Painting Open Boats

[msims]

Hey all,

I'd like to paint my rolalex boat, and i've been told that varathane paint is needed. I was told by the hardware guy that rust paint is pretty much like varathane paint. Any thoughts on this? Varathane PAINT is hard to find.

What about scratch holes, I was thinking of using ptex wax (like fixing my old rock skiis) for filling the gaps... any other thoughts?

Thanks!
________
ARIZONA DISPENSARY

[Space Canoe]

Hey, msims!
Do you want to paint the WHOLE boat? I think that most companies sell a touch-up can. Get in contact with Old Town or Mad River canoes and see what type they use and if they can suggest a supplier. Also post here:

http://www.myccr.com/SectionForums/view ... um=20&1023

These guys seem pretty knowledgeable about most things in canoeing. Also, 3M usually has some product that their tech department can steer you to.
Hope that this helps
Ric Taylor

[the great gonzo]

Mike, just scrolled down and saw your post, do you want to fix the worn edges on your Nitro? I was on the Gatineau during the festival 2 weeks ago and all the Esquif boaters (as the Gatineau is in QC, there were tons of them) had fixed the worn edges of their boats with kevlar wear pads, the kind you usually put on the bow and stern of a royalex boat. This seems to me a more durable fix than painting it, as oit will wear away in no time.

martin

keep the open side up!

[NZMatt]

If it's wear on the chines on an Eqsuif you're worried about - I've added kevlar skid plates to mine....then again I'd actually damaged the royalex, not just worn through the paint....still after two years of hard paddling on a boat that was a demo to start with and my first OC to boot, I figure that's not bad

If you have any luck finding paint, please post as there's some other areas I'd love to touch up with some paint, but I also haven't found any yet.

Matt

[msims]

Matt, Martin,

Thanks for the advice! It sounds like alot of kevlar, mine is most worn down in the stern, but it's also pretty constant along the length of the chines. That sounds like alot of Kevlar Skid plates. Does it change how the boat behaves?

Mike.

[OC]

I've got a Blast and to protect the chines I put on skid plates, the problem is cracking as they are less flexible than the hull which bends a lot in this area with WW use. Perhaps depends on the kit, but the skid plate is cracking off bit by bit.

A better solution for the off-season is using ABS plumbing pipes, cut into small pieces, dissolved in acetone. You leave it for a few days and paint it on, which restores the outer layer, then you can spray paint it (the official touch up paint is good for color match but not essential).

I've not tried it yet, but multiple coats would give a better protection and change the hull less than adding skid plates.. and the ABS solution seems lesss costly and simpler..

OC.

[NZMatt]

Hi Mike

It's a fair bit of kevlar, but that's not the weighty part...that'd be the resin. I haven't so far noticed a difference in the handling of the boat beside the fact that the rough surface of the kevlar reduces slide on seal launches I didn't buy commercial skid plate kits...I bought a yard of kevlar felt from www.johnrsweet.com along with the West System Epoxy resin and made them up myself. My skid plates are about 3feet long and 4 inches wide. Right down both chines which is where the greatest damage was on my boat. I'm also noticing a lot of wear on the stern, but so far that's superficial and that's the stuff I just want to paint over for now. I think that's mainly from catching the stern when running over drops and around just submerged rocks. It took me a while to get used to the extra length compared to the K1 playboats I used to paddle.

As to increased weight, honestly it adds a little, but compared to the weight of my Detonator when I've got all my gear in it for paddling (throwbag, pump, airbags, drybag with snacks etc., spare paddle, 2L of drinking water, pin kit) I haven't noticed the weight change. I wonder what everyone else carries with them...maybe that's another topic.

Hope this helps

Matt

[mshelton]

Hey OC, Can you go into a little more detail about the Acetone and strips. Do you disolve them in the acetone to make a "paintable" solution? If so what is you ratio? Or am I really confused.

[OC]

I haven't tried this yet, but have seen good results. It's much better than kevlar paint or whatever applied superficially because it bonds by reacting to the existing surface.

Recipe (courtesy of cartespleinair.org ) :

Ingredients:
-ABS plumbing pipes (i.e. 3 in. diam)
-acetone (4L)
-paint can or large glass jar with cover

Recipe:
-cut the pipes in small pieces (i.e w hacksaw), and put in can
-fill can 3/4 with acetone and cover
-wait 2-4 days, stirring a couple of times per day

-200mL acetone+ 4in long (of 3in. pipe)= putty texture
-300mL acetone+ 4in long (of 3in. pipe)= texture a little thicker than paint.

MEK is another possible solvent (methyl-ethyl-ketone), and vinyl can also be dissolved this way.

remember that acetone requires good ventilation and is extremely flammable.

spread on with spatula or fingers (I don't know what kind of gloves resist this mix- perhaps the chemical ones at Home Depot).

hope this is useful. I'd try a small test first and see how it works on your boat.

OC.


you've got a couple of pics in this file:

http://192.77.51.2/~cleduc/Canot/Divers ... eCanot.pdf

[sbroam]

There's good stuff in that PDF, the pictures are great, but it would be even better if I could read French! Can anybody perform a translation?

[OC]

The previous message is a translation of most of page 2. It'd be a long job to translate the whole document (various repair, gluing, and outfitting tips) but if you have any specific Q's let me know

OC