|
Painting below the waterline |
||
|
Painting below the water line is the easiest part of painting a boat. This is the paint job no one is ever going to see.
See page 20 for application of Hempel paint below the waterline: NAVSEA Standard FY05 Once the bottom has been sanded and any damage repaired the coatings are ready to be applied. I started with 5 gallons of Interlux 2000E two part barrier coat. I only mixed 1/2 a gallon at a time and it kicks quick so keep moving. Half a gallon was just enough to put one coat on the bottom. It was between 85 and 90 degrees when I did this so that had a lot to do with it. Using some advice from "Bottom Dave" I added a little food coloring to the epoxy every other coat. It made it very easy to see where I had painted and areas I had missed. It's best to apply all the paint in one day. (if you let it dry completely between coats you'll be sanding again) Paint a coat wait for it to dry to the touch, then lay another coat immediately and allow the epoxy bind with the layer below. In the morning I had to wait about 2 hours between coats; as the day heated I was down to about an hour between coats. Once the barrier coat is built to 10 mils, follow the last coat with the first coat of bottom paint so it binds well with the last layer of barrier coating. By now it's been about a 12 or 14 hour day. Take a break, drink a beer you're done for now. You can apply the rest of the bottom paint at your leisure. Note to do-it-yourselfers: Trying to get your water line straight.... ha ha ha! You can get close, maybe you have a sure fire method. I didn't, but I did pretty well. One little trick that worked well for me follows: The top of the water line was still visible through the primer, I took advantage of that and used it. The bottom had been sanded off when preparing the bottom, I eye balled it and got close. The trick here: Use a similar color bottom paint to match the boot stripe. It will make any errors much less noticeable. I'm my own worse critic and I'm satisfied with the results I achieved.
|
|
