Another attempt

The weather looked OK to make an attempt on painting the second (and final) top coat to the three Houdini surrounds and and the centreline anchor point.  Following the advice from Darren, who painted Waiouru, I masked around each of the areas to be painted.  He told me the reason for doing this was to make a clear line between the new and old paint.  If this wasn’t done then the difference between the two applications would be very apparent.  The first topcoat was then lightly rubbed down with one of those green plastic kitchen scouring pads normally used to clean pots. Sandpaper wasn’t used.  Apparently the scouring pad will make very fine scratches in the paint enabling the final coat to adhere.  The last thing I did was to add some Owatrol to the paint.  To my surprise this thinned down the paint or perhaps raised the viscosity. Anyway, it certainly made the paint easier to apply.

Darren had explained that once the area had been covered with paint it needed to be “feathered off” with light brush strokes all going in the same direction and following gravity.  The idea being that the wet paint will not “sag” and the lines in it from the bristles with fill in leaving a smooth surface.  All of this sounds fine but I’m simply not a good painter. I don’t have a light touch with the brush or a steady hand.  I’ll also too impatient.

The photos don’t show just how bad my painting has turned out.  But at least the rust has gone.  The last outstanding job on the roof was to remove one mushroom vent which appears to be weeping rust from underneath one of the mounting screws.  But having now been up close and personal with the roof I realised the paint has faded and I need to cut back the paint and get more polish on to protect the area before the summer sun starts to make the situation even worse.