Week Twenty-Six

In this past week of watching Tina paint Hadar in her livery, we have come to appreciate how difficult it is to hand paint a boat, with all the masking up with tape and the waiting for parts to dry. So you can progress to the next coat of paint. It makes you realise why it takes so long to do a beautiful job. This week began with Hadar having her bow painted blue.

Blue Bow.

The Guard Rails receive their Black Gloss Coat.

Apart from lots of rubbing down and recoating the cabinsides and bow, the counter has had the guard rails painted black, which now completes the counter apart from the counter deck.

Water Tank Connected.

The water tank has now been connected up, to the filler, overflow and of course to the rest of the plumbing. Roger has been busy inside the fore cabin, fitting cupboard doors, and painting the ash walls and the roof. He also fitted the lights.

The Rather Spendid Completed Counter.

The Red Undercoat on the Cabinside.

The cabinside paint scheme is now taking real shape with the red undercoat giving some idea of how the scheme will finally look.

Painted Saloon.

The painting of the inside of the forecabin has now been completed. The majority of the wood which is cherry has been varnished, and the ash walls have received a wash of ivory, which allows the grain of the wood to show through, which looks great. The ceiling has also been painted gloss ivory to match the roofs in the engine room and boatmans cabin. The lighting has been installed throughout the forecabin. Nearly all of the cupboard doors have been fitted, Roger is waiting for more hinges to arrive to fit the remainder.

Painted Galley.

I am looking forward to cooking our first meal in the galley, whilst Keith sits and watches the TV LOL. We are both so pleased with the way it has turned out. The grain on the cherry now it has been varnished really stands out, and really does look impressive. Another week has past and we are delighted with all the work done so far.

Week Twenty-Five.

Painted Handrails.

The handrails have now been painted blue, this completes all the painting of the roof.
Following the arduous task of masking off the coachlines on the cabinside on the port side, Tina has now applied the undercoat for the coachlining.

Coachlining Undercoat.

Undercoated Counter Guard Rails.

The guard rails on the counter have been undercoated.

Starboard Coachline.

Tina has masked off the coachlines on the starboard cabinside and applied the white coachline undercoat.
The bow has received it's red undercoat band, and the T stud and stem bar have been painted gloss red. The hinges on the front hatch have also been painted gloss red but they can not be seen in the photo.

Bow Red Undercoat and Gloss Red Stud and Stem Bar.

During Friday Tina put a coat of varnish on the doors for the Saloon Cupboards, there will be photos of those to follow.

Week Twenty-Four

We hope that everyone enjoyed a lovely Easter break and if you were cruising enjoyed the beautiful weather. After the Easter break it was back to work on Hadar. With this warm spell it means it is warm in the paintshed.

Primered Bow.

The coat of red oxide paint, that Hadar received last week to her roof is the final coat, as it dried ok over the long weekend. Tina then primered the bow and the roof of the saloon, and then started the undercoat, with the red hinges of the front hatch cover.

Roger is continuing with the tedious task of cutting and fitting all the beading to the galley and saloon woodwork. Just one of the fiddly jobs which seem to take ages, but as will be seen when I can take a photo inside, some of the mitred corners are quite difficult due to the acute angles created by the saloon roof under the cloths.

Primered Saloon Roof.

Primered Cabin Sides.

Tina primered the cabin sides in grey. It may seem like each process takes ages, but it has to be given a good length of time to dry, so patience is a virtue not just for us but also for Tina as she progresses through the job. I always think if something is worth doing it is worth doing well LOL. Tina is very, very good at what she does.

Painted Counter.

Tina gloss painted the 2 bands on the counter, the upper being white and the lower red. The small Northwich is unusual in that it has an extra guard rail between the lower two. The painting of the red band ignores this, assuming it doesn't exist, apart from painting it black the same as the other 3. It will all become clear when the guards are finally painted black.

Bow Coachline.

The bow was masked off and the white coachline applied. Then Tina started the tedious task of masking off the coachlines on the port cabinside. This can take a long time to get right to ensure that all the lines are straight, the vertical ones are vertical, that the horizontal ones are horizontal and all line up with the adjacent one. It doesn't help when these coachlines cross hinges, etc. This stage is important as apart from the coachlines themselves, the rest of the painting hinges on this being right first time. I don't envy Tina at this point, not something I would want to do.

Masking Off for Cabinside Coachline.

Week Twenty-Three.

Finished Castles.

A week in which we saw a lot of different things going on. Tina put the final touches to the remaining castles on the rear doors .

Painting of Roof Details.

Tina has painted the roof details such the chimney collars, pigeonbox 'ole, engine exhaust collar, hatch slide and roof cross beams.

Galley Drawer Fitted.

Roger has made and fitted the galley drawer underneath and to the right of the galley sink. Hhe was also working on all the edging strips around the cherry. It is of course looking fantastic and exactly what we wanted.

Tina also primered the counter.

Primered Counter.

Final Roof Coat?

Hadar received what could be it's final coat of red oxide paint, depending on how well it dries. We will know on Tuesday if it is ok.

Red Undercoat on Counter.

The counter received a coat of red undercoat on the lower band.
In between painting and rubbing down, Tina has completed the castle on the coal bunker. There is still a red edging strip to go around the castle picture, which will be added later. The coal bunker goes in the boatmans cabin underneath the step. The coal bunker also serves as a step upto the counter level step.

The Finished Coal Bunker.

As you can see it has been a week where a lot of different things have been happening. It is all the bits and pieces which go together to make a wonderfully finished boat.

Week Twenty-Two

Stove now Fixed in Placed and Boiler Connected to Pipework.

Roger has been installing the radiator in the toilet/shower cubicle, and running through the pipework to the back boiler in the coal stove over the past few days. He has been grouting the tiles behind the stove as well and fixed the stove in place and connected it to the pipework. It looks absolutely fabulous. The picture tiles are hand painted are a scene of Coniston. We decided to go for some old Quarry Tiles for the base. Roger had some in the boat yard, which we sorted through until we found enough to cover the base. We think they look the part.

Radiator Fitted and Connected.

Tina has had a busy week finishing of the Castles on the back doors and painting the roof Red. It is a Red Oxide Colour but has an enamel finish.

Red Oxide Roof.