Monday, February 14, 2011

Priming Day



     Saturday, February 12th, I spent the day sanding and painting.  Finally, I ended the obnoxious blue cabinets above the ice box and sink.  No longer will these blue monsters stare me down as I move about below.  I began with scuffing up and removing any loose material using 80 grit paper.  After vacuuming most of the sanding dust, I wiped the surfaces down with solvent.  I taped off the counter-to-cabinet vertical surfaces, and generally prepped for painting.  I used Interlux Pre-Kote as the primer; and will eventually come back with two coats of Interlux Brightsides. 


     Here is the port cabinet primed.  The port cabinet sits atop the ice box (just out of the picture); the starboard cabinet its atop of the sink - not shown on this post.


     After I finished up with the cabinets, I turned my attention to the cabin sole.  I had, a few months back, coated the cabin sole with a coat of 'neat' epoxy in order to further seal any exposed marine ply.  So prior to priming, I sanded the surface just aft of the bilge access lid and up toward the aft portion of the v-berth.  After vacuuming and solvent washing the surface, I primed with Interlux Pre-Kote.  Bilge access lid removed, and bilge is visible in picture below; the hooks shown below are to secure the companionway ladder entering and exiting the cabin.


     After finishing the interior priming, I had plans to sand the first coat of the topsides paint (pink) and prepare for the second round.  So, I taped off the companionway, the deadlights, the portlight on the forward portion of the coach roof, and the forward hatch.  I then sanded around the tape line marking the lower portion of the topsides paint (waterline), and began to sand the remainder of the topsides.  However, with limited time, I knew I could not complete the sanding of the topsides without neglecting my other goal for the day...so I decided to save the sanding of the topsides for another day - likely just prior to the painting the second coat of topsides paint.  Here is a picture of the companionway secured with plastic sheeting to prevent sanding dust from settling on the newly primed interior surfaces.


    I then turned my attention to the cockpit.  It had been awhile since I applied the first coat of primer to the cockpit, and since I sanded, filled, and faired the gelcoat blemishes.  So, I was exited to unify the look of Froonie's decks with a good prime coat on her cockpit surfaces.  I sanded all surface aft of the coach roof with 220 grit, vacuumed and solvent washed to prepare for primer.  I then mixed the two part primer that I had been using on the exterior surfaces - Interlux Primekote - and set aside for the twenty minute induction time.  While I waited through the induction time, I mixed a small batch of epoxy, thickened with silica and micro-balloons, and filled the rough epoxy work I did for the aft chain plate to seat on.  Once I concluded this fairing application, the Primekote was ready to use.  I thinned with 2333N, and began priming the cockpit surfaces.  Results below; and that wrapped up a day's work.

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