07 Sep 22:
After a coat of primer revealed a few spots we missed, we applied some more TotalBoat TotalFair with a plastic spreader to the pram. Thin coats are best if a large divot is being filled, so that the compound dries properly.
Sanded the primer with 120 grit pads on a DeWalt cordless random orbital sander, with the sander connected to a Dust Deputy cyclonic separator and ShopVac wet/dry vac. The random orbital sander does just as its name implies, it uses a random circular sanding pattern vs a rotary pattern or vibrating pattern, reducing the chance of sander swirls or deep straight scratches. Sanding disc grit and sander pressure also play a role in surface smoothness, we could have attained a smoother surface by doing a second sanding pass with 220 grit with light pressure after a second application of primer. While the surface may appear smooth, small sanding marks, the kind that can be seen upon close inspection, will appear when paint is applied. We have found that our series of steps gives us a "Three Foot" paint job, it looks nice and smooth from over three feet away, and fantastic when viewed from a galloping horse. Given that a pram spends a fair amount of amphibious time seizing and defending advanced naval bases, we think a Three Foot finish is more than adequate. Our side business prices reflect the final grit that we use, you can get great deals at 40 Grit Marine Construction. If you shop at 2000 Grit Small Yacht Restoration, several zeros are added to the invoice.
In some areas with low spots we sanded all the way through the primer in order to get the fairing compound smooth. Since the goal of this first coat of primer was to fill and seal the grain of the raw plywood that was okay. This primer was a smoothing primer which is meant for surfaces that are smooth enough for painting, and since we still had some very small hills and valleys we may have been better advised to try a "high build" primer that contains more surfacing solids. We've never used a high build primer, Capn Jack always advised 2 coats of primer with the first coat of primer being the "show coat," to show where some more prep work was needed. The caution with most primers is to sand them in a timely fashion, especially high build, as the longer they dry, the harder they fall to sanding assault.
She looks like she went supersonic during her stealth speed trials. I kind of like this look, but Skipper has other Directives for the final finish.
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