Dome build: Green paint!

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I took the chance and bought the paint in anticipation of a sunny afternoon. It wasn't continuously sunny and it only reached about 52F but I was delighted to enjoy such favourable weather in mid to late October.

It took me a little over three hours to paint the entire dome including the shutters. There was a lot of stretching and climbing and descending and climbing back up. My arm, chest and back were aching too, but I was finally finished at about 5pm.

My wife caught me in the act early on in my pair of baggy old "painting" trousers with the waist elastic long gone. The blue shirt is my "artist's" shirt too and well daubed though I claim absolutely no skill in that direction. My scruffy outfit was rather too warm when the sun shone!

The gathered waist is caused by my safety "belt." Actually a scaffolder's safety sling with a carabiner joining both ends and linking to my safety line and scaffolder's hook attached to the top rung of the ladder. I found the weight and bulk of my full safety harness far too restrictive but needed something to save me from disaster should I slip. Or lose concentration while up high.

Gori 'Extreme' "wood protection" paint was my final choice with a claim of a 15 year lifetime. Whether I shall survive that long and still care, is anyone's guess. The paint has quite a nice, low sheen. Though I might still have preferred full matt.

It is proving very difficult to capture the true colour with the camera. I had to wait almost until dusk before it would stop reflecting the white, cloudy sky. See images below a more accurate idea of the colour as I see it. Dyrup claims it is "Smokey Sage" but that was a pale green in the mixing machines in three different builder's merchants.

The paint went a surprisingly long way, was easy to brush on, without drag, but tended to show final brush strokes. Probably the white primer underneath and the cheap 75mm [3"] brush I bought for the job. Only a cheap idiot, like me, would spend good money on paint and only a few quid [equivalent] on a brush. If I stroked from edge to edge the brush marks would disappear. I may also have been slightly too meager with the paintand overworked it with the brush.

As usual, I used a cheap 1liter, polythene, measuring jug, with moulded handle, for paint handling convenience. The hook shaped handle offers increased security when I'm working from the ladder and it is a perfect size for the 3" brush. The channel shaped handle can easily be trapped against the ladder while holding on with one hand. It also provides the perfect natural rest point for the handle of the paint brush.

It probably needs another coat but I am delighted to have the dome [hopefully] waterproof at last. Not to mention the "brilliant white" primer now being safely tamed. It could have been seen for miles if there was anywhere it could be seen from that distance. The view from the road is very restricted to a short stretch between houses and trees. I didn't want anybody falling off the road while rubber-necking a white dome.

I make a habit of photographing the observatory from the road on my morning walks and could not not wait to see an end to the glaring white. Highly visible against the dark background trees! The images are a handy reference for recording building progress over time. Though few others would really notice any difference.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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