Gitano's Franklin Arrow

[tasmillard]

A quick video to show the progress one week into the purchase.  Got another video soon also, and once again reinforces our opinion about not using mastic (took the pin out of the grenade and threw it out there )

Video

[tasmillard]

And here is the work we did today,,rear and some waterproofing

[Deleted]

Today, Sunday was another productive day, with the much appreciated help of my son we have done the front and one side window. After lunch the weather was to hot to work with Silkaflex so we stopped.
Video is coming.

[Deleted]

I just finished removing the vinyl floor in the Arrow. What a job!!! The quality of the plywood used it is shocking and in many places was impossible to avoid damaging the surface.
Now I will give a coat of decking oil and look into which kind of vinyl will put in. Just wonder if marine carpet will be ok at the back where the two single beds will be.
I have made more enquirers about which paint will be the best of outside. Dulux do not recommend any of their products saying, quote:
"none of the systems we would offer are actually designed for repainting the external surfaces of caravans. It would be quite easy to simply advise you that you require automotive quality coatings and you should consult an automotive paints outlet, and this is technically the correct course of action, end of quote.

So far I am think in using Haymes Ultra Premium Prepcoat Ultracover and Haymes Solashield as a finish coat for outside and Haymes Ultra Premium Prepcoat Ultralock for inside with any enamel top coat.

For the roof am thinking in Globalcote or Kodex if I can find an agent in Tasmania.

[Deleted]

Resene seem to think that their paints are suitable for caravans

www.resene.com.au/pdf/Renovating_Workbook/renovation-workbook-14-caravan.pdf

[Deleted]

Thank you Sean for the link, I have sent them an email to see which painting program they recommend.
I will post their reply as soon as I get it.

[Deleted]

This is probably what you're after:

PRIMING AN D PAINTIN G
When Heather and Clancy bought the caravan, the exterior
paint was worn and flaking. It had been painted several times
over the years, meaning a lot of stripping and sanding had to
be done before they could achieve a smooth finish. Particularly
rough areas were sandblasted. Dings and dents were filled with
JB Water Weld. Then the newly exposed aluminium was primed
with Resene Vinyl Etch, before being painted in Resene Half
Orchid White and Fountain Blue. If the exterior of your caravan
is aluminium, then you have two main options when it comes to
painting it. The most durable one is Resene Armourcote 221 and
Resene Uracryl – or, for an easier option, use Resene Galvo-Prime
and Resene Summit Roof. Then, once the painting is done, clean
out your Resene bucket and use it to haul your beach finds back
to your new little home

[Deleted]

Being in Tasmania I was thinking in the wintergrade group of paints from them like the Resene Wintergrade Roof Primer or if not Wintergrade  the Resene GP Metal Primer.

Unfortunately the Resene Wintergrade Summit Roof can only be purchased in batches of 200 lt or more.

[Deleted]

Following the information provided by Sean about Resene paints for caravans I contacted them with photos of my Arrow asking what will be the the best single pack paint for my situation (painting outside in Tasmanian weather)
I hope that this will be a good reference for other members who think in painting their caravans

I am posting their reply, QUOTE:


Hi Arthur,



Excellent, your photo was just what I needed.



To coat the insides:



· Thoroughly clean with Resene Paint prep and House Wash followed by a good rinse with fresh water.



· A light sand to provide a mechanical key



· 1 coat of Resene Waterborne Smooth Surface Sealer



· 2 coats of either Enamacryl Gloss or Lustacryl Semis Gloss.





For the externals:



· Thoroughly clean with Resene Paint prep and House Wash followed by a good rinse with fresh water.



· A light sand to provide a mechanical key



· 1 coat of Galvo-prime



· 2 coats of either Enamacryl Gloss or Lustacryl Semi Gloss.







