this boat was in the weather for some time but still we don't believe the Okoume will check!!! Jeff

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Re: Repainting Yoda's HMD19

Post by cape man »

I have a bird feeder with a 30"X30" piece of 1/2" BS 1088 Okume as the platform for the seeds. It has a tin roof, but is open on all sides and sits in the full sun. Besides the weather, it gets regular portions of bird, squirrel, racoon, opossum, and other critter fluids and other secretions. 11 years later there is no checking or even warping and it is just neat wood - no epoxy or varnish. Bet I could sand it and it would look like new. I bet it is just the paint.
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Re: Repainting Yoda's HMD19

Post by Cowbro »

Jeff wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:18 am Cowbro/Cape Man, Although I never say never, we have not experienced Okoume checking. I know this boat was in the weather for some time but still we don't believe the Okoume will check!!! Jeff
I will snap some good pics at lunch. This makes sense and makes me feel a lot better. :)

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Re: Repainting Yoda's HMD19

Post by VT_Jeff »

Cowbro wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 1:11 pm
Jeff wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:18 am Cowbro/Cape Man, Although I never say never, we have not experienced Okoume checking. I know this boat was in the weather for some time but still we don't believe the Okoume will check!!! Jeff
I will snap some good pics at lunch. This makes sense and makes me feel a lot better. :)
Here's a question that may/may not help solve the riddle: Which direction are the checks running and which direction is the grain of the outer layer of ply, and do they match?
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