With much trepidation, I fired up the air compressor ,and filled the sprayguns cannister with $60 of green paint, hardener and special thinners. With the air volume turned right down, I started the spraying of the first of the green 2 part finish coats. The spray unit held half a litre, (1/2 of the 1 litre can I bought) and I was dead scared that I would a) Mess up the spray job, b) run out of paint before I got a decent coat on the hull. To my great relief, I got much better coverage than with the undercoats ( I didnt even use the entire spraygun can) and the finish was very satisfactory. Despite very carefull preparation, there were quite a few imperfections (mostly pinholes from the fibreglass weave) that escaped my eagle eye on previous sandings, and to fix them, and will have to do some more filling, and spray another coat. I am a bit concerned after reading the safety instructions on the paint can, after I finished. I should have been wearing a full pressure suit with its own air supply. I was wearing a face mask with filter (no goggles), and light cloth body suit, but not anything like the full safety recommendations. If I ever do this again, I think I will get the hull sprayed at a professional body shop. Also, the paint can warned that the paint deteriorated quickly when exposed to the air. I hope it will be ok after a week. Discussions on other boat sites indicate that many boat builders flood the empty part of the paint can with gas (acetylene, carbon dioxide, BBQ Gas) before putting the top back on, to preserve it. The colour is a bit 'military' (and darker than appears on this photo), but satisfactorily innocuous. I am keen not to attract attention on the road or on the water. I am also tempted to do some additional decorations, but I might wait till I get a few scratches on the boat, as I have other pressing jobs around the house and really should have finished this thing about 12 months ago.
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