Our 1950 18’ Chris-Craft Riviera’s new True 5200 bottom has passed a major milestone with the preliminary fitting and installation of its inner plywood skin.
We use Aquatek Meranti marine plywood, 7/16” thick for the inner skin.
Once we have dry fitted the skin’s components, they receive 4 – 5 coats of Smith’s Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer followed by three coats of Sandusky Paint Company’s Chris-Craft Mahogany Bilge Paint.
Each frame is then buttered with an 1/8” thick layer of 3M5200, and the skin’s components are laid in place and secured with a combination of #6×1-1/4 silicon bronze flathead wood screws and 1” copper ring-shank nails.
We then allow for 7-8 days of cure time before we complete sanding the edges in place.