Day 7, Skin-on-frame tandem canoe. Build time: 4hrs.
Skinned the boat today. After my struggle with the 1050 nylon on the last boat I’m back to the 840 and glad for it. It really is a near perfect skinboat fabric.
It was nice and sunny out so I had the dry time to dye the skin as well. The dye I use is Jacquard Acid Dye, I mix 6 cups boiling water with 2 cups boiling vinegar and never add more than one heaping tablespoon to the water. I try to stick with earth tones because I want the colors to play nice with the natural yellowing of the skin. This boat is 1 level tablespoon of Aztec Gold, 1/2 teaspoon russet, 1/2 teaspoon of brown.
The stuff isn’t hard to apply but you do need to put it on fast and boiling hot keeping a wet edge, using a 4 inch foam brush that you never dip more than halfway in the pot (or it falls off the handle) then wipe off all the excess quickly as well. Finally, if there is sun you have to prop it so there is no shadowing or it creates a visible sun line across the shadow. I like to dry them in the sun because it makes the colors much more vivid.
There are other ways to color a boat, this is just what I do. A lot of people use rare earth pigments mixed directly with the urethane, which can end up kind of streaky and opaque but I’m not convinced it’s a worse option especially if you want a really dark boat. It sticks better to the very tight weave fabrics (Like the 700 Primo cloth).
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