Lessons Learned

I painted the rudder and dagger board. I like the color...

I do not like the lemon peel look (It was there before the color went on - but I wanted to pretend it wasn't.) When I painted the foils with the KILZ primer, I knew it was "thick" but I didn't realize what that would do to the finish. Thick paint seems to a) show the depth of the roller nap, and b) dry to a somewhat pebbly surface. I have heard this referred to as an "orange peel" finish. I knew the surfaces of the foils were not "perfect" before painting the color coat, but I was impatient.

Something else I learned: color shows up the flaws and imperfections more than white. Instead of an "orange peel" I got a "lemon peel" finish, what with the bright yellow color and all. I was pretty discouraged - enough to go to bed thinking seriously about scrapping the foils and beginning again.

Fortunately, that thought was short-lived. On my morning bike commute the next day I realized that 80-grit sandpaper and a power sander would be a better alternative than new wood and a lot of work. Sanding is the solution. I've sanded nearly all of the lemon-peel away and along with it most of the flaws and imperfections.

I learned - from discussing the problem on the Michael Storer Wooden Boat Plans Forum - that I need to thin the paint by 10 to 15 percent, maybe more. While I know the color paint can be thinned with water, I learned that KILZ cannot. So, I need to figure out what to use to thin the KILZ so I can re-prime before applying more color paint.

All good things to learn before getting to the hull.