The Nordkap 476 {part 12}

as the helm room was under construction, I also gave thought to the hull paint.  this had to be done soon, as the aft deck depends on being firmly in place before adding anything to it can happen.  the rear cabin wrap-around was in the process of being painted, as well as the bow cap.  when I got to a point in the helm room construction where drying time was required, I took 'ole Nordie down to the cellar.

     I also brought the rudder down and gave it a coat of primer.  after sanding the hull a little more and the deck area was masked up, it was time to shoot some paint.  it went well for the most part, but it uncovered a few things that i should have done.  it begins with the planking....I should have cemented between them as well, the micro gaps and lines were everywhere!  I also should have primed again where I added filler, micro particles showed up in the paint as well.  I had a couple runs to contend with too, not being able to control the paint, since I was using a spray aerosol can.

     after it dried, I did some re-sanding on the bad spots and shot it again.  it looked much better and after it dried for a while, I brought it upstairs where it was warmer to finish curing.  some of the pictures I took in the cellar didn't come out right and had to be deleted....rats!  the ones shown above was one of the better ones, so I did a few more once I got it back on the build table.

     curiosity got the better of me by this time, so I removed the masking and fitted the helm housing onto the deck.  I also painted the top rails with their first coat of paint.  I think I'm going to like this choice of scheme for it.

     at this point, I decided to cement the bow cap on......disaster struck!  I was using brads to secure the cap on, and when I got to the bow cabin wall, the rib {beam}broke, sending the insertion tool through the cap and the deck floor underneath!  I was mortified to say the least......my wife heard it!  when she saw the look on my face, it said it all, "can you fix it?"  she was concerned.....she's come to enjoy 'ole Nordie as much as I do, even though it's cluttering up her dinning room.  my facial expression changed {part of it was just an act}and I nodded a "yes"......."do we have enough in the budget for me to get some flat stock?"  she told me "yes", and off I went to the hobby store.  I came home with a 4"X36" piece of flat stock.....I should have gotten the wider one, because the cap is 5" wide at the cabin wall's point,  I just cut two pieces and glued them together, fashioning it from this......it's all good.  afterwards, it was primed, bringing me back to where i started from.
    it was time to apply the bottom paint to the hull, below the waterline.  once the hull was masked, it was brought back down to the cellar for the paint.

       again, the problem of not sealing {cementing} between the planks showed up, the red even more so than the blue.  you can see them in the picture above.  some of them went away as it dried, but some still remain, I will have to sand a bit....the hope is that the paint particles will fill them in {just a thought}.  I will let it cure for a while more to see just how much I will have to do.  in the meantime, just as I did with the blue, it was brought upstairs to a warmer climate to finish curing.

     curiosity got the better of me again.....I fitted the housings back on again for these pictures....further assuring me that I made a good choice of paint color {my wife helped}. 

     once the defects in the bottom paint is brought under control, and the touch-ups i need to do are completed, the helm room and housing can be cemented into place.  I am so glad I made that second cradle, as you can see, it got painted as well when I did the blue.  the build goes on.............