Refitting job #1

[MapisM]

P, to be honest I told S that whatever she's happy with is fine - in fact, she's in charge for anything onboard which isn't driven by technical considerations...
And actually, she would have liked the light grey in principle, if it weren't that the boat gelcoat is a sort of light cream, not the typical white that you can find on many boats.
More similar to Ferrettis gelcoat, for those who are familiar with it - maybe even a tad darker.
As a consequence, we checked one of the bow hatches that were removed against the Kiwigrip sampler at the dealer shop, and we found that one of their few standard colours (the one called "cream", unsurprisingly) is very similar in tone, just slightly darker. So, that was an easy choice.

It's almost impossible to compare colors based on pics, but just in case anyone else is interested, below are the base colors available, to give an idea.
Being water based, the stuff can also be colour matched by adding up to 2% colorant (therefore with a limit in how dark you can go), but we preferred to stick to one of the base colors and avoid fiddling with it other chemistry.

 

[vas]

P.,

my monitor setup here at home maybe crap, I'd expect you chose the first on the left, second on the left looks way too dark here for a Ferretti gelcoat!
Just explain a bit more, is the sanding/scraping whatever going to reach the actual mat or just the plastic under the gel?

cheers

V.

 

[MapisM]

Nope V, first left is what they call "white" - and it is, in flesh.
"Cream" is indeed the second left, but it does look darker than in reality, in the above pic.
Pics aren't accurate at all, in fact. They call the first right "blue", go figure...
Btw, if you looked at the pics I previously posted of the boat, the gelcoat actually appears lighter than it really is.
Bottom line, the difference between the real KG sample and our hatch was not much.
Yes, the KG stuff still is a bit darker than the boat gelcoat, and it could be made lighter by mixing some white parts, but we believe it's actually better to have the antiskid surface "distinguished" from the rest of the gelcoat (as in the Nordhavn with white gelcoat and grey antiskid).
Time will tell, stay tuned.... :encouragement:

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Yes, the KG stuff still is a bit darker than the boat gelcoat, and it could be made lighter by mixing some white parts, but we believe it's actually better to have the antiskid surface "distinguished" from the rest of the gelcoat (as in the Nordhavn with white gelcoat and grey antiskid).

Do you know how hot underfoot these finishes will be? My inclination would be to go for the lightest colour available although I agree a contrast would be nice

 

[MapisM]

No first hand experience (yet), but allegedly it's on par if not better than bare GRP+gelcoat with the usual micro-diamonds finishing.
Nowhere near as problematic as teak/flexiteek/whatever, anyway.

 

[WhiskeyTownRacer]

I was recently reading a great thread over on the cruisers forum regarding the new build of a Bestevaer 49, at one point the discussion moved on to deck paint and colour choices. The following may be obvious/already known to you but perhaps there is something useful in there. The figures regarding reflection/absorption are quite old and paint tech may well moved on since, but fundamentally colour has a huge influence on absorbed solar radiation as of course you know anyway.

Original thread, the paint discussion covers a few pages either side of the link I believe. http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f47/bestevaer-49st-147499-46.html

Link to paint colour performance (awlgrip in this case-need to scroll a fair way down for the table of colour performance) http://sv-maitreya.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/whiter-shade-of-pale.html

Apologies if you've already made a firm decision or this is basic stuff you already knew, which based on your apparently encyclopedic knowledge it probably is : )

 

[MapisM]

Many thanks WTR, obviously my knowledge is even more far from being encyclopedic than I was already aware of.
I mean, of course I am well aware of the principle, but I would have never expected the differences discussed in your links.
The fact that "pure white" (as they call it) is only 5 degrees warmer in the parts exposed to sun compared to those shadowed sounds very logical, but the fact that another tone of white (called "snow", btw!?) can be 15 rather than 5 degrees warmer, well, that beggars belief.
Following the same logic, "cream" color (I mean, the one called cream in that AwlGrip table, which of course could be different from the KiwiGrip cream) should be 24 degrees warmer...!
And "light grey" should be 58 degrees warmer... WTF?!? :ambivalence:

In fact, that leads me to believe that there might be a fly in the ointment of that reasoning (either a non-linear relationship, or something else).
Just think about it: "Electric Blue" in that table absorbs 85.25%, as opposed to 4.53% of "Pure White" - i.e. 18.82 times more.
But 18.82 times more, applying the same logic used by David Heath in his comparison between pure and snow white, means 94 degrees more than the same parts shadowed.
Not, since he's talking of a tropical environment, it's safe to assume that the shadowed parts can easily reach 30+ degrees.
So, the foredeck of a boat painted in Electric Blue (not that I think it would make sense to use it, but just for sake of reasoning) should reach 124+ degrees.
Surrealistic, or what? That means you could cook a steak over the fiberglass....

Regardless, that's indeed some food for thought, thanks again for bringing it to my attention.
In fact, SWMBO ruled out white not because she doesn't like it, but just because she fears that it might be more prone to appearing dirt.
Sure, the difference would be noticeable vs. the gelcoat (in the direction of being lighter, rather than darker as with the "cream"), but as already discussed a bit of contrast shouldn't look bad...
I'll check with the admiral what she thinks of this issue! :encouragement:

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

No first hand experience (yet), but allegedly it's on par if not better than bare GRP+gelcoat with the usual micro-diamonds finishing.
Nowhere near as problematic as teak/flexiteek/whatever, anyway.

Ah OK. Good luck with the project

 

[WhiskeyTownRacer]

MapisM, I have no techincal knowledge of this area. Whilst I can understand your reasoning on temperatures, I strongly suspect a non-linear relationship as you suggested.
That said, most of the stuff I linked is not exactly scientific, it was more to provoke some further thought perhaps helping ensure you make as informed a choice as possible, given Deleted User isn't the first to mention the colour/temperature issue in this thread iirc.
Maybe you're happy with choices already made, maybe you'll see some benefit of further research which you have control of rather than some slightly vague 2nd hand information

Either way, I look forward to updates as your project progresses.

 

[vas]

Don't have time to read the thread WTR pointed you to P., it feels to me that somewhere there is a confusion/mixup between C F and %

Personal experience on MiToS with the aft seat lids painted hull grey is that it's bloody hot to the bare foot midday! Impressively so compared to white flooring all around with small quantities of quarz sand thrown in for antislip. However I'm talking about dark grey here, not the colours you're discussing. It will be hotter for sure, gut feeling is that it's going to be OK (but on the hot side of OK...)
Yes, wife is right, white is always looking dirty except if you through a bucket of water and make sure no one steps on it for 10mins

cheers

V.