A couple of us finished the third, and final, topcoat of battleship grey this evening.
The ice blue on the thwarts still needs extending (two coats?). On Sunday, we need a final coat on the rudder, and then coats two and three need to be done on the gunwhales/shear and the hull. Nearly there!!!
Sorry I can’t be there again on Sunday as I shall be (gainfully) employed elsewhere.
Sue
Three of us met to pop another coat of battleship grey on the interior of the hull. The evening was enlivened by finding a copy of the sequel to ’50 Shades of Grey’ thoughtfully left for our delectation on a thwart … another brief foray planned for Friday night at 1900 if anyone can join us …
At last, the warmer weather has enabled three coats to be done in one week. Nick’s shed was positively tropical today!
Jobs for this coming Sunday:
1. Blades to be rubbed down and final coat of ice blue applied
2. Rudder to be rubbed down and second coat of ice blue applied
3. Earwigs, slaters and general mank to be removed from the boat (!)
4. First coat of topcoat (lighter grey) to be applied to the interior
Apologies, but I will be at the Temple of Mamon on Sunday. Rollers in plastic bags on the workbench, and seperate paint trays for each colour. Suck eggs!
Sue
The trouble with any building project is that as it nears completion the to-do list gets longer and longer. At least with the hull nearly painted we’re very much in the last lap with only a few big jobs left but quite a number of little ones.
There’s one footbrace done and ready to be painted.
Two more of these are required to complete the set.
There’s a rudder ready to receive its fittings.
It has a transverse tiller, to which will be attached a fore and aft extension with a universal joint. This should be much more comfortable than what most are using, involving either a bent tiller or a yoke with steering lines. Time will tell whether it works or not.
We lack a trolley, about which see comments at the end of the last post.
Other items may be beyond our ability to make, such as a boat cover and the road trailer.
No painting today for two reasons.
Firstly, only two people turned up. The minimum number to comfortably do the inside of the boat in a session is three.
Secondly, the undercoat was still a bit soft. Paint had pooled between the stems and the planks near the keel fore and aft, and any runs were too soft to really sand down satisfactorily.
David and I scraped out the worst of the the wet stuff down the side of the stems then sanded the first coat of undercoat down and wiped it down with white spirit. Another quick wipe should be all that is needed before painting on Sunday.
We really need to start geting two coats a week on now – Sundays and Wednesdays – so more hands are urgently needed for the painting team if we are to launch in May. We also need some more fine sandpaper. Fine should be all we will be using on the paint from now on.
