Advice on sneakbox - AA Broadbill or MLB Wigeon

RM Anderson said:
I've decided to use plastic netting held down by webbing. Besides being practical it is super adaptable to any type of camo material. Richard
Click to expand...
I am thinking about this. I'm already contemplating of adding snaps so I can quickly change the camo. I'm thinking of having some grey fabric that will snap on to hunt in more open water, or white to hunt at the end of the season when there is ice an snow.
 
Just a quick update. First time I've had the boat turned back over since late December. I did some final faring and sanding and installed the sections keel I took odd. I looks like the used 4 oz fibreglass on the outside of the hull. I plan to re fibreglass the entire bottom with 6 oz fibreglass - hopefully I van get it on this week.

IMG_0142.jpeg

IMG_0144.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Scott Gilliland said:
I am thinking about this. I'm already contemplating of adding snaps so I can quickly change the camo. I'm thinking of having some grey fabric that will snap on to hunt in more open water, or white to hunt at the end of the season when there is ice an snow.
Click to expand...
Fellow I bought my Black jack back from had done something similar with a brown canvas base fabric with grass loops that snapped on to hull on top decks. He hunted it layout style with a grass mat pulled over himself in cockpit, no dodger. If doing it myself I would have used Cordura Nylon instead of canvas just for weight savings and colors/camo patterns available. At the time he did this Cordura nylon wasn,t widely available as it is now.
 
roy brewington said:
Fellow I bought my Black jack back from had done something similar with a brown canvas base fabric with grass loops that snapped on to hull on top decks. He hunted it layout style with a grass mat pulled over himself in cockpit, no dodger. If doing it myself I would have used Cordura Nylon instead of canvas just for weight savings and colors/camo patterns available. At the time he did this Cordura nylon wasn,t widely available as it is now.
Click to expand...
I was really tempted to paint it battleship grey to try to use it on open water. I'm not sure why, but even the sink boxes that are used in the Lac St. Pierre are painted drab olive -- so I went with that. I have tried Lou Tisch's use of clear polyethylene on layouts, it is not all that easy to handle -- it looks to blow around, but I'm thinking of trying it on the boat for open water.
 
Well, I thought I'd be painting the bottom today. Yesterday I took the whole day to fibreglass the bottom and put 3 coasts of epoxy on it. IN the middle off the job my epoxy pump broke and I quickly switched to weighing out the resin and hardener. I was very excited to pull the peel ply off this morning and get ready to prime the bottom. Pull off the peel ply and found large sections of the hull were not full cured. In the middle of the job I asked my wife to run out and pick up a couple of pumps and the last coats of epoxy on the keels and and a couple of other areas were finished metering using the pumps -- I totally forgot that the pumps were one - to one, and I was following the weight ratio.... Dumb.

Spent most of the day scraping and scraping the gummed up epoxy. It came off and I was able to wash the last of it off with acetone. Bottom is not sanded and ready for another coast of epoxy.

Still learning.
 
I was disappointed, but as I said, I learned. I had thought I could cover the entire bottom with one pieces of fibreglass and peel ply. I ended up cutting the fiberglasss in two and putting the peelply on in one piece. I'm sure it could be done, but I did to do a great job. This gave me a second chance, and I worked smaller areas -- much better finish. I will paint the bottom with the Wetlander charcoal. Maybe I'll get the primer on tomorrow.
 
Scott,
No such thing as a mistake if you have learned; this is true. I'm sure it is beautiful as we are our own worst critics. Can't wait to see the end result! Richard
 
I managed to get what I thought would be the final coat of epoxy and peel ply on. I ran out of resin and just made due with what had. There were a few areas where the peel ply was not fully saturated. I pulled it off and it looks great, but there were a few low spots, so I decided to get more resin and fair out those spots ... I saved it out and I got a coat of the wetlander primer on this afternoon. Should be to get the bottom coat on tomorrow and then is 7 days to full cure.


IMG_0147.jpeg
IMG_0149.jpeg
 
Scott Gilliland said:
I managed to get what I thought would be the final coat of epoxy and peel ply on. I ran out of resin and just made due with what had. There were a few areas where the peel ply was not fully saturated. I pulled it off and it looks great, but there were a few low spots, so I decided to get more resin and fair out those spots ... I saved it out and I got a coat of the wetlander primer on this afternoon. Should be to get the bottom coat on tomorrow and then is 7 days to full cure.


View attachment 65458
View attachment 65459
Click to expand...
How did you find the application? I'm using the same on mine.

Looks really good, by the way!
 
It seems to go on real easy. I'm using a paint sprayer I had for a big staining project. I don't know much about spraying, maybe I have a bit of an orange peel finish. I'm not sure how to stop this - the issue is I have no part to spare to get the sprayer setup perfectly. This is the sprayer I'm using sprayer. I'll sand and put the final coat on tomorrow. Even the primer feels very slippery.
 
Scott Gilliland said:
It seems to go on real easy. I'm using a paint sprayer I had for a big staining project. I don't know much about spraying, maybe I have a bit of an orange peel finish. I'm not sure how to stop this - the issue is I have no part to spare to get the sprayer setup perfectly. This is the sprayer I'm using sprayer. I'll sand and put the final coat on tomorrow. Even the primer feels very slippery.
Click to expand...
I'm planning to roll and tip, I think.But several weeks away from that so plenty of time to think on it.

