Project X

77Jet Star

77Jet Star

Active member
spd500 said:
I may have to check that out . I am not really planning on having many areas where the primer shrinkage will be a issue , but want the best results possible . It is still a half A$$ paint job , done by myself , in the garage instead of a paint booth . I know it isnt going to be perfect , but if I aim for half assed it is going to be really f'd up . If I aim for perfect , it might be decent .
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I used to shoot  R&M Acrylic enamel that way if you get trash in it you just wet sand it out.Just hang you some plastic and wet the floor.Be sure and get a good resperator that seals really good!!!I used to paint my ISCA show cars with this stuff.It is fool proof even I could use it.
 
spd500

spd500

New member
I will check it out . Still not decided on colors yet , I think I will let Mattie decide . Right now she either want blue and purple , or the Bumble Bee theme from Transformers . I really don't want a yellow boat , so we are still deciding . Of course everytime we look at something different she says "lets do that" .
 
spd500

spd500

New member
Well , I guess there's no such thing as free labor . I gotta take Mattie to go see Happy Feet 2 in 3D this morning  :smile29: But this afternoon I have free time to work on the boat  jump.gif
 
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blazeracer

New member
spd500 said:
I may have to check that out . I am not really planning on having many areas where the primer shrinkage will be a issue , but want the best results possible . It is still a half A$$ paint job , done by myself , in the garage instead of a paint booth . I know it isnt going to be perfect , but if I aim for half assed it is going to be really f'd up . If I aim for perfect , it might be decent .
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I did my metal flake job on my Glastron in the backyard of my refrigerator shop, outside! While it's not a pro job by any means, it's definitely not half assed. I think I only spent maybe 2-3 hours painting....... but over 200 hours sanding. LOL
 
spd500

spd500

New member
The last prep job that I did had over 250 hours in sanding and prep . I think with this one I am actually starting out with alot better project . The previous owner did do alot of work on this boat . The stringers , transom , dash etc has all been redone . He capped the boat as well . He did at some point do what he calls a "cheap ass paintjob just to get the boat in the water " , but he also sanded some of it back down . He just didnt sand it as far as I personally think it needs to be sanded . There are a few places that need a little work , but very few and very small . All in all , for what I have in this project I feel like I got a good deal .
 
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customtouch

Active member
spd500 said:
Looking at all the info online it looks like the longer the primer cures the less chance you have of it shrinking later . I am thinking maybe get all the body work done and a few good coats of high build primer , then take a break and get the motor in and running before doing final blocking and painting . That will give the high build plenty of time to cure before I block it to paint . Is that about the right plan , or is there such a thing as too long of a cure time ?
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Most all catalyzed primers will shrink some and it is always better to allow some time for it to do so. Just as important as time (probably more so) is heat. The more you can set it in the sun to bake while it is curing, the better off it is. There is no time limit on how long it can set (longer is better) but I would wait until you are ready to paint before doing the final sanding. How much it shrinks (most of the time) depends on how heavy you apply it. The trick is to have the surface straight and prepped correctly before you use the primer.  Many people rely too much on the primer to fill unfinished body work and imperfections because it is easier to just stack on an excessive amount of primer and sand it. It will show up later. I prefer to fill, straighten, and "final" sand everything down to 180 so that the primer doesn't have anything big to shrink into. However, you will normally need a minimum of a 180 grit sand scratch to hold the primer, so I would not go any finer then that. If you are going to be priming the whole boat you should not need a sealer before you paint as long as you don't break through the primer. If you just spot prime then you will need to seal it.  Hope this helps. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.  David
 
spd500

spd500

New member
Thanks for the advice . What I was thinking was to get it all smooth and then lay down the high build primer , do a guide coat and block sand to make sure it is smooth enough , then lay down another coat of high build primer and leave it to cure while I get the motor all ready to go . Once I am completely ready with the motor I will do the final block sand and paint . Then wet sand and buff before final assembly of the motor , gauges , and interior . I have a heated shop , so I can get the boat plenty warm while the primer is curing if it is better to cure it with heat . I am not comfortable with heating the shop while I am spraying though , I have central air and heat in the shop .
 
spd500

spd500

New member
Yeah , it will be at least two different colors , maybe three . I know a guy who is an awesome pinstriper , and was hoping I could get him to stripe it before I do the clear .
 
spd500

spd500

New member
I would really like to do the big metal flakes with different colors of candy over it , but I am told you have to get a special gun for the flake .
 
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blazeracer

New member
Sure do. I bought mine off of Ebay for like $50 or something and it's worked out great. I think the only real difference is in the tip. It has a larger opening for the flake to go though.

IMO, don't mess with candy colors and flake together. Pick your flake color, make black the base color, shoot the flake with mid clear, use a lot of top clear to cover it and smooth it out. I shot my flake in mid clear, then put two more coats of mid clear to bury it, THEN you can shoot your first top clear and wet sand it. If you wet sand through the clear and hit the flake it WILL turn silver. I have four coats of top clear on mine.

This pic is my flake after the first coat of TOP clear, white stripes and pin stripes added. Three more clears went on top of that after the VooDoo guy was added.
 
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customtouch

Active member
spd500 said:
Yeah , it will be at least two different colors , maybe three . I know a guy who is an awesome pinstriper , and was hoping I could get him to stripe it before I do the clear .
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If you are spraying any light colors, I would recommend using a white primer and spraying light colors first and then progressively darker. It will help to keep the colors bright and true to what you wanted. If not white, get a light gray or yellow primer and put a coat of white paint down before you start. It is not as important with medium to darker colors but the closer the color of the base is to the paint, the less paint you will use. This was discussed somewhere else. Also, most of the "high build" primers are polyester and not really recommended for below the water line. They definately cannot be wet sanded so be sure to read the labels on what ever you choose. With the process you posted a "high build polyester primer" is not really necessary. Any medium build urethane primer will work fine. (P.S.) Your way is the "right way" in my opinion. It will save labor but some polyester primers are very sensitive to mil. build and will crack if put on too thick. Then you will have a mess on your hands. This has happened to me and it sucks.
 
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customtouch

Active member
spd500 said:
I would really like to do the big metal flakes with different colors of candy over it , but I am told you have to get a special gun for the flake .
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If you choose this route, then I would agree with the Blazeracer. Your material bill will go through the roof and spraying candies is not an easy thing to do & make it look right. 
 
spd500

spd500

New member
Well , I got a few more hours sanding in this morning . Time to break for lunch , then go look at a condo that Bonnie is wanting to buy . Good news is , it has no yard to mow , and a nice big garage for thhe boat . Bad news is , it has no boat ramp . It does have a really nice view of the golf course if you are into watching pasture pool .
 
spd500

spd500

New member
Today was the most productive day so far.  I got a few more hours of sanding done this afternoon and the boat is now 2/3 sanded.  jump.gif jump.gif
Tomarrow is another day,  hopefully I will have some time to finish sanding the old paint off.
 
spd500

spd500

New member
My motor will be delivered in a few hours  jump.gif jump.gif
I got a 56k Suburban 5.3 motor for $500 , kinda more than I wanted to pay for the motor but it does have low miles .
 
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