Duckees
What does everyone think about colors. I know Bill wants to build a red one but I think I'll let someone else grant that wish for him. I'm thinking of a color that doesn't exist yet. It looks like a bluish siverish tint sprayed over aluminum. I would like something that has just a hint of militerism attached to it. Maybe the quad fifties on the pilot house will be enough though.
Anybody want to share their true colors?

Good topic, Randal. My workers, not ME, are sick of blue and white. How about hiring that guy who designs those colorful Swatch watches?

As to colors:
My wife likes Cobalt blue, which would work for me, but with a deep burgundy rub rail and cobalt stripe on the pilot house. I also like David's 44, all white, or perhaps all white with a navy stripe.

The dark hull just looks too good to change much! How about a BRG (british racing green)hull? This is a dark green, almost black, beautiful when done correctly.
John

See the gray-blue-white Duck in the photo section.

Wendell

I am going with Kelly Green with white topsides

Robert

We are looking at aqua and white, blue and white or burgundy and white. The white in all three combinations will probably have a little cream in it as it ages better and doesn't show dirt as much as white.

At least that is what I'm told by my better half And she really is my better half, so as long as I like it that is ok with me.

Hugh

We're just in the process of repainting Seaducktress, a DD44. I'll post some pictures soon. The hull below the rubrail is light grey, the rub rail is red and the everything above is off-white (all standard Awlgrip colors.) We carry the gray below the rubrail across the bottom third of the transom. It greatly reduces the bulky look of the stern.

Welcome, Peter

If the trucking industry can have innovative paint jobs why can't Ducks?

quote:

Originally posted by Peter Geerlofs:
We're just in the process of repainting Seaducktress, a DD44. I'll post some pictures soon. The hull below the rubrail is light grey, the rub rail is red and the everything above is off-white (all standard Awlgrip colors.) We carry the gray below the rubrail across the bottom third of the transom. It greatly reduces the bulky look of the stern.

Peter,

Was your reason for repainting appearance, general wear and tear or something else?

Are you stripping down to bare metal? If so are you going to have to reapply the hull fairing compound?

Hugh

Seaducktress was single-handed to the Pacific Northwest via Australia and had a lot of weather exposure. The paint was low gloss and starting to chalk as well as too white for our tastes.

The main thing that made us decide to repaint was the aluminum finishes were all failing (hatches and ports - all 18 of them.) One thing led to another and we decided to bite the bullet, put on the colors we wanted, and upgrade to high gloss - hopefully a finish that will last a decade or more.

The hull and topsides had an excellent foundation (good job Bill) - so just required sanding before 4 coats of primer and three of color. No fairing involved (I think minimal or no fairing at Seahorse). However - the hull was built so true that the gloss light grey and off white look fabulous. Just a little waviness of a couple of plates.

The aluminum was another story. We've pulled all ports and hatches, stripped, bead blasted and remachined all hinges, including using bushings in all hinges (not present in factory versions). Most of the hatches and some of the ports were VERY difficult to open and close because of corrosion. They'll be etched and powdercoated using a powder coat with mild texture. This will hide the pits in the cast aluminum. We decided not to fill.

This has been a big job (for Townsend Bay Marine in Port Townsend) - but it is transforming the boat.

Bill,

I agree with Peter when at the factory the fairing, steel work and painting looked very good.

Any thoughts or input on Peter's comments about the aluminium?

Have you thought about leaving the aluminium unfinished? Would this even help?

Do have any thoughts on the problems they had with opening and closing the ports and hatches?

Also, have you switched painting materials since Seaducktress was finished?

Hugh

My buddy in Chiangmai runs a custom powder coating business and his latest market is redoing aluminium hatches and portholes for customers in Phuket. He shot blasts before powder coating. As noted, paint does just not stand up and anodising is not up to par locally in Thailand.

The textured silver looks nice and apparently is more durable than smooth. I am not an expert in this, but I understand that he uses 2 different types of powder, polyester and epoxy. Will find out about the marine material but one would think that expoy would be pretty tough. I did a bike frame years ago in epoxy black, with a exoxy clear over and it looked great and tough.

