Bertram 35 Cabin Refit help required

[NEWBY]

Can anyone suggest a lighter, MUCH lighter alternative to wood for a cabin refit? I like the layout but while I have out stripped I thought I might try and lighten her up somewhat.

Currently its all marine ply with stain and varnish.

[Owen]

This stuff might be OK if you're not looking for wood grain finish.
http://www.multipanel.com.au/

[deckie]

When u say "lighter" i assume u mean lighter in colour rather than weight ?...sounds like it anyway.
Varnish etc can be a pain in the arse and unless you're big on prep u always end up with a lesser result than u expected.
Hull liners come in light colours and are damn easy to put on with spray glue and a smallish resin roller...u can whack them (or light marine carpets) straight over the area's you're sick of and it comes up looking sweet coz it so easy looks like a pro did it.
Another underestimated finish is good old flowcoat..a good glass supplier has a huge range of colours and with the time people take to prep/sand/apply/sand/varnish blah blah to get a woodgrain finish, they could have just as easily put one thick coat of flowcoat colour on then stepped down the grades of wet n dry and got a magic smooth finish. Not on big area's tho coz then its serious work.
Basic upholstery on panels is pretty quick and a lot easier than most think (as long as u arnt doing seats or anything complex)...some tricks but nothing the average joe cant figure out pretty fast. Good option for flat panel areas. If u want to give it a go i can steer u in the right direction.
Lots of fake wood finishes about, laminates and veneer type stuff about..i've used stuff from a company called eco-core before that was excellent. They do a myriad of colours and do a ply in various thicknesses that is covered in phenolic films of different colours... and something called navlam (spelling from memory)which was pretty good stuff...nicer finish than plastics/laminex stuff and easy to work and pretty waterproof...like a sturdy veneer.
..must be a million other things..lets hope u werent talking about a lightWEIGHT material lol :P

[deckie]

and if u were talking really light WEIGHT maybe give fgi a call or check their website for super light but strong composites and techie stuff like honeycombs/foams/klegicell/divincell, etc..more for structural needs i guess but they have some pretty cool stuff.
That multipanel stuff mentioned above by owen looks perfect too...might be cheaper.

[Apollo]

Newbs

Assuming you mean weight, I would think that duflex would carve plenty of kgs out of the old girl, but you could get rid of the tackle shop inside if you really want to lighten her up! You only need one LURE anyway;D. We built a race yacht with duracore and duflex. Ended up very strong and extremely light.

You can get a thin ply veneer on one side to maintain the timber look inside and the benefit of the foam core is that it will give you something to hang on to so you can swim ashore if you perchance happened to roll over on a bar or something.::)

Steve

[Horse]

Newby, you have a boat not a caravan so stick with the timber finish.
Design it right and you can use 4mm vaneer ply with solid framing. Its actually not much weight overall. You can add a coat of epoxt to the inside of the structures to gain more strength for little weight

[Chimo]

Hi Newby

This is a Fairways 36 and the two pics show the current look with new 12 v fridge and 12 v freezer and light interior that replaced the traditional dark heavy timber look. The genset was chucked and the whole lot runs off batteries with two solar panels, which is about twice what it needs, keeping the house and motor batteries charged.

Cheers
Chimo

[NEWBY]

When u say "lighter" i assume u mean lighter in colour rather than weight ?...sounds like it anyway.
Varnish etc can be a pain in the arse and unless you're big on prep u always end up with a lesser result than u expected.
Hull liners come in light colours and are damn easy to put on with spray glue and a smallish resin roller...u can whack them (or light marine carpets) straight over the area's you're sick of and it comes up looking sweet coz it so easy looks like a pro did it.
Another underestimated finish is good old flowcoat..a good glass supplier has a huge range of colours and with the time people take to prep/sand/apply/sand/varnish blah blah to get a woodgrain finish, they could have just as easily put one thick coat of flowcoat colour on then stepped down the grades of wet n dry and got a magic smooth finish. Not on big area's tho coz then its serious work.
Basic upholstery on panels is pretty quick and a lot easier than most think (as long as u arnt doing seats or anything complex)...some tricks but nothing the average joe cant figure out pretty fast. Good option for flat panel areas. If u want to give it a go i can steer u in the right direction.
Lots of fake wood finishes about, laminates and veneer type stuff about..i've used stuff from a company called eco-core before that was excellent. They do a myriad of colours and do a ply in various thicknesses that is covered in phenolic films of different colours... and something called navlam (spelling from memory)which was pretty good stuff...nicer finish than plastics/laminex stuff and easy to work and pretty waterproof...like a sturdy veneer.
..must be a million other things..lets hope u werent talking about a lightWEIGHT material lol :P

Sorry mate...Light Weight.....

[NEWBY]

Newby, you have a boat not a caravan so stick with the timber finish.
Design it right and you can use 4mm vaneer ply with solid framing. Its actually not much weight overall. You can add a coat of epoxt to the inside of the structures to gain more strength for little weight
Cheers mate. I have to be honest though, I hate the woodgrain. It makes everything so dark. I have painted out some of the dark woodgrain.

[Chimo]

Newby

See post 7

C
C:-*

[NEWBY]

Newby

See post 7

C
C:-*
Yeah got that thanks mate. Very light and bright. Thats what I am after.
great fitout. Thanks for the pics.