Michalak Ladybug finished

[ausie]

My Ladybug is now finished ,rigged & ready to go.Looks way better than the plans suggest.Paint is now nearly two months old & plenty hard & tough.

Trailer nearly set up.

A couple of pics to whet your appetites.

Al.

[pindimar]

Your Ladybug looks very good in the pictures Ausie,

I like the restrained colour scheme and the detail finish looks good. Michalak boats always look better with that attention to detail. Hope your boat was at the Lake Macquarie Wooden Boat Festival this year ; Mile's Blobster was there this year I've heard?

Great job, congratulations!

GregF

[John Eden]

G'day ausie
The ladybug looks good, is it stitch and glue
I have some pics of 22ft yacht I built using stitch and glue method a couple of years ago cheers John "http://www.squidoo.com/boatplans-rowboat-yacht"

[ausie]

Greg & John,

Thanks.She is finished in 6 coats of Wattyl Solagard as part of a minimalist project to produce the best result with the least effort as would befit a Michalak or Bolger project....no bright finish except for mast & spars which are saturated with Deks Olje #1.

Structurally,she is over-done stitch & glue using 450gm multiaxial glass tape on all seams with double layer on the bottom chine which will get lots of abrasion on beaching.

Finish is best described as quality workboat finish...no filling of wood grain & endless filling/fairing as with my previous builds,but pleasing to the eye nevertheless,IMHO!.

Trailer mods finished yesterday so launching is imminent.

Did not go to that boat gathering Greg,wife & I usually do,& have to make contact again with Miles,as last time I did,he was moving house & too busy to get together.It will happen soon....I intend to contact other local builders for a get-together.

I have put lots of pics in Michalak & Duckworks sites on Duckworks on-line magazine.

Al.

[pindimar]

Hi Ausie

The Ladybug looks very good and using "household" paints is the way to go, if you ask me. All this stuff about high tech paints I just don't buy - in more ways than one!

Miles has sent a couple of pictures of his Blobster sailing on Lake Macquarie - your post on your Ladybug prompted me to email Miles to see if he has pictures of his Blobster, "Bobbie Jean", sailing:

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f35/mi...obster-111259/

Anyway, the Ladybug looks just great Ausie ; nice boat

GregF

[wavedancer]

Hi Al, nice boat. Interesting choice of paint. I am in the middle of a engine room rebuild on the big boat and as luck would have it, I found 4lts of white low sheen solargaurd I had forgoten about ( I was just about us my good international top coat). what if any primers, undercoats and wood treatment did you use. I intend to paint the Auk (if I ever get it finished) and you have me thinking again re what to do it with.
Ian L
"Wavedancer"

[ausie]

Ian,

It's old technology,but I gave the entire boat a coat of 4:1 water/bondcrete,which raised the fuzz.Then,as the marine ply,that cheap Indonesian meranti,had a fairly thin first ply,I did not want to sand,so put one coat of Solagard on,let it cure for a day & hand sanded with 80grit paper.Another 2 coats,let it dry a day,hand sanded with 320 grit,then another 3 coats in quick succession.That was it!

Solagard gloss is about 70% gloss so looks good on a boat as it covers lots of slight imperfections & there were some as I did not try to fill & fair the plywood surface which is very grainy,not smooth like say hoop pine.You can see the grain clearly through the six layers of paint but it does not bother me.....that's a lie....it does really but only because most of my previous builds have been carefully filled,sanded,faired,sanded,filled again,sanded again on & on until I had a near professional finish with marine enamel....& I was blue in the face!...get the picture?

So this build was to see how good a finish I could get with the least effort & it gets the thumbs up from me!Others can make their own mind up when they see it.

Ross Lillistone & I have discussed this a few times & he has been experimenting with similar finishes,although not on clients' boats,just his own.

The beauty of modern acrylics I feel is they do not need a primer & can go straight on.Obviously you have to live with the finish that the ply presents unless the outer layer is thick enough to allow some sanding.But hey!...it's a wooden boat,why hide the fact?Fill & fair if you want,but on something like Ladybug,a show finish isn't what you're after I feel.

btw,Solagard with a little Penetrol added flows smoothly & brush marks are minimal....I don't mind them anyway....looks "hand made"!

Al.

[Daddles]

One thing to watch out for if looking at household alternatives, is the cost. Late last year, Solarguard from Bunnies was actually dearer than marine enamel from my local chandlery. Then there'd be whatever undercoats and primers and the like, and price fluctuations could swing things either way - all I'm saying is: don't assume household paint is the cheap option, it may not be.

As for other reasons for using housepaint, I can't/won't comment. The Solarguard on Redback is stuffed after six years, but she lives out in the open all year round and so cops the full blast of the UV rays, and was painted straight onto bare plywood, so I would suggest it's done rather well.

Richard

[ausie]

True Richard but I am in the habit ,regardless of which finish I use,of touching up or re-coating long before the coating starts to break down.Old habit but a goodie!Probably started this on the first bout I had with clear-finished Teak toe rails & other trim...you know how fast they shed coatings & go grey if you are not onto them early!

In the "old days" we used to haul out & paint our 18' putt-putt each year.

Al.