32. It’s official. I’m an epoxy nerd!

It has taken me a while to really understand this stuff but now   …  Having completed the fibreglassing of the bottom and begun to understand that I have to cover the entire bottom in yet another coat of epoxy with filler  …  and that’s the easy bit  …  have you seen how much sanding there is to do?

This time I have done the research, Mark, what filler do I use?  Mark, what hardener do I use?  Yes, it is very good to have friends. So I still have about 10 KGs of 105 and 1.5 Kg of 207 so I shall start with that and some 407 that I have had for a while. I shall replace the 407 with 410 as I am told it is a bit ‘softer’ to sand and less gritty. I tested that stern a few days ago and it will fair very well but not without some intense labour.

Then I looked at another problem. When we finished rollering the three coats of epoxy to the sides of the boat it was left looking a bit mottled and lumpy. (picture 1) So today I set too sanding the test bit of the filling/fairing and then went on to the ‘shiny’ bit. I flatted it back so there was not a wrinkle in sight and I confess to a few moments of nervousness as it looked dreadful. I then mixed some 105 with the requisit amount of 207 and with a small roller dipped in the mix I just wiped it onto the flatted epoxy layer. It worked brilliantly (picture 2/3). Pictures 4 and 5 are the longboard which is clearly going to get a lot of work and I am looking for a mechanical version, and the test section that took about an hour to sand to a point when I can fill the little air/pin holes ready to fine sand afterwards.

I am really happy with the way it will look especially the sides, which will be covered with a UV protection coating should look pretty good.

Finally I have decided on the paint for the bottom. There is a company called Jotun that make a paint for the bottom of superyachts. I think that will be quite good enough for the Greyfalcon! It will be a dark blue, and they have several, preceded by some epoxy primer.  This learning curve is very steep!