Weekender Trailboards

[markfitz]

I just wanted to post up a picture of my first trailboard.  I'm not crazy about it, and in retrospect the cypress was not the best choice for carving or staining. Neither was the gloss finish.  I can change one, but not the other..I don't like the wild variation in how the grain took the stain, even though I used a prestain conditioner.  I may paint them.  As my friend the finish trimmer used to say, "Spackle and paint make Steve what he ain't."

It was my first ever attempt at carving something.  It would probably be my last too, if the boat wouldn't look funny with only one trailboard.

[Frank Hagan]

Well, that looks GREAT to me!  If the finish bothers you, there's nothing wrong with painting them or mixing some colorant with varnish and making them darker. 

But I have to tell you, trailboards on any traditional boat should look so good.  Mine had a few simple scrolls on them, and I was embarrassed by them, but people look at the boat and see the whole package, not the defects and minor details the builder is focused on.

[Johnny Socko]

I just hope mine come out as nice as those.

[PAR]

Mark, if you'd like to uniformly lighten it up, while at the same time decreasing the contrast with the grain and staining, paint it with a wash of diluted white paint. A single coat will make a noticeable difference. It usually takes several coats of a well thinned paint to really get the effect you want.

I also will add your work isn't nearly as bad as you suggest it is, though I agree that the staining and grain are distracting, the carving looks good. See if you can knock the edge off the grain and stain contrast with a diluted paint. I use white or yellow at 50/50 and see how it looks after a few coats to start. The worst that will happen is you'll want to paint the whole thing with undiluted paint or use a chemical stripper and start over.

[markfitz]

Thanks Frank & Johnny.  PAR -- I will try that.  I didn't think it came out that bad, just not what I pictured in my head, if you know what I mean.  If I thought it was completely horrible, I wouldn't have posted it.   I don't really know what I'm doing though.  It was a lot harder than I expected it to be, and I am not really looking forward to making another one.  I'm more of a windsor chair kind of guy.

I'll try the diluted paint idea.  I don't think the stripping would work very well, since that cypress took the stain like a sponge.  I should have just sprayed it with tinted lacquer or something that wouldn't have soaked in so much.  I'll post a pic after I give it a shot.  Thanks for the suggestion.