I would recommend a light colour as these hatches can get pretty hot. Given the choice I would go textured silver. BTW it is apparently easier to apply (hence cheaper) than gloss, and hides any imperfections in the castings.

I think that bushings in the hinge pins and hardened pins are a requirement. What does Diamond Sea Glaze do?
Powder coating is superior to painting in this application and I for one would want it on all outside aluminium. OTOH, I would not be surprised if Bill is looking into this as a result of Seaductress's experience.

Robert

quote:

I know Bill wants to build a red one but I think I'll let someone else grant that wish for him.

Oooooh, me please! I want a red one with white topsides, like Canadian icebreakers. Here's a picture of one my parents spent over a year on:

http://sheba.apl.washington.edu/sheba3/icestation/image...ges/shipside_jpg.htm

I think my 382 will have to have this colour scheme. The one in my head I mean, it's not going to be built for... oh, a while yet. ;-)

Now I just have to come up with a suitable faux department name... (I spent enough time associated with "Fisheries & Oceans" as a kid). Hmmm... "Folk & Roll"?

Glad to see there's a Duck forum, finally. I can feed my obses-- er, interest. Cheers!

quote:

Oooooh, me please! I want a red one with white topsides, like Canadian icebreakers.

I'm with you, Courtney. I love my red Duck. Someday I plan on breaking some New England ice with my one by seven inch thick steel stem!

-Wendell

I too had trouble with aluminum portholes on our Oceaneer55. The solution on new boats might be to weld in a base and use stainless or bronze portholes. Very clean, no paint.

quote:

Someday I plan on breaking some New England ice with my one by seven inch thick steel stem!

Hi Wendell, I think yours is the only red one I've ever seen (I remember following a link off GB's site and having a look once before). Where in New England are you? I'm from NH and have lots of family in the region, we were just down there in October actually.

Great looking Duck, I must say. Cheers!

quote:

Where in New England are you?

Here is my boat's location. (the link is a movie that requires QuickTime's latest release... without it some browsers may crash)

-Wendell

Courtney,

I couldn't agree with you and Bill more about the red hull! And the proof is Wendell's great DD-38!

Thanks muchly for sharing your web link. The photos were great! And speaking of CCG's red and whites, did you see the pics of the Sir Wilfred Laurier's assistence of the Bray's aluminum DD-552 Idlewild in Canada's North West Passage, September 2005? You can find the photos through DuckTalk's Links if you haven't seen them yet.

Ruth & Randal

I am leaning to a very light gray hull with white superstructure and light blue boot stripe, rub rail, flybridge stripe, and all the canvas. Not too original since Benno & Marlene's DD-38 (DuckTalk's mystery duc), shows off this combination quite well.

What colours did you go with for your DD-4624? (I don't know her/his name.) The blueish silverish? Where is she (he) lying now? Got any pics for DuckTalk's Photo Album?

Cheers.......drassel

Well, I chickened out on the bluish silverish color and went with a traditional Royal Green hull and Oyster deck. Light tan leather interior settees and tan canvas. I didn't discuss sail colors but I assume they will be the same color as the canvas.
I just returned from a two week stay with Bill and Stella and I crawled over all the boats including our 462 hull # 5. Hull numbers 2, 3, and 3 were in the water. They have started faring # 6. Numbers 7, 8, 9, and 10 are almost welded up and ready for sandblasting it appeared.
The 462 sedan is almost ready for sandblasting and the 382 # 1 is being sandblasted on the inside. Because of this I didn't go on that boat, not wanting to tramp over the newly blasted surface before it was primed. The keel has been laid for 382 number 2 and 3.
I took about 75 pictures while I was there. I had never seen a boat in the stage # 6 was. The wires had been run, the furing strips were in place but it had not been insulated yet.
They started welding the stainless steel railings in place on our boat while I was there and completed about half way. The flybridge slug is being built in place on the pilot house roof top and I was involved in the layout of the seating arrangement. From this slug there will be a mold built and from the mold the fiberglass flybridge will be built. Lots of work but the workers were taking their time to get it perfect. They were block sanding the bondo the day I arrived and they were still sanding it the day I left. Being a former auto bodyman I thought it looked great.
I'm real pleased with progress on our boat. Bill and Stella met with me one day and addressed three pages of questions and request I had. What a great experience this has been so far. Had I just gone out and bought a boat ready built I would have missed it all.
Because of our cruising plans we are adding a second auto pilot. I'm adding a diesel heater in the salon, and a trash compactor. I talked to Fido about the watermaker, inverter and navigation equipment. I saw # 3 with an inflatable Chinese made dinghy hanging on the divits and it looked pretty good, it was 3.1 meters I think. I also saw a 10' rigid fiberglass dinghy Bill is building and it has lots of room.