Comments:

I don’t think Winter Grade products are a good alternative in your situation. They are designed to cure properly at low temperatures but don’t necessarily dry faster – they still rely on water evaporating from the film. They may become difficult to use if applied above 15 deg. If your temperatures are in the range of 10 to 20 deg then you should stick with the standard products and select a day with a favourable rain forecast.



I would recommend a small trial of the Galvo-prime on the external areas that still have paint on them. While Galvo-prime is the best suggestion for your situation, painting over an unknown paint always raises doubt. The WB Smooth Surface Sealer could be a viable alternative if the Galvo-prime adhesion is not satisfactory.



Clearcoat UVS is a possibility if you are looking at bright colours but if you are painting in white, off white or other “typical” house colours then the Clearcoat UVS would be unnecessary as these colours are much more UV stable than bright colours.



If you would like an enhanced weatherability on the exterior then Hi Glo or Sonyx 101 could be substituted for the Enamacryl or Lustacryl BUT they are not suitable for contact areas on doors and windows. If the contact areas are painted with these products then doors and windows may be difficult to open or the contact paint areas may mar.



Hi Glo will also provide a higher gloss level than Enamacryl.







I realise that there is a lot of information here to digest so please let me know if you need further clarification.

[tim]

How uncharacteristically helpful! I usually find that these sorts of places are really risk-averse and would rather not tell you in case it goes wrong and you blame them.

It's a shame the only stockist in Tassie is 200km away.

Tim

[Deleted]

The Hobart dealer of Haymes paints also is very helpful and suggested a program.

[Deleted]

Thanks for sharing!

It was just an article I found on Google.

[Deleted]

Today I removed, cleaned and resealed the 4 small windows with Sika 291
They were "repaired" before, butchery will be more appropriated description.
 
They used self adhesive door and window frame weather strips, the kind used for homes.

[myarrow1]

Hi Gitano.

Wattyl Solagard, no good ? I've heard a few forum members have used it....

[Deleted]

Nov 16, 2015 19:31:34 GMT 10 myarrow1 said:

Hi Gitano.

Wattyl Solagard, no good ? I've heard a few forum members have used it....

I went to Wattyl and they do not endorse the product for this application.

[myarrow1]

It's hard to know what to use for the paint. It's abit like the 'sealants' discussions, lol......There are so may options. I reckon I'm gonna try the Solagard on mine. I've only got bare metal on sections of the front and the rear, so I will etch prime first..

[tasmillard]

Franklin Update 5 here

[Deleted]

It seems to work, it's just a matter of what's the "best" option.

Even wattyl think there are better options

[myarrow1]

Hi Gitano.

Nice video, as always. The start of your video you mentioned that water leaking inside along the window frame as your van was on a lean., and possibly coming through the window locks

i found with mine that the water was doing along the cladding between the kitchen window and the rear side window. The seam join that is half way up the body.

i found this out as my roof has a tarp over it and the windows werent even wet, and water was coming in the window frame ! I ran a fine sealant bead along the outside seam between the 2 windows and problem solved..

[tasmillard]

Nov 16, 2015 20:30:20 GMT 10 myarrow1 said:

Hi Gitano.

Nice video, as always. The start of your video you mentioned that water leaking inside along the window frame as your van was on a lean., and possibly coming through the window locks

i found with mine that the water was doing along the cladding between the kitchen window and the rear side window. The seam join that is half way up the body.

i found this out as my roof has a tarp over it and the windows werent even wet, and water was coming in the window frame ! I ran a fine sealant bead along the outside seam between the 2 windows and problem solved..

Thx myarrow... i actually do the vids, like a diary of the build like i did with my millard.  Great point about the seam, we shall check that too.

[myarrow1]

Yes a great idea. It took me awhile to work out where my window was leaking from, as the water was weaping in while I was looking at it. The window was not wet at all as the tarp on the roof was hanging over the windows. I was rapt when I found it ! So simple, in the end.....

[Deleted]

Nov 16, 2015 20:30:20 GMT 10 myarrow1 said:

Hi Gitano.

