Steel Hull New Flag Blue Paint Issues...Help!!

[Wolfy]

I own a 1980 Frers 72ft Steel Hull Ketch, she was orginally a Black Hull and then was painted White some years ago.
She's currently on the hard in Trinidad and has been there for over a year having some extensive work done on the Hull (below the water line), a lot of the 9mm plate has been changed, Stringers replaced and a new Stainless Steel Main Mast step the Hull is now 100%. Sand blasted from the water line down, the hull was in great shape above the water line.
Anyway, we're now in the process of repainting the Hull to Flag Blue (I always just loved the color and fully realize the downside of having a dark Hull ) problem now is that the "Fairing" is separating from the Hull....we have ground out the "Fairing" that has separated and repainted, but, areas are still separating!!
The Painters are saying that it's a thermal issue and that it's entirely due to the Steel Hulls excessive expansion and contraction in the higher temperatures due to the new Flag Blue Paint which is approx 30 degrees hotter than the previous White paint.
Is this exactly what's happening or is it the prep work that isn't correct???
The Painters are painting over the previous White Hull paint after "roughing" it up somewhat......
Any Help / Advice would really, really be appreciated.....

[HappyMdRSailor]

Sympathy Post....

Holy crap.... What a mess....

Post some pictures, maybe somebody has been here before....

[Wolfy]

Here's some photo's, there's only one coat of Flag Blue at this time and the Gold stripes are not exactly the correct gold color...too yellow!!
Baby is a mess!!

[Bash]

What was used for the fairing compound?

[Wolfy]

No idea on the Fairing they are using, but mainly they are just painting over the previous White paint after roughing it up.
I had noticed a few areas of Fairing that were not adhering correctly at the water line just after they sand blasted the lower part of the hull.
During the sand blasting they had the nozzle pointed up periodically and "lifted" certain areas of the upper hull by blasting under the white.....twit nits!!

[model 10]

Originally Posted by Bash

What was used for the fairing compound?

That and how was the surface prep? They probably used auto body filler.

[jgbrown]

Originally Posted by Wolfy

No idea on the Fairing they are using, but mainly they are just painting over the previous White paint after roughing it up.
I had noticed a few areas of Fairing that were not adhering correctly at the water line just after they sand blasted the lower part of the hull.
During the sand blasting they had the nozzle pointed up periodically and "lifted" certain areas of the upper hull by blasting under the white.....twit nits!!

It sounds a bit like the previous prep was not good(prior to white paint). Don't think that's really the current painter's fault, maybe best to take it all off, prep properly and re paint?

[Cruiser2B]

you may want to call the paint manufacturer and see what they recommend for a steel hull. Just a thought. Good luck, sure is a pretty boat

[Wolfy]

It sounds a bit like the previous prep was not good(prior to white paint). Don't think that's really the current painter's fault, maybe best to take it all off, prep properly and re paint?.....your correct of course JG,
But, that's a lot of Hull and if I sand blasted the whole boat, re-faired it, Primed and Painted it...whew....tis a lot of work I hadn't planned on.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by jgbrown

It sounds a bit like the previous prep was not good(prior to white paint). Don't think that's really the current painter's fault, maybe best to take it all off, prep properly and re paint?

+1

Even if the blue paint WAS NOT the major culprit, the filler bonding is mediocre at best.... It would probably fail at some time or another with any color....

Time to start over.... and have a yard back their work from square one...

[Wolfy]

Originally Posted by cruise

Hi there friend I recently came across your thread on cf.com and was quite interested as I am doing a similar job to my steel boat as well, I own a 58ft cutter here in Australia and am also doing some extensive weldeding work on the hull I have a few questions. did you use a mig welder to weld the new plates into your hull and also was it difficult/expensive to replace the stringers? my boat was built in 1955 and is 5mm thick below the waterline I have sandblasted the entire outside bottom and top I originally had a dark red color then went to white for the top coat anyway let me know if you could give me any advice I am doing most of the work myself to cut down on costs thanks again and good luck with your project she is a great looking boat!

Hello There,
Thanks for the reply, to summarize....my Boat has been a nightmare since I purchased her a couple of years ago, I basically got "suckered" in and believed that the boat had just been totally refurbished, rewired and replumbed....none of which could have been further from the truth! He even had the current Survey falsified.
When I eventually managed to get her to Trinidad after sailing her single handed w/ no auto pilot the 1400 miles from Florida and got her on the hard and had her sand blasted below the water line...I saw some serious rust holes that were over 18" wide by 12" high in various areas.....it was only the thick layers of Paint and fairing that had kept the water out of the hull, if I had of hit something or got into rough sea's....she would have went down.....very quick!!!
So, anyway....the replacement of the 9mm hull sheets were done by the contractor that I had hired, all the bad areas were cut out 2" beyond any signs of corrosion.
In order to do this the entire inside was "gutted"...all the wood work was removed and stored to allow access to every single area in the hull to check for any further corrosion, the more we looked the more we found....we have basically rebuilt the hull!!!! Including the original steel Fuel and Water tanks.....
The welding was all done by "Stick" and the new plates were preformed to the curvature of the hull prior to welding.
The Stringers were the most difficult due to them being quite substantial and it took a lot of effort and time to make them fit correctly....
It's taken over a year to get the Hull back in one piece, a tremendous amount of effort and cost.
So far just the welding has exceeded $100k....so you are so lucky to be able to have the time and experience to be able to undertake this monumental task by yourself....I take my Hat off to you...
I sincerely hope that your boat is in better shape than my one was....all the best of luck with your baby.
When my girl is ready I'll be entering the Pacific and slowly working my way down to NZ.....might "bump" into you sometime......
Take Care,
Wolfgan