519Hrs – Different Day Different Perspective
I slept on tipping the hull and woke decided against it. Too much hassle, too high a risk of damaging something. When I got to the barn I did move the hull though, about three feet to give me a bit more space to work on one side. Amazing the difference that made, I’ve been working on the hull in one position since I levelled the skeleton 6 months ago, it’s crazy but moving it re-energized me somehow. Maybe I just got bored looking at everything from the same angle and in the same light! I then had another look at the Mixfill I’d put on three days ago and found, finally, that it was cured enough to sand. I was immediately impressed by the ease with which it sanded back and the finish I was getting. Like Thomas I realised that I had been applying way too much though. I also realised that impatience had led me astray. The Mixfill is exactly the right product for the job albeit a little slow in these temperatures but hey I’ve got plenty to apply so what’s the rush! On that basis I vacuumed and washed one side of the starboard hull dried it off with my work lights and hot air gun then started mixing and trowelling on Mixfill, thinly this time! I really started enjoying it and by the time I’d finished I’d virtually finished the one side. To finish the day I started making a sanding board because I’m under no illusion that slapping on filler is the easy bit, the graft comes sanding it fair! Anyway I feel much better now I have made some progress and I know what I have to do. Thanks again to all those that have given advice and word of encouragement whilst I’ve been drifting, you are helping me more than you know.
Hi Neil,
3M makes a fairing board and sand paper for it. You could make one yourself. They are 3 feet long flexible with a handle at each end and velcro on the bottom. Makes for a very smooth continuous surface.
Hi Neil, I think you are doing a great job, I am working on the Tiki gone Tropo in Thailand. I fully appreciate the fairing of the hull is time consuming and laborious but you will get there with the longboard and devotion. When applying filler our guys use two stainless steel spatulas about 5-6" wide and they constantly apply with one and the excess is removed and they form a fillet on the "spare" spatula to apply on the next part of the hull. They also use this method for forming fillets, it is very effective and miserly in the use of filler, keep at it matey!