Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Starting the Finish

Last night we began seeing light at the end of the tunnel. For two consecutive sessions, we have performed tasks other than the mind (and hand) numbing tasks of sanding and fairing. As I mentioned in my last post, we mounted the spray rails. Last night we rolled out a coat of pigmented epoxy.

Painting the hull with pigmented epoxy will serve two main purposes. One purpose is to get the hull a uniform color, which will make any remaining flaws more visible, and if the paint gets scratched, the pigmented epoxy will help hide the scratches. (That's the second purpose.)

As you look at the pictures below, you will likely notice a couple of things...

- The area that's painted doesn't cover the entire bottom. This is because the painted area follows the approximate water line of the boat according to the plans. The area that hasn't been painted red will not be in the water.

-The spray rails do not follow the water line. We decided to have the spray rails follow the hull (from the top), not the water line.

-If you look really close, you may be able to see that the spray rails extend past the transoms. This is also intentional. It gave us room for error when mounting the rails to the boat; we will trim to the correct size and shape before we lay pigmented epoxy on the rest of the boat.

4 comments:

andrew lucking said...

Damn, that's a huge hull. And she looks mighty fair ;-) (Pardon the "fair" puns, I have a million of 'em and haven't been able to use many lately).

A tv hanging in the workshop? You're all set for Superbowl.

Keep up the good work gentlemen!

Peter said...

Looking good! I know it must feel great to finally move to the next stage of construction! What are you using to paint the hull (i.e, brand and type of paint, and also method of application).

Anonymous said...

Hey guys, long time no talk! This is Gubbs from the bateau forum, who is also building a GT-23. I admire your patience, I went for more of a "workboat" finish so did not spend anywhere near the time fairing that you guys did. (read, my wife said "Its good enough, turn the damn thing over!". Are you going to install the rubrails before turning? I found they stiffened the hull and made that process less nerve-racking.

Cheers

Bill

OzzyC said...

Andrew- All is forgiven. I understand that you've got a fair sense of humor.

Peter- I certainly wouldn't say we're on the next stage of construction, but I'm anxiously awaiting the flip.

Bill/Gubbs/Anonymous- Installing the rubrails is a good idea. I'll have to see what Greg says.

All- Thanks for tuning in.