Well, did the bottom paint last week, read all the archives ( maybe more than once) and sanded (first with 80 grit and then went to 60 for speeds sake) the old girl down to smooth paint. Some areas were check marked and others with an excess build up and still other we were able to 'chipp off' the flakes, found less than a handful of corroded spots ( all small pits). After sanding to smooth, we put on an etching 2 part primer from W/M that said not to put on over old paint so we primed it sparingly/carefully, using less than a 1/4 quart to do all and ended up throwing a lot of that away. That paint had a brown cast to it and you could see thru it. Next came the barrior two part (gray) from W/M and that laid down nicely and built up the low spots very well. Last we put on the Trilux 33 and thats where the trouble started, instead of a nice smooth finish, I got what I would call a orange peel instead of quite smooth. I used a foam type roller and tried following up with a foam brush to tip, but by the time I got back to do it the brush just bouced across the finish. We were workin in 50 to 60 degrees so temp was not an issue, humidity was very low tho, that stuff just skinned over quite fast. the bottom looks excellant, but if you touch it, you feel its' texture. Any one have any suggestions for me? Oh, and as a side note both GFO seals worked flawlessly and I now have an extremely dry bilge, thanks all! I sat in the boat for a few hours at sunset and the bilge never came on! Reworked and balanced props ran silky smooth! Both engines started right up and this captains getting rather geeked up about the coming season.

So I will never have a nice smooth bottom (ahem) that I was thinking I would have until the paint wears down a bit? The old paint seamed to be smoother and was quite old.

I’ve used InterLux 433 Brush Ease when doing the bottom A/F painting it makes the A/F flow better & gives a nicer finished look which doesn’t matter cause 95 % is never seen once in the creek. AnyWho it worked 4 me

Norm,

Big s Live On

Jack,

First off did U Primer the whole bottom after prepping & sanding the old A/F paint with
Primocon underwater primer ? So as the new A/F would adhere properly to old A/F who know what type A/F the P O had on the bottom, for 3 seasons after Duffty’s passing his kids used the U know how that goes. On pg 278 of the 2011 W/M catalog U can read up on 433 additive.
On how I did the bottom on mine I brushed the nooks & crannies & rolled the rest.On most A/F paints they warn to keep the boot strap low for this is not a attractive paint. Last but not least ablative A/F aren’t made for floating cottages the faster the vessel is ran the better it works so with fuel prices as they R most boater R screwed.

Norm,

Big s Live On

? Sorry Jack one more ? how nappy was the roller hope U used foam