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the manual is a bit sketchy on ‘glassing and epoxying the bottom. I just applied the first coat of epoxy. I will be painting the bottom black. I assume that tomorrow I will lightly sand the bottom and the overlap on the sides and apply a fill coat of epoxy, which I will sand flat before painting the bottom.
should I complete the varnishing of the camper before I paint the bottom, or do you think it’s ok to paint the bottom now while I have it inverted and varnish the top at the end of the project?
thanks
ken
I had the same question for CLC. They recommended at least a light fill coat on the bottom before painting. I didn’t apply a third coat for uniform finish though since it is getting painted instead of varnish (and no one will ever see the bottom!) I did apply at least two more coats on the side of the camper where the fiberglass overlaps the edges.
I made choice to paint while it was inverted to save having to flip it again later. I start varnishing on Thursday. Plan is just to tape over the paint line with high quality painter’s tape and be careful with the varnish.
thanks! which kind of painter’s tape did you use on the sides, and did you get any black paint seeping under the tape?
I am getting very anal about this. I don’t want a jagged paint line. I am thinking about painting the bottom, then after turning it right side up, painting the 1″ overlap on the sides so I’m not fighting gravity, adding to the chances of paint seeping under the tape, although the capillary action at that point is probably stronger than gravity.
(yes, I’m an engineer, and yes, I’m overthinking this).
I did only one epoxy fill coat on the bottom and painted it when camper when was 1st supine. I used a John Deere green paint. Very durable and easy to match color at a later date if needed. I painted my trailer with same paint.
I feared capillary seepage under the painter’s tape and was not disappointed. Switched to a new sash brush to paint bottom sides. Almost no seepage. Gotta have a steady hand – do it when you’re calm and haven’t been listening to the news. And some manner of arm support is helpful. It went fast for me. Finished the task with roller.
Once the camper is mounted onto the trailer, it’ll be harder than Chinese algebra to see capillary flow or not. If you want something really to fret about, try pondering about getting to hatch seals to seal properly and keep galley dry.
An engineer I know cuts firewood by measuring limbs with an electronic caliper, then cuts to length with an axe.
I couldn’t find the “fine line tape” that CLC recommends locally. This is it. I didn’t want to wait for shipping, so I just used the best brand name blue tape I could find at Home Depot. Didn’t have any seepage painting it while upside down. The marine paint I used goes on really fine, so drips weren’t a problem. I was really impressed how straight and clear the line came out!
Looks like I didn’t take a picture while the camper was upside down with tape removed, but here’s a couple showing during and after.
Stevie–glad to know that you only put one coat of epoxy on the bottom. I had pretty much decided to do the same. I’m down to 1/2 gal of resin and 1qt of hardener and still have to coat the interior of the cabin, the underside of the hatch, the doors, and the galley module. I really don’t want to have to buy any more epoxy but I may end up needing to in the end, even without a fill coat on the bottom.
I ended up buying another gallon of epoxy to finish my camper. Didn’t use even half of it though. Two quarts may’ve been more economical in my situation.
I have found a number of uses for the surplus epoxy. That stuff really can be handy.
Holy crap what a pain in the ass the bottom was. So damn much epoxy. I think I used a good half gallon. What little was left over was spread around the interior when I started feeling the cup get warm. That happened twice and the last time it was getting sticky while brushing on but it came out just fine and is not critical, nor visible. Just need a layer to keep condensation from attacking the wood.
Also, I used blue painters tape around the border where the glass was going down, epoxied everything above the blue tape. I then went in with a rotary cutter to trim and this is the second time doing that and it worked perfectly. Ya gotta be careful with the pressure to cut the wet glass and not dig in too far into the hardened stuff below. If you get the timing right, the epoxy sags just enough to fill in that little cut/groove the rotary cutter makes and it comes out exactly right. No worries if not, the fill coat later will take care of it.
Also, I have a question into Ed @ CLC specifically asking about varnishing over the black interlux polyurethane marine paint that CLC sells. Do I need to mask it off? Should I varnish first? etc. I’ll post back when I hear. This is coming up very quickly. I expect to paint the bottom Friday or Saturday depending on how fill coats go over the next day or two.
I’m still trying to bust my butt to get this thing done (enough) to use 6/24 through 6/25.
-Bob
Holy crap what a pain in the ass the bottom was. So damn much epoxy. I think I used a good half gallon. What little was left over was spread around the interior when I started feeling the cup get warm. That happened twice and the last time it was getting sticky while brushing on but it came out just fine and is not critical, nor visible. Just need a layer to keep condensation from attacking the wood.
Also, I used blue painters tape around the border where the glass was going down, epoxied everything above the blue tape. I then went in with a rotary cutter to trim and this is the second time doing that and it worked perfectly. Ya gotta be careful with the pressure to cut the wet glass and not dig in too far into the hardened stuff below. If you get the timing right, the epoxy sags just enough to fill in that little cut/groove the rotary cutter makes and it comes out exactly right. No worries if not, the fill coat later will take care of it.
Also, I have a question into Ed @ CLC specifically asking about varnishing over the black interlux polyurethane marine paint that CLC sells. Do I need to mask it off? Should I varnish first? etc. I’ll post back when I hear. This is coming up very quickly. I expect to paint the bottom Friday or Saturday depending on how fill coats go over the next day or two.
I’m still trying to bust my butt to get this thing done (enough) to use 6/24 through 6/25.
-Bob
And sorry for the double post. When it came up the pictures were little icons of a broken picture so I edited and tried again and adjusted the picture size and changed the pics and sure enough it came up and now I see the first post even though I did an edit and didn’t create a whole new post. And please forgive this 3rd one apologizing for the mess above.
I just cold called CLC about varnishing over top of the 1″ or so black paint extending from the bottom up over the sides.
Mask it off. They said one or the other, don’t varnish over the paint. No difference if you varnish or paint first. But one or the other.
This doesn’t jive with what I’ve seen on the net, but that’s fine with me.
I also researched fill coats for the bottom. Everything seems to point to it being for cosmetic reasons only so I’m not going to bother other than to fill the weave on the overlap up the sides. I accept that it will be harder to clean and the unfilled weave will hold dirt a bit more, but it’s the bottom and I simply don’t care. Hosing it off when I’m home from a camping trip is probably more than I’d normally do anyway and would work just fine.
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