Yes, I understand that the primer is slick, too. Since I'm building bottom-up and will paint the bottom before flipping, I'd asked WL whether there was a tape that would stick to either primer or paint (planning to paint above the waterline later, when painting the deck). They said no on both counts. Which got me thinking, if it's that slick, I just won't worry about it at all and paint right to it and wipe off any overage. If it doesn't work, who cares? It's a duck boat and ideally wouldn't have any visible straight lines anyway.
 
I've even had issues with masking tape sticking to the topside paint. I masked it off the topside paint in the evening thinking I'd paint in the morning and about a 1/3 of the masking tape had fallen off overnight. I went around the boat sticking the tape back one and iI felt I was a bit like my lab chasing it's tail. I eventually got it to stay on long enough to paint.
 
Just a quick update. I put the final coat of Wetlander on the bottom. The sprayer recommended a 4 mm nozzle for latex paints, and the Wetlander instructions suggested using sprayer settings for latex. I switched to a 2 mm nozzle, and I added 5% water and it made a huge difference. No orange peel effect and a really nice finish. I'm surprised with the small amount of waste using the sprayer. Just a few dribbles left in the bottom of the spray can. I think you loose a lot more with a roller. For the cost of one of those hobby HLVP sprayers, I think I'd buy one if you are going to paint the hull.
 
Scott,
Man that is some good information! I've always wanted to try my hand at spraying. I'm curious, did it fish eye at all? With a roller the fish eye is normal, you just go over it again after about ten minutes. Looks fantastic by the way! You will love Wetlander!
Richard
 
HenryHawthorne said:
I'm planning to roll and tip, I think.But several weeks away from that so plenty of time to think on it.

Yes, I understand that the primer is slick, too. Since I'm building bottom-up and will paint the bottom before flipping, I'd asked WL whether there was a tape that would stick to either primer or paint (planning to paint above the waterline later, when painting the deck). They said no on both counts. Which got me thinking, if it's that slick, I just won't worry about it at all and paint right to it and wipe off any overage. If it doesn't work, who cares? It's a duck boat and ideally wouldn't have any visible straight lines anyway.
Click to expand...
Henry,
To solve that problem I painted above the waterline first, then taped that to in order to apply the Wetlander. I terminated just shy of the clamps as that is a natural transition. Richard
20240716_082820.jpg
 
Scott Gilliland said:
Just a quick update. I put the final coat of Wetlander on the bottom. The sprayer recommended a 4 mm nozzle for latex paints, and the Wetlander instructions suggested using sprayer settings for latex. I switched to a 2 mm nozzle, and I added 5% water and it made a huge difference. No orange peel effect and a really nice finish. I'm surprised with the small amount of waste using the sprayer. Just a few dribbles left in the bottom of the spray can. I think you loose a lot more with a roller. For the cost of one of those hobby HLVP sprayers, I think I'd buy one if you are going to paint the hull.
Click to expand...
I didn't realize you could get decent sprayers that inexpensively, I wouldn't mind having one for other woodwork, I'll definitely consider that. How much concern is overspray (working in a shop with cars)? Would I need to set up a temp booth of some sort, or some shields?
 
HenryHawthorne said:
I didn't realize you could get decent sprayers that inexpensively, I wouldn't mind having one for other woodwork, I'll definitely consider that. How much concern is overspray (working in a shop with cars)? Would I need to set up a temp booth of some sort, or some shields?
Click to expand...
I found this sprayer when I was trying to stain a large maple countertop. I was using a waterborne stain and even with additives to extend the working time I was unable to get the stain wiped on and off before it dried. I was getting very uneven staining. The other problem I was having is that maple blotches badly. I follow advice by Charles Neil using is pre-conditioner. He also demonstrated applying stain with this sprayer and I picked this one up. I've used. a few times since and I'm really impressed with the finish. And yes, there is over-spray.

It's not easy to get a good picture of a black surface. Hopefully you can see how much finer the texture is on the topcoat compared to the primer shots I'd taken earlier.IMG_0152.jpeg
 
I received an order of paint from Wetlander to do the final touchup and finished the painting last night. Pulled it out of the garage this morning for the first time since October. It's ready to go, but I'll wait until next week for the paint to cure before I put it on the water -- still need to add the registration numbers and a few pieces of flotation. Here are a few pictures of the final bits of work.

Adding UMHW strips to the keels and a brass stem band.
IMG_0158.jpeg
Finishing up installation of the grassing rails
IMG_0159.jpeg
Forward and rear views of the interior. I've added 2 drain tubes, one either side of the inner keel, and a third in the splash well. The bottom of the original splash well was just loose fitted with no drain - water that came over the transom just drained into the boat. Not sure why. I left part of the floor at the rear cut out - a full size 5 gallon gas can needed the extra height to get it under the rear deck. I also added a couple of grab handles in the transom and bow.
IMG_0172.jpegIMG_0173.jpeg
Pushed out and motor mounted
IMG_0176.jpegIMG_0174.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top