Other materials to cover a wood Jon boat

[Rob Thompson]

Hello all. I want to build and cammoflage a jonboat, I had an idea that once the plywood hull was covered with resin and fiberglass cloth, would it then be possible to to carry out a similar process again but instead using camouflage material ? Cotton or nylon ? Anybody ever tried it ? There are many good patterns available and if it is possible it would be more effective than all the spray jobs I've seen. Hope you can help, rob.

[michael pierzga]

Perhaps you could skin a boat in somekinda camo material in resin. The embedded fabric would only be parasitic weight and resin is not good with UV protection. It will fog up. .

What is the film material that has become fashionable which puts a Desert Storm camouflage design over the factory paint job on urban Land Rovers ? I often see it...some kind of film. The Germans love it. Give it a Google.

[gonzo]

You can get fiberglass cloth with camo print on it.

[Rob Thompson]

Thanks guys, I recon I'll do some trials on tester pieces just for the sake of it. You see the weight shouldn't be a big deal if I use gaboon and try to keep weight down where possible, and the nylon material has its own uv resistance. I will try material then fiberglass and vice versa. If the edges are all sealed then how could it fog up ? Do you mean it could delamminate ? I certainly don't want to put in a lot of time effort and money into a build just to ruin it with a bad covering job ! So I very much appreciate your advice and heed the warning. I'm just excited about the idea because I think it could have potential. Do you have any links about that patterned fiberglass cloth ? If it's any good it could save me a lot of bother ! Any further advice will be very welcome, I'm gonna order some material to on some cheap ply and leave in buckets to see how it fares. I'll put the results up for scrutiny.

[Rob Thompson]

Oh I forgot to say about that heat shrink film. It is used widely used to cover commercial vehicles. There is no doubt that it would make a flawless appearance, but I don't believe it would last well on a boat. Plus it's a bit specialist for shed work.

[PAR]

You can apply a light nylon camo material as the last layer of laminate on your boat. It'll need to be protected with varnish or polyurethane ( to save the resin), but it'll work.

The best and cheapest camo jobs are done with spray paint. Several colors, all done by hand in one afternoon will produce a nice, fuzzy edge camo job. If you want crisp lines, then tape it off, but I wouldn't bother as the fuzzy lines work better in most applications.

You could spray the whole boat with 3M adhesive and drive through a freshly cut lawn, picking up clippings as you go. A real 3D camo job!

[michael pierzga]

Never looked for camo eglass. I google a few suppliers. Perhaps give them a call to learn how to use it.

http://www.hp-textiles.com/shop/prod...hp-v30cf.html&

[PAR]

There are a number of sources for camo 'glass and veils, but again it'll need protection from UV, which paint will not.

[michael pierzga]

As far as UV burn, I called the MET OFFICE and they told me that the last sunny day in Berkshire was back in 67'. Should be able to add aluminium powder to the resin just in case the sun makes an appearance.

[Rob Thompson]

Thank you for your advice. I have downloaded the plans for an NC16 canoe, it's a practice job good for me because it will only require two sheets of ply and less subsequent materials. Cheap and quick ! I'll try out the cammo and re-post under cammo canoe in a month or so

[Rob Thompson]

Hello people, I was reading about fiberglass repairs last night and realised that any damage to the hull would be impossible to match repair. Stupid me. Looks like there was a very good reason everybody is just painting stuff ! Oh well, it could be useful in some other application. I'm gonna search threads on sprayable marine paint and join the knowledgable masses ! Duh

[Cobra1]

Resin will not stick to wood, not for very long any way. What you want is a 2 part epoxy, and a couple layers of 6 oz Cloth. Slapping on a buch of green and brown paint is going to be cheaper than seaching for camo cloth.