Bulkhead finish, what would you do?

[salar]

Some of you may have seen my refit blog for a Harley 25 motor cruiser. http://harley25refit.blogspot.co.uk I am now at the point where I need to decide how to finish off the outside of the bulkhead around the heads. The hull sides are covered in closed cell foam with barley colour van carpet over, and the headlining and coach roof sides are white foam backed vinyl. Inside the heads is simply white paint, Jotun Hardtop. The bulkhead finish is a bit workboat ( which is what it was), simply ply with grp over and Jotun light grey over that. You can see the patchy layup and resin dribbles. I should have planned this work before but didn't, hey ho. What would you do? Is there a gloopy finish I could roller on thickly to cover the imperfections? I dont want to use filler and sand it at this point. Would you carpet it? Is there something I can stick on that wouldn't show imperfections below? Are there any other suggestions from the man/woman-centuries of experience on this forum?

 

[rogerball0]

Get yourself some epoxy thicken it with cabosil pigment it with whatever colour you want then roll on with a mohair roller and you'll get a nice very lightly stippled effect to knock back the tabbings and resin snots.

 

[rob2]

That sounds loike a plan, I was just thinking how unfortunate that Artex is so inappropriate though that would be the finish that would work.

Rob.

 

[contessaman]

my first instinct would have been to face it up with a veneer or thin ply and varnish for a nice finish, however looking at your blog the boat is quite modern down below and that probably wouldn't suit. Also now you've painted over that GRP you cant really be glueing anything to it properly other than perhaps some bostik for carpet.

Only other thing I can think of is something I have seen used on classic car dashboards. Its kind of like flocking in a can and sprays on like paint but then leaves a flocked surface thats pleasing to the touch and would also serve well to hide the undulations of the chopped strand mat below.

Come to think of it I have crewed on an aphrodite 101 that had this finish inside. Im not sure how they applied to the inside of the deck moulding but it covered up the rough fibreglass finish and still looked decent on a 30 year old boat compared to other yachts with saggy vinyl headlinings.
Its was kind of like suede to the touch. Naturally being a 1970s yacht it was brown along with everything else in the cabin but I'm sure you can find a better colour. when my mate sprayed the dashboard of his caterham it was a nice charcoal grey colour.

good luck

 

[dmayes]

Kiwi Grip would probably do the job, bit like a waterproof Artex and comes in different colours, used for non slip decks so should last OK on a bulkhead.