Rocky Mountain Monte Carlo

[DrBryanJ]

JT: Looks great. Love the colors. How long did it take Mike to make your cutwater?

[tysman52]

It took him about 2 months with a reminder call. From what I understand he moves up north in the winter time and doesn’t make them. I ordered mine right when he got back and I think there were a handful of orders at that time so probably a busy time for him. $1100.00 for cutwater and transom bands
JT

[tysman52]

Went to Lowe’s this weekend with all of my deck hardware trying to find the right size fasteners for it all. I think I bought something of every size!
JT

[steveh41]

For what it's worth here's a great source for fasteners...

https://www.mcmaster.com/#fastening-joining/=1du7epw

Steve

[tysman52]

I have made some progress on varnishing. Got the caulking done and much of the hardware on. Currently at the upholstery shop
The only time I have audibly cussed at this boat and considered lighting it on fire has been during the varnishing process. Has taken much longer than expected. I think I am getting to the point though that I am satisfied with it. Far from perfect! I ended up sanding 600, 800,1000,1500,2000,3000. I then used the chemical guys four step polishing. I actually had to repeat the whole process twice because I got all the way through and then did not end up having the glossy finish I wanted. More satin than it should have been. Also found more orange peel. So on the second time sanding, I ended up getting too deep in some areas and had to actually re-stain and re-varnish some areas!!! Went through it again and came out better. In hindsight I should have started with 800 or thousand and spent more time sanding subsequent grits. There are still a few areas where I can see signs of the heavier grit swirls but I refused to do it all a third time! I think one of the hardest parts about building a boat like this is deciding when the step you’re on is good enough. Perfection is elusive, especially for a first build. Lots of mistakes and figuring it out as you go. Also hard to get a perfect finish in a Dusty garage instead of a paint booth. Ultimately the cutting compound made the biggest difference. More so than the polish. Hoping to get it in the water before the end of the summer but will have some small interior things to do over the winter. I also still need to sand and polish the hull but decided I need to take a break from that process for a few months and will tackle it over the winter.
JT

[BayouBengal]

Great job JT!

I think many of us have been here on the finish sanding process. Although it's hard to say without actually being there and seeing the surface up close, I'm going to disagree with your assessment that you should have started with 800 and sanded more. My theory is that you start with a high grit (lets say 1200 or higher). If you're hitting 90% of the surface with the paper backed with a semi-hard sanding block, then that's the correct initial grit to start finish sanding with. If you're not, you have to go down in grit until you do, and if you sand through at this stage it doesn't mean you started with too coarse a grit, it means you've not built up your finish enough and must go back and add more finish. In other words, if you sanded through with starting with 600 grit, you would have also sanded through starting with 800 grit, it would have just taken you longer and more sanding to get there. Sounds like you're an amateur painter as am I and most of the other boatbuilders. I always have dreams that I'm going to lay down the finish so well that I can begin the finish sanding with 1500 grit, but that's only in my dreams, in reality I always find that I must go down to about 600 as the initial finish sanding grit just as you have.

Generally, the finish on all the boats that builders post here on the forum looks to be pretty good because a non-flat less than clear finish is hard to spot in pictures. And it's not because the builders are trying to mask their finish and make their boat look better than it is, it's simply that typical photography doesn't show it. About the best indication you can go by is the crispness of the reflection. Any gloss finish will reflect, but for a boat that needs more finish sanding, the reflection will be distorted or blurry. Looking at your last picture, the reflection on the dark cover boards is fairly crisp which tells me that you've accomplished a fairly nice finish.

Congrats, and look forward to seeing your soon to come initial splash.

[hoodman]

Don't get too close to my paint! You'll find out how perfect it isn't. After going to the gathering a couple of years ago I realized that nobody's finish was absolutely perfect but they all looked great. In my case, all the anxiety about the imperfect finish went away the second we hit the water.

[PeterG]

Looks great! Smooth and glossy.
Something to keep in mind with our finishes is that we're all learning more as we go. The finishes will only improve each time they get refreshed or restored.

[JimmY]

Hi JT,

Your finish looks as good as any other posted on this site! I spent a lot of time on my finish, just like you and had to go back a few steps to move forward. Winter is a good time to fix and buff out any flaws, so get going and Splash that boat!

Once you get it wet, you'll have to content with water spots, and won't care so much about the finish!

[Milhouse]

I too had varnishing/ finishing issues and I have only done my dash so far. I used the same buffing system you did and I was happy with the result after doing it MANY times so you are on the right track

What did you use for the seam filler?

[tysman52]

Thanks for the comments... glad to hear I’m not the only one that has struggled getting the mirror finish!
Jim, I used the 3M 4000 UV caulk. Took 8 tubes. Are used the plastic spoon method to get a nice line. There were some spots, mostly on joints, where I will need to touch it up a bit. It is fun to pull the tape off and see the white line pop out against the stain...

[Bill Edmundson]

Pulling the tape is great satisfaction!

Bill

[wingridr]

Awesome job! I can only hope my Monte looks as good!

[Milhouse]

I used the 3M 4000 UV caulk. Took 8 tubes. Are used the plastic spoon method to get a nice line.

So it seems that you varnished prior to the caulk; do you foresee varnishing over the caulk in the future or will you pull the caulk and then varnish and then recaulk?

you used two part perfection plus per this thread, right? How many coats did you end up putting on?

Sorry for so many questions.

[tysman52]

Jim, I would anticipate varnishing over the caulk if I had to do more varnish down the road as long as the caulk was in good shape. I tried cutting compound and polishing over the caulk in a section and it didn't cause any issues.

I did use the 2 part. The hull ended up with 5-6 coats (maybe overkill but trying to protect the epoxy from the sun). The deck got 3 coats. In hindsight maybe would have done one more? Ended up a little thin after sanding in some spots.

Windshield should be done today and upholstery by the end of the week...to the water before the ice comes I hope!
JT