I could use some hull painting tips and tricks

[Wind River]

After years of work on Hudson Force 50 I am ready to spray the hull and deck with Awlgrip. This is a 50 foot monohull with a "wine glass" transom and is in an enclosure with a ventilation fan at the aft end of the boat. There will be a filter covering the opening at the bow.

I plan to start spraying from the bow working my way aft to keep the overspray off the new paint. When reaching the transom I was going to stop and go back to the bow and continue on the opposite side saving the transom for last.

The problem I see, is that above the transom there is a rounded area with no good breaking point to stop spraying there. By the time I get back to that, the wet edge will be lost. I am afraid I will have seem that will be seen.

On deck I will spray the cockpit, cabin top sides, bulwark and waterways but the nonskid will be rolled.

Any tips or tricks on spraying this boat would be greatly appreciated?

[tkeithlu]

On that beautiful transom, have you considered trimming out the crease and the outline of the ports? On the crease, you could then tape under, spray top, tape over, spray bottom, and then brush in a black or other color stripe. She has gorgeous lines, so why not emphasize them?

[Wind River]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

On that beautiful transom, have you considered trimming out the crease and the outline of the ports? On the crease, you could then tape under, spray top, tape over, spray bottom, and then brush in a black or other color stripe. She has gorgeous lines, so why not emphasize them?

This is what the transom will look like when the teak accents and name boards are back on.

The problem is still with the area above the transom. There is no place to stop painting and move back to the bow to restart and move towards the stern again. If I just continue all the way around the boat I'm afraid of the overspray drifting back onto the new paint as I move away from the exhaust fan.

[tkeithlu]

It sounds like you need a feathered joint. Choose an area on the stern, and feather your spray gun as you reach it, preferrably in an irregular line. When you reach the stern again, complete the feathered area. Would that work for you?

[Bill O]

Have you sprayed anything yet w/Awlgrip? Usually you lay down a tack coat, then come back w/subsequent fill coats to get the full film thickness. Hopefully you will have a helper to make you paint batches, etc. so you can continue to spray.

As you mention you will loose the wet edge if you do not continue fully work around the boat and keep working the edge. This is the problem w/Awlgrip (vs. Awlcraft), it's much harder to cut in to blend/make repairs.

[Tetepare]

Are you not planning on wet sanding? If you do sand, overspray won't be an issue.

Anyway (probably thinking too fast) what if you used two sprayers one on each side, and met at the transom?

Or, do the transom, let it dry, and cover it before more painting.

[Wind River]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

It sounds like you need a feathered joint. Choose an area on the stern, and feather your spray gun as you reach it, preferrably in an irregular line. When you reach the stern again, complete the feathered area. Would that work for you?

Feathering the the edge is where the problem comes in. It would be similar to making a repair I am told and Awlgrip (this is not Awlcraft) does not like to do that.

[Wind River]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

Are you not planning on wet sanding? If you do sand, overspray won't be an issue.

Anyway (probably thinking too fast) what if you used two sprayers one on each side, and met at the transom?

Or, do the transom, let it dry, and cover it before more painting.

Awlgrip cannot be wet sanded. The two painter idea was suggested by Awlgrip tech also.
My compressor will not keep up with two painters but I may have a remedy for that if this is the answer.

[MicHughV]

I can offer this.

I painted my hull with interlux two part polyurethane with a fine nap foam roller and a foam brush.
I would roll about a 3-4' wide strip of hull from top to bottom and immediately tip it out with the foam brush. I would start at the top, do two or three rows, tip those out and move to the next rows. I did the one side of the hull in the morning shade and the other side in the afternoon shade. I had a helper mix new batches of paint for me, as I didn't want to stop for anything as I wanted to keep a wet edge going. He had to add the hardener to the paint as I went along.
I did not want to mix up the whole container of paint in one go, but did about a quart at a time.
The final product came out like it was sprayed.

I would recommend the same process for spraying, ie, a 3-4' wide, plus or minus strip, from top to bottom, and move on to the next. This keeps a wet edge going. It really requires a helper to mix the next batch of paint for you, as doing this yourself, will take too much time.

I'm not an expert in this at all, but I was advised by an expert painter to do it, the way I described above.

The previous paint on my hull was epoxy....also a two part paint. This was sanded down prior to applying the polyurethane. I was told that the epoxy paint would provide an excellent base coat for the polyurethane, which it did. 10 years after I did it, it looked as good as new.

I painted without the advantage of cover, but I did wait for a day that promised good weather.

[boatpoker]

Start at the bow and continue round the transom leaving the flat area laregly unpainted (except for edges), continue back to the bow on the other side.
Wait till paint dries, mask off around the flat area of the transom and then paint it.

[Tetepare]

Originally Posted by Wind River

Awlgrip cannot be wet sanded.

The final (top) coat should not be sanded as the outer skin is the primary barrier. You can sand an underlying coat that is going to be painted over with a second coat.

I think Boatpoker has the best idea.


That boat is going to be stunning. Remember, nobody but you knows that there is a run in the paint.

[Chotu]

I would choose the same idea as Boat poker, or I would change the environment. It sounds like you have too much wind. Why don’t you knock that fan down a few notches? Just make sure to use a supplied air respirator and you can paint in a big cloud.

That way you could just keep a wet edge and go around in whatever order you want to.

[MicHughV]

I only ever did the hull with a two part system...the deck, cockpit, etc, was done with a one part, using a simple foam brush. This allowed me to get around all the bits and pieces, curves, etc, in my own good time on my own, without needing help from anyone.
In addition, if I had touch up work to do in the future, I kept a quart of the one part paint on the boat with me.
I can't say I noticed much difference between the one and two part. The two part did seem a bit more resistant to cracking, chipping, etc.

50' is a lot of boat. I'm doubtful it can all be done one one day.

[Wind River]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

Start at the bow and continue round the transom leaving the flat area laregly unpainted (except for edges), continue back to the bow on the other side.

Wait till paint dries, mask off around the flat area of the transom and then paint it.

When I primed it I started at the bow and just continued all the way around the boat, transom included. Maybe I am over thinking the overspray issue on the hull sides. Maybe it won't be an issue at all. I guess I will know after the first coat!

[Wind River]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I would choose the same idea as Boat poker, or I would change the environment. It sounds like you have too much wind. Why don’t you knock that fan down a few notches? Just make sure to use a supplied air respirator and you can paint in a big cloud.

That way you could just keep a wet edge and go around in whatever order you want to.

I think you have a good idea.

I have a zipper door at the fan end of the enclosure that I can open to some extent to regulate the air flow from the opposite of the enclosure and from under the sides. A little experimantation might be in order with this.

My fan is a 10,000 cfm fan and I would estimate the ensure at 22,000 cf. So still good flow.