Randal,

Great post! It is always nice to hear updates when people visit the factory.

How did my sedan look? Did you get to walk around in it much?

Bill and Stella are great hosts and very comfortable answering a lot of questions when visitors are there. They also give EXCELLENT access to the facilities and boats being built. A lot of yards would only let you see your boat. If you are having a boat built there I really believe a yard visit is invaluable.

For people looking to buy a boat from Seahorse it really pays off to put your questions together and review them when you visit. Get Bill and Stella the list and you will get detailed responses on-site. I'm the kind of person that likes jump into all the details so it has been hard for me not to review every single item as it comes up. Plus Bill is inundated with e-mails. I know because I sent him more than my fair share.

We are planning for a dark green hull as well so I will be very interested in how yours looks.

How did you choose fabrics and colors? Did Bill and Stella provide samples or did you give them what you wanted and they found it?



Hugh

Hugh Palmer asked:

How did my sedan look? Did you get to walk around in it much?

I did walk around in your boat some. It is very roomy and will be a terrific cruiser. There were only steel support rails in the pilot house so I didn't go forward from there. Looking down into the engine room it appeared you could almost stand up in it. I don't know what the headroom was but it looked to be at least 5'. While I was there they were doing some strinking of the flat panels on the pilot house.

How did you choose fabrics and colors? Did Bill and Stella provide samples or did you give them what you wanted and they found it?

I had wanted leather for the coverings of the settees on the interior and Stella got some samples from somewhere, I think Curtain Boy, but from those samples I was able to pick out a color using the teak interior of the Nagel's boat as a reference. They also had samples for the exterior paint and the Sunbrella that they use for the canvas. On one of our trips over there we went to material city. Each store had what looked like hundreds of bolts of cloth to choose from.

Randal

I am going for a green hull as well and look forward to seeing Randals when I visit the yard April 5

Robert

I don't think our boat will be painted by April,or May either. They still have a considerable amount of work to do.

Best Color Scheme:

Decks should be Spar-Buff color, like the older Coast Guard Boats. It is a sandy tan color which goes nice with white rails and is more nautical than the battleship grey decks. The Spar color is so nice, that you can omit the teak deck option.

I Like the Navy Hull, rub rail needs to be Gold, for contrast and ease of repainting.

Bottom paint would look nice in straight copper against the navy hull like the old Criss Crafts.

Rails and superstructure should remain white.

I like Champaign-Tan for Canvas.

Navy Cushions are nice.

Navy and Gold Plaid or
Navy and Silver Plaid or
Navy and Red Plaid might be nicer as it gives boats a warmer feel.

Maybe Navy and white Pinstripe, but white shows dirt too easily.

I wonder how she would look with a pale yellow hull and spar colored decks.

The Green Hull is nice.

Mark

Based on experience, keep the decks as light as possible.

Bill:

I agree decks need to be light colored so that solar heat is not absorbed. I wonder if they could paint the deck using that tan color used on that one DD that had a light tan hull?

I would think that the grey vs Tan is about the same shade, both seem to be light enough to not absorb much heat. I'm thinking the light tan would be easier to keep clean and look more nautical.