Lapwing #5 build

[John Turpin]

Well, my beautiful mahogany transom is lost.  I was sanding on it today, trying to figure out why two places looked funky.  I discovered that in one place, the veneer had not bonded with the plywood.  In the other place, it just looks like one layer of epoxy never really set right, making it cloudy in that area.  After some sanding, I ended up just digging out the unbonded veneer sections with a chisel.  I've got some putty in there now drying.  So, hopefully I can get it all filled and sanded smooth enough that painting the transom will look okay.  I had high hopes for a pretty bright transom, but without a way to vacuum bag, it just hard to pull veneering off on a vertical surface.  So, a painted transom is now the way to go.  I just hope I can get it fixed by painting day--now just a few days away.

[SUKIE]

Wow John, the boat is looking terrific! I'm curious about your chalk lines. Is this how you find low spots while sanding?

Good luck on your paint job, although I'm sure it will turn out perfectly.

[John Turpin]

Hi Sukie.  Yes.  Ideally, with a perfectly flat hull, those chalk marks would sand right off.  Where chalk remained, I had a low spot that could be filled and leveled.  It's the first time I'd done this and it worked well. There are others here with much more experience and better tricks.  Some people use light pencil marks or even a light dusting of spray paint when fairing. I used chalk because it was within reach.

Thanks, for the well wishes. I want that hull painted and turned over. I can't wait to see what my new boat really looks like.

[John Turpin]

Well, winter sucks.  I've been trapped in the house for the last five days.  My paint date has now been postponed indefinitely.

To help my quickly-fading mental health, I put on my boots this afternoon and waded through the snow banks to reach my workshop.   I fired up the space heater and put a thin coat of micro-ballooned epoxy on my poor transom.  I also ran some better fillets behind my new stemhead.  I've got to remember to wade back down there tonight and turn off that heater.

With the exception of my transom, my fairing is complete.  I sure could use some warmer weather, but the weather guy says more snow is on the way.

[Richard Whitney CS#70]

Sorry to hear about your weather.  I just hopped on to the site hoping to see pictures of a painted hull.  I haven't done any work over Christmas and now we are away on holiday for 8 days. Maybe towards the end of Jan. before I start filling and sanding.  Hope things thaw out soon.

[John Turpin]

My painter comes tomorrow. So, I carried the boat outside to start getting the room ready for spraying paint.  Here's the boat outside for the first time in its life.

[John Turpin]

The first coat of paint goes on.  I'm using Glidden gloss white oil-based porch paint.

[Steve Day]

Looking good. It will be great to see her done.

Steve

[John Turpin]

Not a whole lot of progress this week.  It's still too cold here for optimal painting work, but I'm doing what I can.  I treated that first coat of paint as a primer coat.  I sanded on it and some places needed enough sanding that the wood easily peeked through the paint.  And, of course, in this sub-freezing weather, the paint is taking a while to dry.  I'm going through gallons of ($10/gal) kerosene trying to keep the workshop warm, but I'm losing that battle.  Yesterday, I decided to touch up those thin spots and got out my tiny aerosol spray paint system (one step up from air brushing).  I thinned down some Glidden until it was just thicker than water.  I was able to shoot those sanded areas and now the boat is all white again.  This weekend, we'll set up the HVLP system again and shoot a second full coat on her.  With some luck, that will be the last coat.  But, if we have runs or trouble areas, I'll sand on her some more and we'll go to a third coat.  Some warm weather would really help right now.

[John Turpin]

Well, we've gotten a little break in the bad weather.  We have a nasty winter storm coming in tonight, but today's been beautiful.  With temps climbing up into the 40's, I dashed down the hill and shot a second coat of paint on the boat.  I think it looks pretty good.  It will need one more thin coat, but that may be it.  I'll just make that call when that third coat is on.  But, oy veh.  The fumes.  My head is still spinning from the paint fumes in that room even hours after spraying.

[Richard Whitney CS#70]

Just back from holiday - had to have a look.  Looking very nice John.  I will have to at least fill a couple of holes this weekend.

[SUKIE]

OK guys, perhaps I'm the only woman partaking of this forum, but aren't any of you guys worried about John's spinning head after inhaling paint fumes in an enclosed space?? John, this really is serious stuff and you shouldn't be feeling that way if you're using proper precautions. Plus I think I remember reading that you're using a kerosene heater. Perhaps you should wait for a really warm day and open up your shed to get proper ventilation, in addition to wearing a mask. In the meantime you can turn the boat over and work on the topsides for awhile. Winter will pass! (I'm in New Hampshire, I feel your pain!)

[John Turpin]

That's it.  I'm moving to Hawaii.  That would solve my weather problems.

I'm going to change my technique a little.  The last couple of times, I've removed my respirator after spraying.  Because it takes me 20 minutes or so to clean the sprayer, I've been breathing in the still-fumey air.  In the future, I'll just keep my respirator on until I'm out of the building. 

Honestly, I cannot afford to lose any more brain cells.

[John Turpin]

The third and final coat of paint goes on.  I'll let that paint cure for a couple of weeks before I flip her.

[Richard Whitney CS#70]

You must be feeling really good about how she is looking - well done.

[chuckpierce]

Beautiful John. That's a job to be proud of!

[John Turpin]

After these comments, I am now convinced that I made the right decision to only photograph the good parts.   :grin:

So, from now on, assume that every part of the boat is just as flawless and beautiful as the limited views I've provided.  Trust me on this and you won't go wrong.

[John Turpin]

Two little bad areas really bugged me, so I worked on them this week.  All I have to say is "thank heavens for high-build primer".  Then, I shot coat number four on the hull this morning. This is definitely the last paint coat.

[Hirilonde]

This is definitely the last paint coat.

For now  :wink:

Looking good John.

[John Turpin]

A couple photos of the finished paint.  And, while the paint cures, back to the masts.

Oh, I put the hull on the bathroom scale. It weighed in at 140 pounds. I was astonished. That's a featherweight.  That's with 1/4" Okoume, three coats of epoxy and four coats of paint.