Fly Bridge Make Over
The floor and cabinets on the fly bridge were looking a little old. To be honest, to do this job right we probably should have cut the floor open, address a little bit of core deterioration, and maybe even lifted up the seats and console. However, all in all its not in to bad a shape and for this season and the next I just wanted to spuce it up a bit.
Here's the floor, paint from an older re-do was lifting off, and there were a handfull of test holes we had drilled to check the core. So, looking a bit worn for sure.
p.s. if you ever have a bored "helper" shrink wrap graffiti is a great time killer! Just give them a marker and let em have at it.
I lifted up the ladder to the fly bridge. That defintely needed some attention, especially on the cockpit end.
Here is the cockpit end, there was some wiggle to it, and some soft core underneath. Again, I know what I should do, and how to do it, but not this year so I did the best I could with it. (NOT!!! We can't leave it like that, were now adding the Cockpit Refinishing to the spring projects!)
I pulled the ladder and cleaned out the soft core.
I removed the doors for the cabinets and repainted those.
Here they are after I put them back. I used Interlux Brightside which worked well.
I then lifted up the railing. I figured I would get a better looking job than just painting around the bases, and it was time to rebed them anyway.
At this juncture I ran into a dilemma, I really wanted to keep the shrink wrap on, but it would not allow me to move the railing back, so I could paint underneath the bases. No matter how hard I tried to position it, no luck. I almost cut the shrink wrap off, but then came up with an idea to use these golf balls underneath the bases. This worked really well, it got them up just enough.
After sanding the floor down, I taped it off.
Here is a list of the materials I purchased;
- Awlgrip 545 Epoxy Primer-Base (D8001 White) – 1 gallon
- Primer converter; D3001 – 1 gallon
- Reducer brushing T0031 (primer and topcoat use) - 2 quarts
- Awlgrip Polyester Urethane Topcoat- Moon Dust G6004 – 1 Gallon,
- Awlgrip Converter for brush H3002 – 2 quarts
- GripTex non skid particles Course; 73013 – 3 quarts
- Flattening agent; 1010 – 4 quarts
The mixing ratios for the priming are;
- 1 part; Awlgrip 545 Epoxy Primer-Base (D8001 White)
- 1 part; Primer converter; D3001
- 20% of the above mixture; Reducer brushing T0031
A few tips for applying the primer;
Every time I made a batch it was more than I needed.
I used a 7" West System foam roller and a good brush.
What you don't use keep in a closed container and it will keep quite a while, I went several days with one batch.
The primer was a lot thinner than I expected, and to compensate for that I tried laying it on a little thick. Dont' do this, just do as many coats as needed, I applied two coats. Where I went thicker it didn't seem to harden quite as nicely as where it was thin.
This primer gave off the nastiest fumes I have ever encountered. Ive used a lot of these products over the years and ingested my share of fumes, but this stuff was absolutely the strongest I have ever encountered.
Here is the floor after a few coats of primer. I used white primer because I heard the grey can be hard to cover with the top coat.
I did not work very hard between coats to really smooth the floor out as I am going to be using non skid particles and a flattening agent to get rid of the gloss. There are all sorts of products Awlgrip recomends for this, and they really stress the preparation when painting topsides or hulls. If you were doing a hull or cabinh top, anything other than a non-skid surface you will really need to make everything super smooth, the gloss will show all the imperfections.
The mixing ratios for the top coat were;
1 part; Awlgrip Polyester Urethane Topcoat- Moon Dust G6004
1 part; Flattening agent; 1010
1/2 part (for priming its 1 to 1, for top coat its 1 to 1/2, BUT if you spray the top coat then its 1 to 1) Awlgrip Converter for brush H3002
20% of the above mixture; Reducer brushing T0031
A few tips for applying the top coat;
The flattener is BRUTAL to stir up. I read on someone elses site they had trouble with it as well. When you open the can there is about 2 inches of liquid and then the rest looks like window glazing putty; but totally dry. I have used flattening agents befor with automotive products and it was a light colored liquid so this was a bit of a surprise. My advice is to mix this up way befor your ready to paint. I finally had to empty the entire can into a pail and mix it up in there, and then pour that back into the can, the whole process was frustrating and just made a mess.
The flattener is mixed 1 to 1 with the color base, which was another surprise to me (hence not ordering enough the first time around).
Every batch I made, I made to much, but just like the primer if you cover it, it lasts quite a long time.
Apply it thin, and just do multiple coats. You will need two at least two coats and even with the white primer I needed three.
DO NOT use their method for applying the non-skid. Of my entire job this part doesn't look as good because of this. They recommend using a flour sifter, or (what I did initially) punching holes in the can and then shaking the grip tex onto tacky paint. This made for a terrible looking result in my opinion. What I ended up doing and it worked great for me was pooring a good pile into the palm of my hand, and then blowing on it in the direction I wanted the particles to go. This resulted in a nice uniform coverage, and allowed good control when you wanted more in certain areas.
If your doing an area that is not non-skid, and you want a gloss finish, you will need an awful lot of preparation.
Here it is after the 3rd coat, and the tape removed. Overall i'm pretty happy with how it came out. The only area I wish I had done better was applying the non-skid. Too much in the area where I tried to apply it using the can with holes poked in the top, and in some spots a little light where I blew it on.
Next up: reattaching the railings!
Well, I got all the railings back on, not a bad job but a little tedious to get it just right. At first I thought about using the old 5200 but lately I have been a bit of a convert over to Life Caulk The 5200 is great stuff, but if you ever want to remove it your cursing all day long. So, Life Caulk it was.
Railings, sans golf balls!
I dug up the cushions from the old interior, and they fit pretty well on the seats for an added touch.
Painting the cabinets seem to help spruce things up too.
All in all I'm pretty happy with it. I just need to finish the cockpit floor so I can reattach the ladder!
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