: I have an old Pygmy Coho that I’d like to bring some new life to.
: I was thinking of taking just the hull down to bare wood,
: staining it a deep red, and reglassing.
: Any advice?

: I’m thinking I’d scrap off the existing glass with a heat gun
: and a paint scraper. Gently sand it, stain it and reglass. My
: concern would be while the wood might accept a nice stain, what
: about those epoxy seams and stems? Are they going to stand out
: and look hokey?

: Or if stain isn’t a good choice, how about simply a dark red u
: paint over the existing glass? In that case how best do I remove
: any presence of the automotive wax I used on it to polish it
: before a light sanding and painting?

: Any paint you’d recommend?

I have used automotive paint and clear coat to redo a kayak with stunningly beautiful effect using a few spray bombs. I have no experience staining stripped plywood but I can't see that working very well because you would risk sanding right through the top layer of the plywood to sand off all epoxy residue which probably soaked deep into the wood. I would paint but give the old girl a fresh coat of epoxy before painting.

Robert N Pruden