Nice video, as always. The start of your video you mentioned that water leaking inside along the window frame as your van was on a lean., and possibly coming through the window locks

i found with mine that the water was doing along the cladding between the kitchen window and the rear side window. The seam join that is half way up the body.

i found this out as my roof has a tarp over it and the windows werent even wet, and water was coming in the window frame ! I ran a fine sealant bead along the outside seam between the 2 windows and problem solved..

Thank you for your suggestion, also there are some seams in the roof that will need an inspection.
Another location is the outlet of the rangehood.
I guess that eventually we will stop the leaks. 

[Deleted]

By the end of next week the van will be ready for inside paint.
Continuing doing research I am going to see the Dulux shop about the DULUX PRECISION Maximum Strength Adhesion Primer.
Going by the specs it is suitable for caravan interiors and also can be used as an exterior primer on  ZINCALUME
At $79 for 4 lts it is a bargain compared with other paints for Laminex® surfaces.

[Deleted]

Asking for prices of the new Dulux paint, a salesman asked me why no considering the Zinsser  paints which are tested in laminate for several years.
I have done some reading after his suggestion and there are several posts in the internet about it.
One of them is from the Washington Post, quote:

"Q Can cabinets made of Formica or other laminates be painted?



A Yes, you can paint laminate cabinets, even in a hardworking room such as a kitchen. It's a great way to update a room's look without spending much money.



Painting laminate is tricky because the surface is so smooth and slick that the paint has a hard time getting a good grip. It helps to scuff up the laminate with sandpaper before you paint, but the real trick is to use a formula designed to stick to slick surfaces. You have the option of using a powerful primer, which you can then top with whatever finish paint you want. Or you can skip primer and use one of several paints designed to go directly over laminate.



The Zinsser company makes two primers that it recommends for use over laminate: Bulls Eye 1-2-3, an acrylic formula in a water base, and B-I-N, a pigmented shellac formula with an alcohol base. Tim O'Reilly, manager for primers and sealers at Zinsser, recommends the shellac formula even though it will leave your kitchen smelling like alcohol for an hour or so and even though it's more of a hassle to remove from your tools. (You'll need to use ammonia or denatured alcohol.) The reason for his recommendation: Once the alcohol evaporates from the primer, typically in 45 minutes, the shellac finish is fully cured. Not only can you can proceed immediately to put on the finish paint, but you greatly speed up the time when your kitchen can return to being fully functional.



Although manufacturers don't talk about it much, water-based paint has the annoying characteristic of remaining somewhat soft and even a bit sticky for a considerable time after its surface is dry to the touch. If you top a relatively fresh coat of water-based primer with water-based paint, the time needed for a full cure may grow from a week or two to three or four. During that interim, if you butt two painted surfaces against one another and then pull them apart, there's a good chance that the paint on one surface will pull the paint off the other surface. With kitchen cabinets, that means that you either have to leave newly repainted doors off the cabinets for a month or risk pulling off patches of the cabinet paint. But if you use a shellac primer with a water-based topcoat, you may need to wait only a week -- or even less, if you use a painter's trick that O'Reilly suggests. Once the paint seems dry, smear a tiny bit of cooking oil along the cabinet doors where they touch the cabinets. The paint layers won't stick, but the finish will still cure." End of quote

The cost of 3.75 Lts of Bulls Eye 1-2-3 is $71 and for the B-I-N  $83 which it is not to bad.

[tim]

I've used zinsser B-I-N heaps, and it's great to use, I've mainly used it on porous surfaces, but it would probably stick to most surfaces - maybe not outside on metal. It cleans up easily with metho, and the smell is much better than oil based, and clears quicker than acrylic. It's excellent at blocking stains and musty odours too.

On glossy surfaces I have used Flood ESP (Easy Surface Preparation). It works well and helps the next coat of paint bond on to the surface.

Tim