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I just finished painting and finishing the bottom of my 23ft Hankinson Belle Isle in advance of the flip. I decided (probably a mistake in retrospect) to add the boot top stripe now as opposed to later. I used a self leveling laser and did my very best to get an accurate tape line for the stripe. I felt very satisfied until I pulled off the tape and noticed that, from my perspective, the line still looks wavy and unprofessional. It is not a crisp and "fair" line.

Does anyone have any secrets on getting that long line neatly taped, fair and true ?

Thanks
Dick W

If the hull is perfectly level and the laser is perfectly level, you should have the tape where it should be. I wouldn't pass judgement until the hull is righted.

I plan on painting a smallish strip around the sheer on my Zip. I've painted stripes like this before and I've always used the 3M/Scotch Fine Line tape for masking. It's only about a quarter of an inch wide so it's very flexible. There is sort of a slight of hand technique to it where you start at the transom and pull off enough tape to run the entire length of the hull. When you do this, you need to keep the tape stretched tautly enough to prevent sagging. Then sighting it carefully along your laser's line you ease it down onto the hull. Then follow up by pushing it down for better contact and then using the 3M Blue masking tape to do the rest. The blue masking tape should overlap the fineline by about half. That will give you a crisp sharp edge.

The most critical stripe I've ever done was one of a Cobra Replica that my father and I built a number of years ago. I was painting as a hobby and learned a great deal about this stuff through trial and error. As a result, I got those stripes absolutely perfect. Here is a photo of the same type of car that we built with the same style of stripes.





If this is not totally clear, maybe I'll see if I can do a You Tube video showing how I do it. It's kind of hard to explain I think.

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Isn't it amazing!! The person that never has the fortitude to pursue his own dreams, will be the first to try and discourage you from pursuing yours.

Hi Dave and thanks for all the helpful info. I understand your explanation and I think the big mistake I made was using pretty wide tape and working my way down the hull as I went. STicking it down and then moving on. I looks reasonably fair witht the laser level but the eye is also accurate and I am just not satisfied. I kept moving the level around and it never seems to match up all the way... yikes

this is the first time I have tried to do any kind of high quality finishing and painting. So far I hate it !!! Lots of frustration

I will keep you posted

Maybe at this point,wait til you launch & determine if it's where you want it or need to change

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

Hi Dave..... I wanted to tell you that photo you sent of the car is just incredible! I should have learned to paint as a kid

I'm Still Curious Why There Aren't Any Pictures.....

You Haven't Even Updated Your Website Dick!

I'm No Help With Straight Lines(I'm Not Nearly That Linear)...

Chris

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"Roadside Bomb" Is a Very Loose Term For Something That Very Often Appears In The MIDDLE Of Whatever Surface You Happen To Be Travelling On. Note: The Same Phrase Has Also Been Used In Relation To Donkeys Stuffed With C4.

Ok, I need to point out that this photo is NOT of my car. My dad and I built our Cobra back in the 80s. In the years since, we've lost our photos somewhere along the line. But the stripe was virtually the same. I hunted around on the web to find a car that looked like ours and this photo came REALLY close.

Now here's what's interesting about the Cobra stripe and I know it probably holds true for a bootstripe on a boat as well. Often times when laying out stripes, you have to take body lines into consideration much more than you would think at first. Many times, only a good eye can get it right while there is no machine in the world that can do it. On the Cobra pictured above, you'll notice that way that the nose of the car tapers also requires that the stripes taper. They may not taper by much. But if you could measure the width of the stripes, you would see that they are a little wider back by the dashboard and narrower at the very front of the car. When I layed out the stripes on my Cobra, the first thing I did was measured and layed everything out perfectly straight. But the way the nose of the car tapered made the stripes look like bell bottoms. So I tried adjusting my measurements but nothing seemed to work. Finally, I just eyeballed them doing what I'd described in my previous post and WAMM! They came out perfect. So I think that Warren may be the one to listen to on this thread because like him, I wouldn't worry too much about the stripe until I got the boat in the water. Only then will you truly be able to see just where the stripe needs to be.

_________________
Isn't it amazing!! The person that never has the fortitude to pursue his own dreams, will be the first to try and discourage you from pursuing yours.

Thanks again Dave for the help. And I think you guys are right (and I kind of knew this)... I should have just waited till the boat was in the water ! I think I have been sort of obsessed after all the cold molding, fiberglassing, sanding and painting that I really wanted to see something look like a completed boat. I need to stop agonizing now and get the boat flipped and on with more satisfying work. I think paint and finish will always be a challenge for me, but I realize what a big difference a nice finish makes in the overall project. I will stay after it.

I will send a couple of photos this weekend when I finish buffing out the bottom and prepare for that big flip. My palms are starting to sweat just thinking about that task

Regards

Dick,I think someone mentioned throwing sawdust in the water around the boat just before hauling out& it will cling at the water line...I would think you would need to watch out though if the boat angled going onto the trailer if this way is used.

If I remember right, this method was used on a boat lifted straight up with a sling.

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream