Second Topcoat Application

December 20, 2014

With a good topcoat applied and cured, I set out today to get the 2nd of 3 or 4 total coats on the dinghy.  The weather was good for painting and so I took advantage of the opportunity to get this second coat onto the hull.  I began with sanding the hull, by hand, with 320-grit paper.  I took care of a few small bubbles that had cured before they had a chance to pop and flow out to an even coat - a tad more of the reducer would solve this issue.  The picture below is the cured first topcoat application.

I worked my way around the dinghy admittedly still struggling with poor lighting conditions.  As a result, the sanding is a bit of a spastic battle trying to see a particular portion of the surface from a few different angles to catch imperfections.  Over the next two coats, I will arrange additional work lights to improve visible imperfections.  The picture below is after sanding with 320-grit paper.

I vacuumed most of the sanding dust, but as usually I solvent-washed the surface to take care of any remaining dust.  I upped the ratio of reducer to the base/converter mixture for this application.  The base volume was 5 ounces, the converter 2.5 ounces - the noted 2:1 ratio for brush and roll application.  To those 7.5 ounces, I then added 3 ounces of reducer, for a 40% by volume ratio.  The paint had noticeable improved layout performance.  After the application, I did catch a couple places that I had appeared to roll out lighter than surrounding areas - blaming the lighting for this.  I plan to apply two more applications of the topcoat.

Total Time: 1.5 Hrs.