Re: Looks like i'm painti

Posted by Laszlo on Aug 15, 2006

Bill,

It'll still look good varnished.

It'll look like a boat with really nice grain and maybe some swirls. The swirls will only be visible from certain angles in very bright light. The grain will also be changing color and intensity depending on the light angle and brightness. And the only one there who'll see your "flaws" is you. Everyone else will be saying "Wow, that's a beautiful boat. Is is wood? Did you build it? Is it from a kit? It really weighs only xx lbs? That's lighter than the plastic ones. It's lighter than fiberglass, too? But the plastic/fiberglass ones are stronger, right? Really? No way! You mean your whole boat is coated in fiberglass? I can't see it. It's a wood AND fiberglass boat and it's still lighter than just fiberglass? How long did it take you to build it? ..." At this point the last thing anyone is looking at are any swirls.

Also, the appearance of swirls is not guaranteed. On another project I glassed and varnished some okoume which had only been sanded with #80 and there were no swirls whatsoever.

So don't worry. Just finish it it however you want. When it's wet and in the water, from 10 feet away there's almost no difference between an unsanded bare epoxy and a varnished finish. (The grain is more distinct on the varnished one).

Laszlo

PS - You can still even varnish the hull, if you want. Just paint an accent stripe over the balloons.

In Response to: Looks like i'm paintin'.. by Bill on Aug 15, 2006

Replies:

• Re: Looks like i'm painti by Alan Speakman on Aug 15, 2006