Painting over hair line cracks on cold moulded topsides

[Lloydus123]

Hi all, after sealing and priming (1coat) my topsides (epifanes) multi marine primer , I’m wondering if another 1/2 primer coats and 3 top coats the cracks will be gone or is it necessary to fill all of them , they’re hair line cracks just on the most weathered side .
Regards

 

[Blueboatman]

Nice boat
What is the existing finish ? One part or two part .
I would stick with 2pack all the way if that is what is there.

And why the cracks /movement /opening up ?
Has the weather got down into the cold moulded timber at all ? A bump? Abrasion ??
Photo ?
Generally I would expect to rake out simple surface cracks in cold molded with a snapped off hacksaw blade , to create a square trench and fill that with epoxy, sand, prime in 2pack, fair, finish in 2 pack..
Very generally , and without more detail or photos or known history , it is difficult to offer much of anything useful !

 

[Plum]

Hi all, after sealing and priming (1coat) my topsides (epifanes) multi marine primer , I’m wondering if another 1/2 primer coats and 3 top coats the cracks will be gone or is it necessary to fill all of them , they’re hair line cracks just on the most weathered side .
Regards

Paint/varnish will not bridge cracks and stay intact for very long, no matter how many coats you apply so those hairline cracks will again be vulnerable to moisture getting into the timber laminates which is not a good idea. My view would be to open them up enough to clean and fill with epoxy and then paint/varnish.

www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[Lloydus123]

Thanks for the replies . Basically I’ve stripped off the old varnish , and fixed all the areas of delamination with epoxy injections, the top sides are now sound , the cracking is due to how thin the top veneer is , and a little bit of shrinking I suppose , I had already filled larger cracks before sealing and priming , my original plan was to varnish however I’m now going down the route of single part epifanes paint . I’ll attach a picture of the areas I mean , I’ve been filling most that have appeared above the primer . But there are so many , just wondered if I was wasting my time with the tiny ones .
Regards
Ps bare with me the photos I’m taking are too large just working out how to re size them

 

[Lloydus123]

Thanks for the replies . Basically I’ve stripped off the old varnish , and fixed all the areas of delamination with epoxy injections, the top sides are now sound , the cracking is due to how thin the top veneer is , and a little bit of shrinking I suppose , I had already filled larger cracks before sealing and priming , my original plan was to varnish however I’m now going down the route of single part epifanes paint . I’ll attach a picture of the areas I mean , I’ve been filling most that have appeared above the primer . But there are so many , just wondered if I was wasting my time with the tiny ones .
Regards
Ps bare with me the photos I’m taking are too large just working out how to re size them

 

[Tranona]

Fill with fairing filler such as west 407, fair and apply another coat of primer.

 

[waynes world]

They wont fill with primer or paint. It need cleaning back to GRP and filling with epoxy as best and fairing back. I did similar on last boat but it was bubbles, took a long time as it was over near all the hull. i just ground it all back, filled faired and primed then painted.

filler
WEST SYSTEM 404 High density filler

 

[Tranona]

The boat is wood, not GRP. 407 is more appropriate because the surface has already been faired and primed. A skim is all that is required to fill those depressions before fairing again and another couple of coats of primer.

 

[dankilb]

If you can justify the cost/volume, Jotun’s pre-mixed epoxy fairing filler goes on even nicer than 407 (we’ve used several gallons of both recently - plus it’s nice to not have to mix and handle powders). Only comes in 4kg at £150+ so you need to know you’ll use the lot.