Red Pal
I finally got back to finishing up my latest Pal build. I did a number of short solo trips in my Kite in may and early June, but I was able to get the pal out on the water a couple more times before the end of June to settle on seat heights so I have something to do while I recover from surgery.
I removed the seats and had my friend Norm come over and haul the boat out into the yard and I went at it with some 120 grit on the ros.
I probably could have spent more time getting the hull smoother, but as I've said before, my canoes get used and abused so any imperfections will be hidden by gouges, scratches, strap marks, dents and patches in the future.
The paint is Interlux Brightside in the only red they make. I rolled the paint and tipped it off with a foam brush. The paint is thinner than I'm used to, but it went on smooth and all the overlaps and brush marks levelled out beautifully with no drips or sagging. Probably the nicest paint I've worked with and the most expensive. Here it is after the first coat with wood still showing through.
At this point I knew that 2 more coats certainly wouldn't hide the wood completely, but maybe that's ok. My wife liked this look and thought I should stop right here. The wood isn't hidden enough for me.
The second coat didnt go on quite as good. It's dry as heck here in Montana and the combination of it being a little warmer, my trying to cover too large an area at a time, and the remaining paint in the can likely having lost a little of its original consistency, I ended up with slight brush marks and a few noticeable overlaps when tipping off.
After 2 coats.
The third coat went on better. It was cooler, I thinned the paint a little with mineral spirits, and I painted in smaller sections.
After the third and final coat.
The strips just barely show through now. If I hadn't used such contrasting strips in the first place I doubt they would be noticeable. Using primer for the first coat would have probably made the final coat opaque.
The paint problem was mostly operator error. I didn't sand between Coats, I just scuffed with a scotch brite pad which likely added to the brush marks showing through, although they're barely noticeable on the final coat. I suspected this, but did confirm to myself that it's more difficult to get a good finish with a solid paint color than varnish.
The only other thing I did was to add a couple scraps of stem band to the ends to give it that cedar canvas look, and as a practical way to protect the stem tip.
You can also see that I drilled holes for painter lines prior to painting. Just a little more epoxy work on the inside, varnish and this one is finished. In retrospect I kind of regret using all the contrasting wood for strips and trim. I was really just trying to save a little weight using the spruce and cherry but I ended up with a little bit of a Frankenstein woodworking project. Not my intention.
Mark
