I L L U S I O N
37
Finishing
Sand the entire hull with 80.
Fill any dings, dents, craters, valleys or chips with
wood filler.
When dry, sand again with 80. Check to make sure
that all imperfections are filled.
If not, fill and sand again.
Spend a little time getting this right, as it will make
your boat look so much better when done.
Blow off the hull with compressed air, or use a
vacuum to get the dust off.
Mix about 1 ounce of finishing resin.
Use a credit card to spread out the resin on the top
and sides.
Squeegee as much as you can. Get a thin even
coat of resin on all areas.
Use a small acid brush to get the edges.
Scrape as much resin as possible. You just want to
wet the wood with resin; any excess will just have to
be sanded off later.
This first coat is easy, as the wood will darken as it
gets wetted with resin.
The second coat will be a little more challenging,
but will use far less resin and be faster to cover.
When you are sure that all areas on the top and
sides are covered, let it cure overnight.
When cured, sand lightly with 80. Just make it
smooth. It’s ok if you sand through the resin on this
coat.
When done, blow the dust off and do the bottom.
When the bottom is cured, sand with 80.
Repeat the whole thing for the second coat, only
this time, after the second coat has cured, sand
with 220 wet.
Sand with a bucket of water, a dribbling hose or in
your bathtub.
Use one of those rubber sanding blocks.
Don’t worry about the hull, it’s waterproof now…
Sand the inside of the hull too.
Sand until all areas are smooth, but don’t sand
through to the wood. If you do, you have to re-coat
the area with resin, and re-sand.
