Painting Topsides Tipping Off - Advice Please

[Tam Lin]

I am painting the topsides of my Centaur and have decided to use one pot paint. I applied the first coat of International Pre Kote and was not happy as the brush strokes were clearly visible. I rubbed down to a smooth surface and did one side of the boat again, this time thinning the paint and rolling it on and tipping it. Still brush strokes so I went to the local hardware store and bought a new, good quality brush for tipping. Did the other side today and it looked really smooth until about half way down the hull when it started to pick up brush strokes again. Was this because the paint that the brush had picked up was drying? Should I clean the brush in thinners as I go along? Should I thin the paint some more? Or am I missing something else altogether? Any suggestions would be welcome - Thanks.

 

[nigelmercier]

Put your brush in a jar of water when you are not using it.

I first heard the term "Tipping off" in the current PBO, it sees they are doing a write-up next month. I didn't know it had a name!

I wonder if you can use velvet ...

 

[Novachris]

i just did my topsides and it was my first go at tipping off, I used toplac single pack, i did a bit of research on youtube before i got into it ,i must say i was impressed with the finish.
i used a foam 6 inch roller and a good quality paint brush to tip, i wish i would have used a foam "brush" like a lolly on a stick now to tip, as i got a few brush marks here and there, but i think it is a bit cold still for painting outside.

edit..re brush drying....i found that i did about 3 foot strips with the roller then tipped off, it worked ok and you couldnt see the join.

 

[Nigel_Ward]

I used two pack a few years ago and used a good quality paint pad for tipping off (used the edge rather than the flat as recommended by the paint supplier). It worked very well, but you probably need to try different brushes, pads etc to find what suits the viscosity of the paint used.

Before using the pad I brushed it hard with a clothes brush to get rid of any loose fluff.

 

[ripvan1]

Best tip I had, tried and had good results with was to use two rollers instead of roller and brush

And don't be tempted to keep going back over that bit you've just tipped

 

[Jcorstorphine]

I used a fine varnish roller to put it on and a paint pad to tip it off, no brush marks or runs.

 

[raggy]

I used the prekote and toplla on mine. Just use a roller with the prekote and then sand lightly between coats. The is no need to tip off the undercoat. I used a short hair roller. For the topcoat use a foam roller and then tip off with a good brush. I rolled on horizontally and tipped of verticly.

 

[Lakesailor]

Use a 4" foam roller (good quality, the cheap ones fall off their core as a result of the solvent in the paint)
Do about a square yard (none of that metric rubbish) and then using the exhausted roller run lightly downwards over the paint. It may look a bit speckly as you do it but will flow out. Then recharge the roller and do the next section.
I thin the paint from the tin no more than 5%. If the temeperature is cold try to warm the environment of the boat (if it's indoors otherwise keep the paint indoors before use and possibly put the tin in a warm water bath as you are using it, before putting it in a (small) paint tray).

This is how it looks.

 

[chinita]

I find it very difficult to achieve the best finish rolling and tipping on my own. Tipping needs to be carried out immediately after rolling.

You need two people.

Ideally a heavy handed bloke for the rolling - as you need to be fairly generous with the paint (and, IME, women tend to try to make it 'go' as far as possible) - and the light touch of a lady to do the tipping.

 

[Gordonmc]

I have done the topsides of my 36 footer twice now, both times on my own.
Toplac on top of pre-kote.
I had the problem of the paint starting to go off before I could get to it with the brush, so the paint started dragging. The solution was to add a dollop of Owatrol to the paint and mix well in. It helped maintain a wet edge and the paint flowed into any brushmarks.
Better would be to have a second person tipping, but for us Billy nae-mates...

 

[chinita]

add a dollop of Owatrol to the paint

Please do not obfuscate this thread with too much technical data.

 

[Tranona]

Please do not obfuscate this thread with too much technical data.

Wonder if that would be a metric or an imperial dollop - or even a registered dollop. Makes a difference - we should be told!

 

[vyv_cox]

My new PBO arrived this morning, with the article on applying top coat. Haven't read it but the photos look good - they are doing a remarkable job on Hantu Biru, although the man hours expended must top up to more than building a new boat.

 

[martinaskey]

I repainted a friend's Centaur a couple of years ago in dark blue.
also repainted my old folkboat several times (now moved on to a varnished hull !!)
anyhow, the technique that worked for me was to apply the paint (toplac in my case) with a good quality brush and then immediately go back over it with a 2" foam brush.
the technique was to very gently drag the foam brush over the surface in one motion (downwards).
this elimimated any bubbles / brush marks and gave a very good finish.
I did the paint / drag technique in blocks - the size of the block you can achieve seesm to depend on temperature ie drying time.
for the folkboat it was usually cool (and in shed) so relatively wide strips could be managed (about a metre at a time).
when we did the Centaur it was a warm, sunny spring day with a light breeze so one person painted and the other followed with the foam brush immediately behind.
M

 

[Tam Lin]

Thanks to everyone who replied to my post. Today I did some testing. I did some patches of about a foot square using the foam roller, paint pad and a mohair roller for gloss paint from Wickes. The foam roller dried unevenly, the paint pad dried with brush marks in but the mohair roller dried beautifully and smoothly. Having rubbed down the boat again I did it all with the mohair roller and it looks fine and ready for the topcoat. All except for the two patches where I used the foam roller and paint pad which show up under the roller coat - should have thought of that! Tomorrow's job is to sand those patches down and try to get a smooth finish ready for the topcoat on Thursday. The weather down here is beautiful, sunny, warm and 21 degrees with a gentle westerly breeze. Just right for painting but even better for sailing!

 

[Lakesailor]

Good. Best to get your own technique by trial.
I tried a fleece roller but was really disconcerted by the debris it left behind. Maybe they were poor quality.

I found the foam to be ideal (ref the piccies) but again maybe the rollers I got were good quality. It's difficult to get consistently good consumable items like this as suppliers shop around for the best deal from manufacturers all the time.