Hello after quite a break Aluminum you say. You mean something like we did but with alu instead of wood or maybe something more Armstrong alike?

If it's about an update... sh*t I did not realize evertyhing will take SO much time
We had some holiday brakes and a lot of time spent on things which aren't that visible but today we've finally made like one step further so here's some brief.




We did all the "small" things. Changed a small wooden panel under the deck - there was a leak under the (don't know how it's called in English - we call it handreling) "handrail" mounting and part went rotten. Flattened the cuddy sidewalls a bit. Made all the water passages in the hull etc. etc. Don't have many photos. Oh yeah and we glassfibered the deck together with the hull all around the boat.





We wanted to avoit putting a lot of fillers/puttys on the deck as you actually walk on it so the thing flexes a lot. But after painting the whole boat with epoxy primer it appeared that th deck is soooo warped that we can't leave it like that. Decided to leave the sides and bottom that were fine and work around the whole top of the boat once again. We used plastic putty/filler. After some tests it appeared that it's flexible more than enough but needs to be applied with very thin coats which was a REAL PITA in this situation. Took me almost two weeks (hand sanding with huge sanding plate) to get it done.







After three long months the boat leaves the workshop and the "dirty work" (maybe beside of cleaning the shop which won't be easy as well) is done.






Time to start with the paintwork. I've sprayed one coat of epoxy primer today and somehow I'm soooo happy. The boat finally starts to look like a boat...

Another paintwork details done:


Primed some small bits




Yesterday painted the rear end and the bracket with black gloss polyurethane.




Today sprayed the whole cockpit.

What paint are you using?

It's a polyurethane marine paint. Offering best durability and resistance imho. Acrylic "car" paints are a lot easier to paint and maybe stick a bit better but their salt/scratch resistance is not enough for a boat.

Looks good. What brand paint?

Well it's a brand from Poland so you'll probably wont recognize it but basically it's a polyurethane colour varnish/paint.

Manufacturer website:
http://sea-line.eu/en/product-category/topcoats#color
And the datasheet:
http://sea-line.eu/file/kta2/TDS_polyurethan_color.pdf
They called the colour version a "topcoat" but I don't know if it's the right translation. I think they meant more like "top coat" as in my meaning the "topcoat" is a gelcoat with parafin addittive.

Of course there are also clear polyurethane varnishes - like this one:
http://sea-line.eu/en/product-category/topcoats#clear
http://sea-line.eu/file/kta2/TDS_pol...clear_coat.pdf

Advertised mostly as products for wood but they are no different from the first one. A lot of "hi-end" airbrush paint companies offer polyurethane clear varnishes as finishing coats.

Sorry if I'm talking strange but somehow the distance is a kind of barrier here. I don't really know what do you use.

What paints for boats do you use? What clear coats for covering your boat graphics??? (didn't mean sticker graphics of course)

Another stage has just began. Our friend from Bad Pistols in Poland started the "icing on a cake" for the Nova.

Any updates??? Project looks awesome. I am looking forward to seeing you put some power behind it.

Greetings from New Zealand. We need to be comparing notes. I am currently doing the same modifications to a Wellcraft Nova 230XL. It will be powered by a single Evinrude V8 modded to 400hp. I see many similarities in our construction methods. Check out my build thread:

http://www.screamandfly.com/showthre...ve-to-Outboard

I love what you have done to your boat. I am however concerned that you will have too much setback with the weight of two engines on your pod. If you go through my build thread you will see how we calculated setback for our given engine weight.

I will follow your ongoing build with interest. Good luck....

Hello. It's been a while again but the season came in to our shop so there's a lot to do beside of our Spyder project.

Oh, hi Smoking Joe. I'm so glad that you found me here. Being honest your build thread was a real inspiration for us. I really love your biuld and really like the "bracket-to-stringer" idea. I hope you won't be mad for using some of your visions in our project. I promiss you a goood bottle of some nice liquor if we meet some day maybe . I also watch your build closely and hold my fingers for it. Wishing all the best from Poland.

If it's about an update to the project itslef. Well... our artist has finished his job. We did clear coat it with clear polyurethane. Despite our many many paint compatibility tests we had some problems on the way. It'appeared that our polyurethane thinner had a bad reaction with the black-white base mix used to paint the chequered flag. When I saw it showing up while spraying the clear I thought I will cry... but finlly we did fix it saving our flag

And now, something for the eyes:


1. We did finish the ex.engine compartment and started to put the HPL on it's floor:




2. Started to put the stainless bits on the boat and clear coat polishing work.




3. Because of the paint compatibility issues I was spraying with a very thick clear lack mixture (no thinner). I know there's still some "orange skin" left even after the polishing work done but I don't want to flatten it fully to leave quite a thick film on the boat in case of further polishing needed. Anyway I think that this kind of finish is enough Good morning! ))




4. We also started to mount the windshield frames which wasn't easy - so now she start's to look as it should (at least from the outside). Here it is: