What Dave said.

Really, stay away from laminated ribs. To do it right you would need a bending form for every single rib, then you would have to clamp along the entire surface, and finally you would need to trim the edges up.

As for the skin, I've used 7,8 and 12 oz. nylon. It all works good. The 12 oz is going to produce a noticably heavier boat. You decide.

As for painting, I always use oil based polyurethane floor paint. Park Pro is the thickest, (and cheapest!) but anything works. You can have the guys at the paint desk tint or you can do it yourself with artist's oil paint. It doesn't take much. Paint desk people will sometimes hem and haw about tinting poly because they don't usually do it and don't know what to expect. (Hold their hand and reassure them that it's ok). I also would not go full strength on the tint. Tell them half. I always buy a gallon and then split it into 2 qts and a half gallon. The half gallon I have tinted, the qts. I save as is.

I put on my first coat as clear and then start layering on the tinted, using the roll and tip method. (Use a small roller to get the paint on, then use the tip of a brush to smooth it out, brushing the entire length of the kayak to avoid brush marks). Although a couple of coats will make a waterproof boat, it is really worth it to fill in the weave of the cloth. This takes about 6 or 7 coats, letting each coat dry and then scrubbing each coat with a scotchbrite pad to prep for the next coat. The kayak will glide noticably faster! If you are tinting and you feel like you are getting too opaque, switch back to the clear.

Above all, enjoy.

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