Finally she floats

[Huntsman]

Hi all,

couldnt hold the excitement, so I thought i'd share it with you. After 15 long months of occasional weekend work i got the baby spruced up into a decent fishing rig..
20ft Half Cab Huntsman, with 2000 model 175hp 2 stroke Johnson.


THE BEFORE SHOTS...

[Huntsman]

THE AFTER......

[crazboutfishin]

Very nice work Huntsman. Congrats on ur new boat hope it brings u years of enjoyable fishing.

Cheers
Crazy

[finga64]

Crikey, Just a bit of a difference eh [smiley=shocked.gif]
Beauty, now time to enjoy all the fruits of your labor.
Scott

[whykickacatalong]

1st pics look like a typical old 1/2 cab. 2nd lot look like a nice rig that you could be proud of backing down any ramp surrounded by new boats.

[revs57]

G'day huntsman...nice bit of bling bling in the after pics...well done!!!

Nice job on the refirb too...cant wait to read of your exploits in the offshore reports section

When do you blood her? And I can't quite make out her name...what have you called her?

Cheers

Rhys

[abitfishy]

1st pics look like a typical old 1/2 cab. 2nd lot look like a nice rig that you could be proud of backing down any ramp surrounded by new boats.

Agreed, wouldn't give you 2 bob for the first boat, that second rig is one hell of a beast. Great work mate. :P

[Blackened]

G'day
Beautiful work, love the sparkly bits in the second series of pics.
Dave

[Seahorse]

really looks the part. A real credit

cheers
greg

[Deiter]

good on ya mate, enjoy the fruits of your labour. :)
would you mind filling us in as to exactly what went on?

Nobody appreciates a boat rebuild like us Ausfishers.

Looks like a complete refit and new make-up...bloody marvellous. big pats on the back all round. congrats. ;)

Damo

[Bundy_Burp]

Thats some pretty impressive work you have done considering it was all mostly done on the occasional weekend .
Top notch job well done

Bundy 8-)

[Scott_Thunder]

well done chief good effort and good luck

[Broome_Fisho]

Hi Huntsman, TOP JOB, you should be proud of yourself, like wykickacatolog says, you should be pround backing her down the ramp.

[southernson]

sure you didnt swap those piccys for a new boat.... nice work mate!!!!!
Cheers

[Grand_Marlin]

Very nice 8-)

It is amazing what you can achieve by referbishing older boats if you are willing to spend some time and a few coins ... well done

Cheers

Pete

[Brissyguy]

Nice job Huntsman...

Gotta be proud of that !!

Cheers,
Rich.

[Huntsman]

Thanks for the great responses guys, and Deiter, just some of the work that took place includes.

Complete floor and beam rebuild,
under floor bait tanks,
paint job,
dash rebuild
complete electronic overhaul, (rewired, new equipment inc cabin downlights, vhf cb, stereo + speakers, new fish finder / gps coming soon)
complete carpet, floor, sides, cabin, cabin ceiling, pockets, everywhere heh,
new trailer
316 grade s/s rocket launcher and side grabrails
cushions all re-upholstered
full bimini / side clears / front clears
chromed fittings,

list goes on..

Everything was basically done ourselves flooring, timberwork, fibreglassing, painting, sanding, attaching, wiring, everything. Only things purchased were things like trailer, canopy, rocketlauncher frame.. etc..

[ahoj]

Very Nice ----- ;D but its not a CAT------ ;D
Ahoj

[bigmack]

Hey Huntsman - very nice work. I would be interested in what you re-sprayed with, process in brief atc.

Thanks
Phill

[Huntsman]

Bigmac, the rough process is as follows.

its a fibreglass hull so used 120 - 200 grit paper to sand down the gelcoat a bit (not all the way to bare hull)
used fibreglass beading (its fine powder like talc) mixed with resin to a nice pasty consistency to hide all the little scratches and imperfections and sand them down nicely so the surface is perfect..
masked up everything with newspaper and masking tape
then using an airgun and 4hp compressor i started spraying. the gun i got from supercheap auto, around the 80-100psi model.
applied the primer first, top and sides using the gun, the underbelly was done with a brush. Nice thicker coats at the bottom to be more resistant to the scratches.
Then with the gun i applied the blue paint on the sides and white on the top, 3 coats each using a marine, polyurithane 2pac paint. It goes for around 70-80$ a litre if u can find it cheap. Its manufactured under the name ALTEX. Its a yachting paint, and the place I got it for, used the same paint to re-do the speed boats for James Packer.
the underbelly once again i used brush to paint on the blue, antoher 2-3 coats for a thick solid finish.
It turned out real nice even though i did it in an unorthodox fashion. hehe.
I did the spraying, outside my house with no covers or protection from the wind, sometimes going into the night hehe.

[jimbo59]

Nice job mate ,i'm doing up a savage marlin 20 atm,might put a few picys on for the boy's to look at.

[Huntsman]

for sure mate, would love to see the progress.

[BrianC]

Great job - good looking boat

Well done

Brian

[StevenM]

Huntsman

great looking job mate

enjoy

cheers

Steven

[Deiter]

Very Nice ----- Grin but its not a CAT------ Grin
Ahoj

no, its not a cat, but its not a flea on a cats @rse either!!unlike some!! ;D ;D ;D

[pilchardjones]

huntsman,
it has all been said before me. what a great job you have done. that boat looks excellent - great lines too.
steve

[maxwellson]

excellent job mate, enjoy.......

cheers Maxi

[bigmack]

Thanks Huntsman - its looks very good. The hull and cabin is quite similar to the Cruise Craft Reef Ranger; another boat that i have always liked.

Cheers
Phill

[griz066]

Nice reno mate 8-)