> I'm building a Guillemot (aren't we all) and am just finishing up
> stripping the hull. It looks great as it is, all clear redwood, no scarfs,
> very few staples, but I must admit I'm thinking of painting just the hull
> white up to the sheer. I have fallen in love with not only the wood but
> the shape of the hull itself and I'm thinking that a solid color hull will
> emphisize it's shape (out of the water, of course) while leaving the deck
> natural would provide a good compromise. Getting to the point I have a few
> questions. 1) What would be the most durable way to color just the hull
> with an opaque white? I have read that adding colors to the epoxy would
> provide a solid surface color and would'nt show scratches like paint. But
> how do you do this cleanly with just the hull? Any ideas on just coloring
> the hull would be a great help.

The glass suppliers and some epoxy manufacturers sell pigments suitable for epoxy. Generally these are polyester based, but that's OK. When added to epoxy they act as a nonreactive diluent. 6 to 10 ounces per gallon seems to be the working range, so adjust the pigment for your batch size. I would not recommend pigmenting your wetout resin, but for fill coats it's just fine. And you're right, scratches are not as noticeable when there is some depth to the color coat. Urethane paint is fine, but it's only .0015" deep per coat, or thereabouts, and scratches will certainly show up.

Check recent posts about detailing tape for cutting sharp lines.

> 2) What are some of the other advantages
> and disadvantages to a colored hull (less heat build up in the sun vs.
> covering up bueatiful redwood) I'm not sold on painting yet so any
> opinions are of interest. Thanks All

Advantages? Hmmmmm..... Can't think of any.