avoiding bleed between stain & paint

[hamilton]

Hi there:

 

I'm currently working on Corel's HMS Greyhound, which I'm building as HMS Blandford, following the basic external configuration, fittings & rig outlined in Goodwin's Anatomy of the Ship Blandford.

 

On this build, the hull will be painted below the waterline and finished with Golden Oak stain (apart from the wales, which are black) above the waterline. Second planking began with the double wales and filling strake, then above the wales and now the lower hull. 

 

The waterline runs immediately below the wales at mid-ships, but there are sections of "exposed" planking at both bow and stern, where the planks rise above the waterline. I want to finish these areas with a clean line, obviously, but I'm not sure which of the following methods will reduce the chance of bleeding (or whether it matters at all):

 

1. Mask the waterline (below) and stain the portions of planking at bow and stern and then re-mask and paint the lower hull

2. Mast at the waterline (above) and paint the lower hull, then remask and stain the exposed portions...

 

Maybe this doesn't matter at all and I'm overthinking....Any help at all will be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

hamilton

[lamarvalley]

I'd pick #1...in my experience a stain will tend to bleed (spread) more than a paint.

Edited May 29, 2013 by lamarvalley

[NMBROOK]

Hi Hamilton

I would stain the upper hull first without masking,no matter if you go a bit below the waterline.Allow to dry thoroughly then apply two or three coats of polyurethane over the whole hull.Allow to harden off for 48 hours.Mask above the waterline and rub the bottom down lightly with 320 grit silicon carbide paper.Replace the masking if necessary(I would have used cheap masking tape for the first step as its only to protect from scratching the upper hull and tamiya masking for the second) and then paint the bottom.

Hope this helps

Kind Regards Nigel

[hamilton]

Thanks Randy and Nigel - looks like the consensus is in! And thanks Nigel for the detailed description of your process....very helpful! I'll post a photo of the results in my log once it's all done

hamilton